Now, all I felt was anger because I didn't deserve that. I didn't deserve to be his warm body while he waited for the right one, I didn't deserve to be the consolation prize he settled for until fate gave him what he truly wanted.
I didn’t deserve to be the woman he touched out of duty while dreaming of someone else.
And yet, that’s exactly what I had been, his placeholder.
The cruelest part wasn’t even losing him. It was realizing I had never really had him to begin with. I had been building a home in the ruins of his heart, trying to patch up walls that were never meant to shelter me. Every kiss, every whispered I love you had been a lie he told because the bond demanded it, not because his soul did.
And the most bitter truth? I still loved him. Even with the papers signed, even with
