Mature Content
Alice
I didn't know which was stronger, the pounding of my heart or the weight of the words he had just said.
I had always seen Lance Richardson as composed, calculated, and untouchable. The kind of man who carried responsibility like a tailored suit—perfectly fitted, never wrinkled. I never imagined he could feel insecure. Never imagined he could look at someone like me and wonder if he might lose her.
All this time, I had been drowning in my own doubts.
Wondering if I was enough. If I measured up to the women his father approved of. If I could survive in a world that constantly whispered I didn't belong.
I was so busy fighting my insecurities that I never stopped to consider he might have his own.
Slowly, I rose from my seat and moved toward him. My
