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He shoved his hands deep inside his trouser pockets, the only way he could stop himself from reaching out to Mairi. He watched her from behind, feeling so goddamn proud at the way she was able to keep moving even after what he had stupidly done.
I’m sorry,Damen thought achingly.
He had promised never to hurt her again, but what they had – what he had made her agree to – it just wasn’t going to work. Had he really been such an idiot to think it would be different for them?
He had to make a choice.
He had to choose now, before Mairi chose someone else over him.
****
MAIRI DID HER BESTas she read her speech, and if her voice shook once or twice for no reason at all, well – there wasn’t anything she could do about that. She just hoped the crowd thought she was nervous and not...heartbroken.
The speech was short and simple, and she worked on keeping her voice clear and inflectionless as she began thanking the people who had to be thanked.
“And lastly, our school’s Teachers' Day presentation would not be the special occasion that it is this year if not for the generosity of our guests of honor, who have gifted us with financial sponsorship and their precious time.”
Conscious of Ms. Thorn’s strict rules about etiquette, Mairi took a deep breath, unaware that the microphone had picked it up again and created a sound like a tornado throughout the auditorium.
The crowd laughed.
She...wished she could laugh with them.
Mairi forced herself to look at Ioniko first. “And so on behalf of the faculty, administration, and students making up the Grecian Academy for Young Ladies, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our guests of honor, Mr. Ioniko Vlahos—-”
Ioniko raised his hand in a small wave, a simple act that had the entire student body giggling.
She turned to theonlycouple on the stage, her gaze blinded with tears. “—-and the soon-to-be-wedded couple, Mr. Damen Leventis a-and Ms. Alina Kokinos.”
Her fingers curled around her speech, crushing it in her hand the same way Damen crushed her heart as he helped his fiancée out of her chair like she was a precious jewel so they could acknowledge the crowd with smiles and a brief wave.
Mairi mumbled the rest of her speech. She didn’t care if the crowd thought she was speaking Cantonese now. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from Damen as possible.
As she walked back to her seat, the ugly hateful truth that she had tried to be blind to finally made itself undeniably clear.
The problem had never been her love or making Damen believe in it.
The problem had always been whether Damen could believe in love. Because if he could believe in love, then he would never have made her go through this. If he understood how love could hurt and kill, he would never have forced her to see him and his fiancée together.
The rest of the presentation proceeded in an efficiently speedy manner, as was typical of any event organized by GAYL’s terrifying principal. The highest award went to an old history professor about to retire, and Mrs. Bettany became teary-eyed when Ms. Thorn presented her not only with a framed certificate but also a prize check amounting to $50,000, sponsored by this year’s guests of honor.
Mairi thought her ordeal was about to end, but it was not. It was only about to get worse, she realized as she dimly heard Ms. Thorn invite the guests of honor to make a brief speech themselves.
“Mr. Leventis? Ms. Kokinos? Would you like to go first?” Ms. Thorn sent them an encouraging smile.
Cold sweat bathed Damen's body under his suit. He had an awful feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“Would you like me to take care of this on my own?” he asked, hoping she would indeed say yes. But she did not.
Alina shook her head. “It’s fine.”
Left with no choice, Damen tried not to look visibly reluctant as he offered Alina his hand and guided her to the podium, his hand on the small of her back. He knew that such a simple gesture would hurt Mairi even more, and his gaze searched hers, needing to let her know that it did not and should not mean anything because he did not care about Alina in any way.
It took less than a second for Damen to spot Mairi in the crowd, and he sucked his breath in at the glassy look on her face.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.