Page 87 of Vengeful Melodies

Because I did betray her.

And sheneversaw it coming.

She walked into my office a week before our wedding, glowing from head to toe. Hair still windblown from her walk, smiling like she had a secret she couldn’t wait to share.

She did.

She’d just won tickets to Heaven’s Guilt—myfavorite fucking band. Said she was going to surprise me.

Instead, she found Amber on her knees.

I didn’t even get the chance to pull my pants up before shit hit the fan and Dreyasnapped.

She screamed.Cussed. Sobbed like she’d been shot. Her voice cracked, shattering every piece of me I didn’t know was breakable.

I stumbled after her, begging—pleading—like the pathetic coward I am. But she wouldn’t stop. Wouldn’t listen. She hurled my ring at my chest like it burned her fingers.

“I hope she was fucking worth it.” she spat.

Then she was gone. And the next time I saw her?

Sinners Playground Tattoo parlor. She kissedhim. Alix motherfucking Sanderson.

Didn’t even know he was in the band yet. Just thought he was another pretty face with too much ink and a smug smile. UntilI saw his hands on her. Her mouth on his. The small sound she made when he kissed her deeper.

It broke something in me.

I tried to move. To speak. But Wren got there first. That son of a bitch—he saw the look in my eyes, and he knew.

He clocked me across the face so hard I hit the sidewalk.

All I could do was bleed and watch as the girl I was supposed to marry kiss another man like I never existed. Before Wren swept her up, and took her away.

Now I sit across fromDavid—the monster she escaped. The monster Ineverthought I’d stoop low enough to work with. But here we are. Sharing whiskey and plans and poison.

Because if I can’t have her…

No one can.

David slides a manila folder across the table. Inside: photos, schedules, tour bus logs. Vivian’s doing. She’s feeding dirt to the press, slowly tightening the noose.

“She’s soft now,” David sneers. “They made her weak. All this love and safety shit? It’s a fantasy. The girl I knew—the real Dreya—is still down there. Angry. Broken. That’s the version that survives. It's about time for her to stop living this ridiculous lie, she's buried away. ”

He taps his phone, shows me the texts.

Wren’s been getting them.

Anonymous. Paranoid. Twisted.

You can’t save her.

She’s not who you think she is.

He’ll get her killed.

They’re working. Iknowthey are. Dreya’s unraveling. You can only pretend to be okay for so long before the cracks show.

David chuckles. “One wrong move and she bolts. Just like always. And when she does?”