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LORA

The wine glass broke against the marble floor. Red liquid spread like blood across the white stone. Two hundred of Portland's rich people turned to stare at me. I was the girl who just had her heart broken in front of everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Senator Wellington's voice was loud from the stage. "I am happy to announce that my son, Mark Wellington, will marry Miss Sophia Blackwood!"

The words hit my head like bullets. Marriage. Mark. Sophia Blackwood.

Not me. Never me.

People clapped around the ballroom while my world fell apart. Mark stood on that stage in his black suit. He put a big diamond ring on Sophia's finger. I had imagined wearing his ring. I had been silly enough to believe we would get married.

I could not speak. I could not breathe. I could only watch as my boyfriend of three years kissed another woman in front of everyone I knew.

"Oh, do not look so surprised," Sophia said. Her blue eyes were mean and happy. "You knew you were just practicing, right? Like warm-up before the real thing?"

The words hurt like someone hit me. Practice. Warm-up. Three years of my life meant nothing to him.

"Mark and I have been planning this for months," she said. Her voice was loud enough for all the people to hear. "Have we not, darling?"

Mark looked at me across the room. For one second, I saw something that might have been sorrow in his face. Then it was gone. He smiled like a politician.

"Sophia is everything I have ever wanted in a wife," he said into the microphone. His voice went across the quiet ballroom.

Was I not good enough?

The crowd began to whisper. I felt their stares like bugs crawling on my skin. Their pity made me want to scream.

"Poor thing," someone said behind me. "She had no idea."

"How embarrassing," came another voice. "How could she not see this coming?"

How could I not see this coming? Because I had been living in a fairy tale while everyone else knew the real story. Because I believed in love while they were planning a business deal.

Because I was a fool.

Mark walked down from the stage. Sophia held his arm like she owned him. Which she did. As they came close, I could see he felt bad, but it was too late.

"Lora, I wanted to tell you-" he started, but I held up my hand to stop him.

"Do not." My voice sounded empty. "Just... do not."

"I tried to find the right time, but there never seemed to be-"

"The right time to tell me I have been living a lie for three years?" The words came out sharp. I did not care about making a scene anymore. "When would have been good, Mark? Before or after you slept with me last Tuesday?"

People gasped around us. Sophia's smile turned mean.

"Watch your language, darling," she said sweetly. "This is a nice gathering."

Something inside me broke. Something that had been bending under the weight of being the perfect girlfriend. The understanding partner. The woman who never made trouble.

"Nice?" I laughed, and it sounded like breaking glass. "You want to talk about nice? How nice is it to fool someone for three years while you plan your real future? How nice is it to embarrass someone in front of half of Seattle's rich people?"

The room went very quiet. Everyone wanted to hear every word.

Mark's face went white. "Lora, please, you are making this harder than it needs to be."

"Harder than it needs to be?" My laugh was harsh and bitter. "You just said you will marry another woman at what I thought was a family party. You let her call me practice to my face. How am I supposed to make this easier for you?"

"By accepting reality," Sophia said. Her voice was fake sweet. "Mark needs someone who can help his career. Someone with the right connections and background. You understand that, right?"

The right background. That meant money, status, and political connections. Everything I was not and would never be.

I looked at Mark one last time. I tried to remember the face I thought I loved. "You are right. I do understand. I understand that you are scared and could not even break up with me in private. I understand that you let me believe we had a future while you were planning one with someone else. And I understand that you are not worth another second of my time."

I turned to leave, but Sophia's voice stopped me.