Derek's POV
There's no way to describe the feeling of watching the woman you love walk away with another man. It's like watching your entire world collapse in slow motion.
Seeing Bella with Vance, her actual husband, felt like someone had ripped my heart straight from my chest.
Every nightmare I'd tried to push away came crashing down on me at once. I felt like the biggest fool alive.
All this time, I'd convinced myself she was lying. That the husband story was just another wall she'd built to keep us out. That she was using him as an excuse to prove we'd lost our chance with her forever.
I thought she just wanted to show us she had somewhere else to belong.
But standing there, watching them together, I realized the truth. This wasn't the same Bella who used to be ours. The woman I'd loved for years had moved on completely.
I'd lost my chance to be anything to her. Friend, lover, protector. Nothing.
