“Okay,” I nodded. I agreed, not for any other reason, but because I imagined that after I was gone and he couldn’t find me, he would realize what he’d lost when he saw those photos.
If he truly loved me, it would drive him mad—the pain will cut deeper then.
The delivery truck arrived at the studio ahead of us. When we pulled up moments later, Lex moved to carry me out of the car, but his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, his jaw tightening and let out a heavy breath.
“Baby, it’s freezing out here. Stay in the car to keep warm. Let me go in first and make sure everything’s ready, then I’ll come back for you.”
Without waiting for a reply, he strode briskly into the studio alone.
I lowered my gaze, instinctively opening my chat history with Phoebe. Since that fateful day a month ago, when she had lured me into discovering her affair with Lex, Phoebe had made it her mission to torment me every single day. Every sordid detail of their encounters landed in my inbox. Just as I was scrolling through the old messages, a new one slid in.
It was a photo of Phoebe, draped sloppily in my diamond-studded wedding gown, the zipper was way down her back, her lips curled into a suggestive pout.
“Mr. Blackburn couldn’t take his eyes off this photo and rushed right over to see me. Sorry for borrowing your gown, Miss Copeland. Hope you don’t mind.”
The message was followed by a link to a livestream.
My hands trembled as I clicked it.
On the screen, Lex yanked open the curtain of a fitting room, his face twisted in anger. “Who said you could wear it? It is Tara’s wedding gown. Take it off right now!”
Phoebe’s expression turned coy, her bare leg sliding out from beneath the gown as she leaned toward Lex.
“Don’t you think I look good in this, Mr. Blackburn? If you don’t like it, then why did you come running the second you saw that photo?”
I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed, his gaze lingering on Phoebe’s body. The heat in his eyes betrayed his words.
Phoebe, emboldened, pressed closer, teasing him further.
In the next moment, Lex pushed her against the wall, his lips crashing onto hers with wild desperation. His hands worked quickly to free himself from his restraints.
I stared in stunned silence as they became entangled in the very fitting room where I was supposed to be trying on that gown—my wedding gown.