Sara nodded gravely. "That is a tragedy." Then she shifted tone. "Dreams are fake, Simon."
He stared at her fair, flawless face. "Why not say the opposite?"
"Because I never even had a wedding." She laughed, though it didn't reach her eyes. "How could you crash a wedding that never happened?"
She and Adrian had only signed the papers. Even the rings were an afterthought. Back then, the Harding family hadn't accepted her.
When Elijah found out, he'd slapped Adrian in public, accusing him of treating marriage like a game just to spite Eva. But Adrian hadn't listened. When the family objected, he took Sara and moved out.
Whether Eva had tried to win him back then, Sara didn't know, but Adrian's relationship with his family had frozen over.
For six months, they barely spoke. Sara had shamelessly, tirelessly mediated, smoothing things over until she finally earned her place at the table.
Only then did Adrian stop treating her like a pretty vase.
Simon didn't laugh.
His eyes fixed on the faint reddish mark on Sara's neck—he'd noticed it the moment she walked in.
"Looks like he likes you a lot."
"A man brings a wife home—how many are just for display?" Sara lowered her gaze, her thick lashes concealing the emotion in her eyes. "With me, he wants my body, not my heart."
"And you?" Simon asked quietly.
"Did you give him yours?"
Sara's jaw tightened mid-chew. She smoothed her expression and shook her head. "No."
Simon's gaze didn't waver. "The truth."
"Why would I lie to you?" She met his eyes, her voice steady. "Adrian Harding values people who know their place. If I didn't, he wouldn't have sought me out. Do you really think I'd dare challenge his boundaries?"
Something in Simon's shoulders loosened. He exhaled slowly, the tension bleeding out of him.
Silence stretched between them. Then, without a word, he picked up a choice cut of meat and placed it in her bowl.
The gesture said what he couldn't. Simon had never been one for sweet words or apologies—he let his actions speak instead.
Sara felt the knot in her chest unravel. Despite the simple meal, she was lighter than she'd been in months. Only with Simon could she shed the suffocating rules of "high society" and just *be*. He wouldn't judge her. He demanded nothing.