Page 18 of King of Sin
But once your eyes finally open, you realize just how much you tolerated in the name of it.
Juliet Gray had never believed in love.
She certainly didn't believe in that saying.
In her mind, if a person was smart enough to drive a car without running over the person they hated most, then they were smart enough to recognize when someone was trying to trap them in the name of love.
How wrong she had been.
"I didn't know your friends made fun of me in front of you," she whispered, her voice trembling. "And you never said a word to defend me."
Humiliation burned through her like fire.
Her face felt unbearably hot, and tears gathered in her eyes before she could stop them. The room in front of her blurred, but the voices she had just heard echoed with painful clarity inside her head.
She had expected many things from Vincent over the years. Anger. Arguments. Coldness. Indifference.
But betrayal?
Never.
He had been part of her life for as long as she could remember. They had grown up together, attended the same schools, shared birthdays, holidays, and countless memories. She had always believed she knew him better than anyone.
Yet at that moment, it felt as though someone had taken a hammer to a mirror.
Everything shattered.
The image she had of him.
The trust she had placed in him.
The excuses she had spent years making on his behalf.
All of it cracked apart right before her eyes.
And the realization that he had only asked to marry her because he pitied her felt like a knife being driven into her chest and twisted mercilessly.
At that moment, Vincent lifted his eyes toward the doorway.
Their gazes met.
Juliet froze.
His dark eyes locked onto hers from across the room.
There was no surprise on his face.
No shock.
No panic.
No guilt.
Nothing.
It was as though he had known she was standing there the entire time.
For several long seconds, he simply looked at her.
