“How…,” Jaya began, not sure how to finish the question. “Who…? I…” She tried again, her heart beginning to pound furiously as the reality of the situation began to sink in. “I can explain.”

But he was already stepping away from her.

Grey

“Such a lie.” Grey kept his voice low, but it reverberated in the silent night. He walked to a nearby pine tree and studied its snow-laden needles. “Such a profound lie.”

Jaya’s dress rustled as she stepped forward, closer to him. Her voice was thick with tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“I had to find out from Kiran Hegde that you were playing me.” Jaya opened her mouth, but Grey kept going, his fury like a demon, whispering in his ear. “Our classes together! Our friendship! The concern about the pendant! The kiss! Was any of it real?”

She squeezed her eyes shut as if his words were causing her physical pain. “It was. I didn’t—”

“You called Mrs. Lucas and pretended to be my dad’s secretary. So, right from the very first day, this was all a setup. Have you been reveling in my idiocy this entire time?” Grey said, his chilly smile kissing his lips with frost.

A wind that smelled of more snow whipped around them. “No,” she whispered. “No, never.”

“And what about archery? Do you really have a trophy in it? Was all of the pretending to need my help just another lie?” He studied her, watched her face as it drained of color. “Right. Thought so. I have to hand it to you, though. You’re good; you’re very good. You really had me going, and that’s not an easy thing to do. If I’d known any of this, I would never have—” He swallowed. “I would never have let myself fall for you.”

Jaya’s eyes filled with tears, almost brimming over. But she said nothing.

Jaya

There was nothing she could say. And nothing she should say. What would telling him that she’d come to execute revenge but then ended up falling for him do? What would telling him that the engagement was a last-ditch effort at saving her family’s name, her sister’s honor accomplish? Perhaps if he raged against her enough, perhaps if he let the anger crescendo and swallow him, he could begin to let her go. Perhaps he could begin to make peace with their parting. It was what she’d wanted for him all along.

“What was the purpose?” he asked, his hair falling into his eyes. “Why did you do all this?”

Grey