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I really fucked up.

“Verity?”

I come back to Cullen’s voice, catching my blank gaze on the wall behind him and blinking everything into focus.

“Is it true?”

Hope is the one thing keeping me together.

I can get through this if I have Cullen by my side. I can sort this out. It will be rough, and I’ll have to dip into my meager savings to pay rent while I find a new job, but I can do it.

“Which part?”

“Your marriage.” There’s a beat of silence. “It’s over, right?”

“Yes.” His grip strengthens on my jaw, finality in his voice to match. “Our marriage is over. It’s been over for a decade. We are not together. We do not love each other. There is nothing between me and Celine. You are the only person in my heart, I swear to you.”

I asked the wrong question.

“Okay, but...”

For some reason, I can’t say it. The words I need to speak most won’t form. They get lodged in my throat and thicken on my tongue.

“But?”

God. I hear the emotion in his voice, hear the affection that shines through. It makes everything harder.

“But are you divorced?”

The D-word is like an anvil dropping on the ground between us. He recoils slightly, his hands flinching on my skin.

“Cullen, please,” I beg. “Please tell me you’re divorced.”

I see the moment pain slashes through his hazel eyes. I can feel the guilt pouring from his skin and smell the panic in the air.

“Not technically.”

My heart plummets to the ground.

“What do you mean?” I place my hands on his chest, pushing him back to create some distance and forcing his hands off my face. “What do you mean?!”

“We’re separated, legally separated. I have the agreement. But—” he falls back on his ass, resting on one arm while the other hand threads through his hair “—but she never signed the divorce papers.”

“Ohmigod. Oh my God.”

“Verity, listen. Please. For all intents and purposes, Celine and I are not married.”

“Not according to the law and not according to Celine.”

“Celine is well aware that even though she refuses to sign the papers, we are not together.”

“Not being together and not being married aren’t the same thing.” I push up from the couch, pacing the floor. “I can’t believe this. You led me on. You lied to me.”

“No, I didn’t—”

“Don’t you dare try to spew another lie. You told me you were divorced.”

“I didn’t say I was divorced.”