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“Please.” The billionaire’s voice was just as tight as hers had been, and hearing him plead the very same way she had pleaded with him not so long ago nearly drove her insane.

She fell limply back into her seat. “Let me go,” she whispered.

Slowly, reluctantly, Willem forced his fingers to loosen, and pain ravaged his chest at the way Serenity so quickly yanked her hand out of his touch.

Once...once she had trusted him to guide her every step of the way.

But that was then, he thought dully,and it was his fault she no longer looked at him with stars in her eyes.

“I don’t ever want to talk about the past.”

Slowly, he nodded.

She swallowed hard. “And now – I want to know why you’re here.”

He said quietly, “Because I’ve realized, perhaps too late, that I have loved you from the very beginning.”

****

SERENITY LAY AWAKEon her bed for hours.

No matter what she did, she could not forget what had happened, could not stop the same scene replaying over and over in her mind.

“You love me.” Her voice trembled.

The billionaire’s gaze didn’t waver from her face. “Yes. I love you.”

“From the very beginning.” Her voice caught.

“From the very beginning.” His tone was even, his face serious, and it had made her want to cry. It had made her want to laugh and scream. Oh God, it made her wish she were insane. Because then – maybe then it would hurt less.

“Do you know what you’re saying?” she demanded shakily. “After what you’ve done to me, after what you’ve made me do – you have the gall to come here and tell me you’ve loved me from the very beginning?”

“Yes.” His tone was unequivocal despite of the way he had grown white at her words.

“And you expect me to believe you, just like that?”

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to prove it.”

She shook her head. “There’s no need because I can tell you right now. I will never believe you.” She stood up, and so did he. “Thank you for your time, Mr. de Konigh, but I hope this is the last time we see each other again.”

A look of devastation flickered in his face before disappearing, so quickly that she told herself she had imagined it. And she had, she had, Serenity told herself.

––––––––

“IDON’T LOVE HIM,”she whispered, but even to herself the words sounded like the lie that it was. Her throat tightened, and she could barely choke the words past her tears. “I don’t love him. I don’t. I don’t.”

But still, it sounded like a lie.

She remembered the times that were oh so good between them. The time he had given Serenity her first pair of custom-designed shoes, the time he had taken her in his arms.

But right next to those memories were those that hurt, that might always hurt like wounds that had no way of healing. She remembered the way his lips had felt so cold under hers the first time she had kissed him. She remembered the way she had begged him, remembered the way her injured muscles strained to support her as she tried to run after him.

Slowly, the tears fell.

And the moment she started to cry, she could no longer stop.

He loved her, the billionaire said.