They gave me pitying looks.

“I think that calls for a The Notebook rewatch,” she said.

“Add The Time Traveler’s Wife, and we have ourselves a cry fest,” Violet added.

“That technically has a happy ending,” Piper noted.

“Don’t you bullshit me.”

This got a true laugh out of me. I let them lead me to the couch to drown my sorrows.

* * *

The girls fell asleep well before me, and I sat there watching the end of The Notebook all by myself.

I’d already been a crying mess, but the ending had it starting all over again.

I can’t believe I fucked up so bad.

I tried to remember the contract, but I hadn’t read it through. I was too blinded by revenge to even think of protecting myself.

That Addi didn’t care about herself, but if this experience taught me anything, it was that I needed to get my fucking shit together.

But first, I’d allow myself to wallow.

Allow myself to cry. To throw a fit. To mourn what could have been.

Over the last eight years, I never allowed myself the time to do it. I’d been too busy working, trying to fix things.

All while my mom hid the money.

I told her I’d be back for her, but the more I thought of it, the harder it became to face her.

That money could have solved all our problems before they even started.

I wouldn’t have had to work so hard. Wouldn’t have a lien on the house.

Wouldn’t have had to sell my body at that goddamn auction.

I had willingly opened my legs for him. Begged for him. And somehow… I didn’t regret it.

Tears welled up in my eyes again.

And you and I both know there’s more here than the contract.

He tried to say it at the end. To tell me that this thing that was happening between us was more, but I wouldn’t hear any of it. In fact, I threw it all in his face because I was hurt.

It wasn’t just sex between us. It wasn’t just a fucking contract.

He meant something to me. So much more than he should.

I am in love with Warren King.

Maybe from the very first moment I saw him at my father’s company. Maybe I forgot about it in my quest for revenge.

But there was no denying it. Not anymore.

When my phone buzzed, I picked it up, thinking it could be the hospital, but when I saw the notification, my heart dropped.

Bank transfer notice: $2,000,000.00 to account ending in…

My mind couldn't compute the number on my screen. And then, all at once, more sobs broke from my chest, jolting both Piper and Violet awake.

They scrambled to see what had happened, but when I showed them my phone, they went silent.