My Fiance Rigged the Game for His Bestie? I Changed the Groom Chapter 11
“I looked into everything.”
Alexander stepped closer, desperate hope written
across his face.
“Madison was the one who approached you back then.
“She admitted she was jealous of your talent and
wanted to prove she could beat you.
“But she lost. Badly.
“She didn’t move abroad because of you. She followed another man. When he mistreated her, she came back to me.
“She lied to me too. I believed she’d ruined her life because she loved me.
“But none of that matters now. I sent her back
overseas, and her ex took her away. I doubt things will end well for her.
“I’ll never contact her again. I know I was wrong.”
He looked at me, a fragile spark of hope in his eyes.
“I don’t expect you to forgive me. But could you give me one chance?
“Let me pursue you again. At least let Ethan and me compete fairly.”
The man beside me went rigid.
I smiled.
“No.
“He’s my husband.
“If I gave you a chance, I’d be cheating on him. I’m not
that kind of person.”
Ethan relaxed at once and slipped an arm around me.
“You heard her. My Claire understands boundaries.
Some people should take notes.”
After that day, Alexander never appeared in front of me again.
I heard pieces of what happened afterward.
He sent Madison back to her former boyfriend
overseas, and the man broke her down until she was barely herself.
Alexander did nothing to help her.
He had too many problems of his own.
Word of the wedding scandal spread through
Manhattan’s elite circles.
His parents were humiliated and began preparing
other members of the family to replace him as the Caldwell heir.
I never had time to wonder whether Ethan had helped that process along.
He occupied nearly every free moment I had.
We shopped, went out to dinner, and watched movies together.
We did all the ordinary things couples did.
Our first kiss happened beside a lake.
Ethan suddenly cupped my face, starlight caught in his eyes.
“I want to kiss you.”
His breathing had already quickened.
Like everything else with him, the moment had clearly
been planned for a long time.
He brushed his lips across mine once.
Then he kissed me again, deeper this time.
The first time we truly became husband and wife was on his birthday.
We had both been drinking, but neither of us was drunk.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and refused to
let go, his head resting in my lap.
“We’ve been married for four months,” he murmured.
“I want a birthday present.”
I understood at once and agreed.
“I haven’t told you what I want yet.”
His breathing roughened.
Heat rolled through him, and even the tips of his ears turned red.
“You can have anything.”
I toyed with the edge of his ear and smiled.
He moved without warning, pressing me back onto the bed.
The light in his eyes burned straight through my heart.
I tapped the tip of his nose.
“Ethan, thank you.”
He had caught me at the most humiliating moment of my life.
Steadily.
Safely.
But he had never taken advantage of how broken I was.
Instead, he moved slowly, one careful step at a time,
until I finally lowered my guard.
Ethan went still. “You don’t blame me?”
I shook my head.
What was there to blame him for?
He had never been the one who hurt me.
He lowered his face to my ear and pressed a kiss there.
“Then I’ll say it. I want Claire Bennett.”
He covered my mouth with his and spoke against my lips.
“You said I could have anything. You can’t take it back now.”
Laughing, I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I won’t.”