Then, she scoffed at herself.
Why was she even reacting?
She had known this was coming.
“You only sent a driver to take Terri? Today’s her first public appearance as your wife, after all.”
Valerie glanced at Terri, then turned to Blayne, pretending to chide him.
Her eyes were full of warmth—sisterly concern, soft and affectionate.
But she never let go of his hand.
Terri was Valerie’s younger sister.
And Blayne was, in name at least, Valerie’s brother-in-law.
Yet here he was, sitting with her.
“One person is fine. She’ll have to get used to it sooner or later.”
Blayne shrugged, his gaze on Valerie filled with tenderness.
Even with Terri sitting right there, he didn’t spare her a glance.
In the backseat, Terri clenched her fingers together.
The spot on her waist—where Blayne had held her down last night—was still faintly warm.
The thrill of being wanted.
The sting of being ignored.
The emotions tangled together, making her legs instinctively press tight against each other as she swallowed back the aching in her chest.
“I don’t mind going alone…”
She had barely started speaking when Valerie cut in.
“We happened to run into each other. I’ll go have a chat with Terri—we haven’t seen each other in a while.”
Without waiting for a response, she turned to Blayne.
He didn’t object.
He only sat up straighter, watching Valerie step out of the car.
His warm expression shifted into something else.
A warning.
His lips moved silently.
“Stay in your place. Don’t make trouble.”
Terri suddenly felt like laughing.
Stay in her place?
Don’t make trouble?
What trouble, exactly?
Did he mean when he had almost forced himself on her after finding out Valerie had left the country?
Or when he had thrown money at her face, only to pull her into bed night after night?
Valerie was his precious jewel.
And Terri?
What was she?
A stand-in? A decoration?
For once, a faint sense of satisfaction burned in Terri’s chest.
She lowered her gaze, pretending not to see Blayne’s warning look.
“I heard Blayne went to see you last night?”
Valerie got into the car, rolling up the window behind her.
The outside world disappeared.
Her earlier warmth vanished.
Her eyes were cold as she looked at Terri.
“He didn’t come to see me. He came to warn me.”
Terri’s voice was calm, but the bitterness was impossible to hide.
Terri denied it.
Valerie’s eyes were filled with undisguised disdain.
She let out a sneer and tossed the phone over.