Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
When Willem paused to take a sip of his wine, Melanie said with a smile, “We should really do this more often.”
Willem smiled back. “It would be my pleasure.”
As the billionaire spoke, his hooded gaze rested lazily on Shane, which made Melanie’s daughter blush beautifully.
Serenity saw the same thing, too, and her heart lurched yet again.
If Serenity had been a little older, a little more experienced, she would have realized that everything the billionaire said and did was for her benefit.
But because she was not – because she was young and innocent and Willem de Konigh was her first love, the idea of deception did not occur to Serenity at all.
Instead, she saw the way Willem stared at her half-sister, and she thought exactly what he wanted her to think. She felt exactly what he wanted her to feel.
And she found herself breaking bit by bit.
She listened to them exchange banter with wit and grace and thought, ‘I could never be like her.’
She watched them stare at each other, flirting with their eyes, seducing with a mere curve of their lips, and the truth could have not been more obvious. Her half-sister and the billionaire knew each other in a way that Serenity did not – and would never – know Willem.
And her heart broke even more.
Beside Serenity, Willem tried not to frown as he watched Shane pour herself another glass of wine. He had known her long enough to know that she was well past her limit, and as such was liable to do or say anything now.
And as soon as the thought occurred, it was as if he had jinxed himself, with Shane suddenly saying with a laugh, “Do you remember the first time you came here, darling?”
Willem stiffened, and so did the girl beside him.
When the billionaire glanced at Melanie, she had no trouble interpreting his look and said right away, “Shane, my dear, I think...”
But her daughter carried on, saying in a singsong voice, “I promise you, Willem, you were the only man I gave head to here in my mother’s house.”
Serenity sucked her breath in. Had she...had she heard Shane right? Was she saying what Serenity thought she said?
The first night Willem had come to Melanie’s home...was also the first time she and the billionaire had met, wasn’t it?
“You’re that special, darling,” Shane slurred. Success had gone to her head with the way the Dutch billionaire had spent the entire dinner flirting with her. For Shane, it meant that her patience was finally being rewarded and that Willem had made his mind up to marry her.
So she had drunk wine to celebrate, deliberately ignoring the fact that once she started drinking, she was unable to stop.
Looking at Willem, she purred, “For you, I didn’t even think twice. I just went down on my knees—-”
Jumping to her feet, Melanie hurried to her daughter as she tried to hush Shane, “I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
Shane laughingly waved her mother away. “Oh, don’t be such a prude. I told you about it that very night. That’s why I went to your room first thing after he left.”
Serenity whitened. She remembered that night perfectly, and Shane had been in her mother’s room.
“And, oh, how you delighted me with the size of—-”
“Sweetheart, please, you really need to keep this private.”
Serenity could feel Willem looking at her, but she could not, for the life of her, meet his eyes. She was numb with shock, and she hated herself for it. In the back of her mind, Serenity had always known that the billionaire and her half-sister couldn’t have enjoyed a platonic relationship.
Even so, she had foolishly blocked such thoughts from her mind. She had stubbornly clung to the fantasy that they only enjoyed each other’s company outside the bedroom.
But now, that fantasy was forever shattered.
And she just couldn’t take it anymore.
Serenity started to stand.
But Willem stopped her.
His hand finding hers under the table, concealed by the royal blue linen, and not letting go.
Stay.
Pain and pleasure ripped into her at the feel of his hand, but then she heard Shane start to speak again. Just the sound of her sister’s voice was devastating, and her words turned Serenity’s sweetest memories of meeting Willem for the first time into something excruciatingly vulgar.
She remembered Willem reaching out to ruffle her hair.
Was it the same hand he used to hold her sister’s head while Shane had given him a blowjob?
The thought was crucifying, and Serenity tried to tug her hand out of his hold, desperate to run away from the reality of Shane’s words.
But his grip only tightened.
Please.
She tugged harder even as she struggled not to cry. She knew she was being foolish. She knew she was acting every bit the nineteen-year-old she was, but she couldn’t help it.
She had needed to believe that Willem and her sister didn’t have that kind of relationship. But now, she had no choice. Shane had shoved the truth in her face, and now there was no escaping the pain.