Secret Admiration: Finding True Love After Prison

Chapter 4 Trophy Wife

The other guy laughed. "But Meryl's a real knockout, isn't she? With that face and figure, she'd turn heads anywhere. Keeping her around as a trophy wife wouldn't be so bad."

He glanced at Dalton, tossing a card onto the table. "Dalton, are you really okay with letting someone else have her?"

Dalton finally spoke, his tone flat and uninterested. "You want her? She's yours."

The guy was taken aback, unsure if Dalton was serious or just messing with him, and chuckled awkwardly.

"Everyone knows Meryl's been devoted to you. She's followed you around all these years. I guess I'm not that lucky."

Outside the door, Meryl was stunned, her face twisting into a bitter smile.

It was well known that she loved Dalton, but hearing him casually offer her up like a prize was a painful blow.

The sting of humiliation made her eyes well up. She clenched her fists tightly, feeling overwhelmed by a suffocating sense of betrayal.

She remembered being fourteen, new to the city from a small town.

Her dad, Malcolm Stone, had put her in an elite school.

It was supposed to be a fresh start, but Lydia Stone's schemes ruined it fast.

they locked Meryl in

help until she lost her voice, but no one

Dalton kicked the

was freezing cold, and there he was,

unbuttoned uniform flapped in the wind, wet hair

the dim light, she couldn't see his face clearly, but she remembered

said,

was a

moment, she had loved him deeply, chasing him for

now, she was just something he

to the window, pulled

someone called out

"Meryl? You're back?"

ended the call, and turned

mother, Bianca Stone, looked surprised and approached with a skeptical expression.

How ridiculous.

birthday but

said, frowning as she looked Meryl over. "A little hardship can be good for you. It teaches you lessons. Your father and I won't hold the past against you. Today's both your and your sister's birthday. Change into a dress quickly." Then, as if remembering something, she added, "Oh, right. Since you've been gone for three

she

bathroom, trying not

then, the sound of footsteps outside the door signaled the