Boyfriend?
The word hammered inside Gabriel's skull like a cruel joke. His eyes lifted to the man towering above him, and a sick weight pressed on his chest.
Vlad was everything he was not—young, powerful, strikingly handsome. The kind of man any woman would crave.
Gabriel suddenly felt self-conscious and found himself too old, too weak to fulfill Tania's desires. In that moment, he understood the brutal truth: she had never wanted him, only his wealth.
A bitter sneer tugged at his lips. His pride crumbled. His illusion that the age gap didn't matter as long as they loved each other was shattered. No amount of money could ever satisfy her, and he couldn't compare himself with a man like Vlad.
"Why?" Gabriel rasped, anger and anguish bleeding into his voice. "Why deceive me? If you wanted him, why come to me at all? Why lie?"
Tania laughed. "Why? Because I could. I lied before and fooled the whole Beaumont family. It's not a big deal."
