After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage By Cassila K

Chapter 93

Gloria knew nothing about any of this.

She stood before a rack of formal dresses, caught in that familiar first-date anxiety. Though her father had arranged this engagement, she still hadn't met her fiancé since arriving in London. Her recovery had kept her homebound for weeks.

He'd sent thoughtful gifts during her convalescence, but this would be their actual first meeting. A photo could only tell you so much about a person.

Given the stakes, Gloria wasn't taking any chances. After trying on half her wardrobe, she settled on an elegant off-shoulder A-line dress in soft pink that hit just below the knee. She pinned her long hair up with a simple jade clip her grandmother had given her.

When she entered the private dining room, she immediately spotted him standing by the tall windows overlooking the Thames.

Where Elijah had been winter frost, Lucas Hayes radiated spring warmth.

her father sang his praises. Who actually prioritized their wife these days, especially in a family as complicated as the Hayes clan? Her pre-date research

fidelity, the extended family was a tabloid writer's dream—

Today proved her wrong.

transparency. Throughout their conversation, he showed genuine attentiveness-making sure her water was filled, checking

—yes, also ten years her senior-she realized that a life with someone like him might

her home himself rather than sending a

across from her family estate. Behind tinted windows, intense

searching,

the truth, he'd needed a full week just to process it all. The woman he'd despised had

could his childhood sweetheart-his perfect, pure Jenna-secretly be