Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
I stood, waiting for my Americano when I noted someone sitting at a table. Actually, it was the newspaper they were reading that I noticed.
There, on the front of the paper, was a photo of my parents, myself and Porter. We were on the stage from last night, and we were smiling. It was the headline that made my heart pound.
STIRLING HEIRESS SAYS, “YES!”
No, no, no! I grabbed my coffee and rushed to the corner store. I found four more major newspapers that announced my impending nuptials on the front page. I bought them all, and with my head bowed, headed back to my apartment.
I was dreading seeing Porter’s face. He’d already gone to the gym when I’d woken up, and I’d immediately dipped out for a coffee. There were hundreds of newspaper stands in my area. Oh, God. Had he seen the headlines?
This was bad. My lie was publicly announced to eight million strangers. How the hell was I going to tell Mom that this relationship was a sham? There was no way. At this point, the best I could do was plan a fake break-up. Right?
I almost ran into someone heading into my building. “Sorry.” My apologetic smile slipped almost instantly.
Felicia.
She stared at me with red eyes. Blotched red painted her cute nose, and she’d obviously been crying. Extensively.
“Felicia.”
“I need to talk to you.” Her voice was so much smaller than the last time I'd heard it.
“Of course.” I opened building door.
We rode the elevator in silence. I prayed that Porter was home because this was one conversation I didn’t want to have on my own. I unlocked my front door and ushered her in. We were alone.
She evaluated my apartment. Disbelief filled her features. “This is where you live?”
“How did you find me?”
“I called your dad’s campaign manager, Yates. His name was in the newspaper. He gave me your address.”
Fucking Yates.
“Okay,” I said slowly, shoving the newspapers on the island. “Would you like some tea?”
“No, what I want is for you to get the fuck away from my man.” She radiated with emotion, and despite the fact that she was makeup-free and had been crying, she was still one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen.
“I don’t really know what to say,” I said carefully.
“Porter is mine. He’s always been mine, and he always will be,” her voice hitched. “I don’t know how the fuck you got him to ask you to marry him, but this wedding isn’t going to happen.”
If only she knew.
The irony almost killed me. “I think this is a conversation that you should have with Porter.”
She crossed her arms over her full breasts. “How can I talk to him when he refuses to talk to me? He won’t answer my texts, and he won’t return my phone calls. I’ve left him dozens of messages.”
“I don’t know what to say about that.”
“You stole him.” She pierced me with her blue gaze. “I finally got him to New York. I finally got him to care enough to come after me, and suddenly, there you are. But you should know there’s no way you can compete with what he and I share. He loves me.”
I stared helplessly at her.
“He loves me,” she repeated with force.
I believed her. And it struck me that this engagement was not only wholly screwing up my life, but it was screwing up Porter’s future, too.
“Why did you leave him?” I asked, truly baffled. I felt angry at her, too, for hurting him. No matter how good he was at hiding his wounds, I could still see them. “You had everything with him, but you left. Why?”
“You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, do you?” She scoffed. “Porter doesn’t allow himself to be happy.”
I stood completely still. What did that mean?
She gave me a sad smile. “He hasn’t told you, has he?”
“Told me what?”
“He hasn’t forgiven himself. His entire life is about self-retribution. I stupidly thought that if he felt a loss big enough, then maybe he would feel enough in his heart to fight for us.”
“That’s why you left?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “He came for me. He found me, but you ruined everything. You can never make him happy, you know that?”
I knew that, but I couldn’t exactly tell her that.
“I want you to break off your engagement. If you have a sliver of love in your heart for him, you need to set him free,” her voice wavered. “He was close with me. He was so close to being happy with me.” She silently turned and walked out.
What a fucking mess. She loved him. That, I believed. He had come after her. And I had somehow gotten in between them. I had lit a fuse for a massive bomb that was set to blow up my life, but it hadn’t dawned on me that Porter’s life would be collateral damage. And according to her, he was already damaged, punishing himself for something that was none of my damn business.
I needed to make this right. And somehow, I needed to get Porter back on track. The guy had been nothing but good to me, but it wasn’t acceptable that his charity should cost him his future happiness.
I grabbed my purse. This engagement needed to end. No matter what. I would tell my parents the truth and let the chips fall. And then I would do my best to steer Porter back to Felicia.