As Julian watched Sophia leave, something inside him collapsed. It took every bit of strength he possessed to stop himself from running after her and confessing that every single word he had spoken had been a lie—nothing but lies he had made sound like truth.

Fuck…

The image of her standing at his door in that delicate white dress, hair still damp, eyes red and swollen, with the pain of the previous night still visible on her face—it destroyed him. She had looked so fragile, as if the slightest touch could break her further.

What had he done?

A heavy sigh escaped him. The memory of her tear-streaked face, the...