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.

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

Lucas's direct line supposedly valued fidelity, the extended family was a tabloid writer's dream— affairs, love children, the works. With Lucas living in the family compound alongside his half-brothers,

Today proved her wrong.

folder addressing all her concerns with surprising transparency. Throughout

comfortable. As she studied him —yes, also ten years her senior-she realized that a life with someone

drove her home himself rather

caught up in their conversation, Gloria missed the dark sedan parked among the trees across from her family estate.

searching, Elijah

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

accept it. How could his childhood sweetheart-his perfect,