6
GEORGIA'S POV
I didn't make it back home until nearly noon, dragging my feet as I stepped through the door. I felt hollow. The entire drive had been a cycle of self-loathing; I felt like I'd sunk to Jaime's level. I felt like a hypocrite.
If he ever found out, he'd use it against me. He'd probably smirk and say we were even, using my mistake to trap me in the engagement. He'd mock my outrage, claiming I'd probably been unfaithful all along.
"Wel—" Natalia started, but the greeting died on her lips when she saw my face. "Georgia, what's happened?" She rushed over, and the second her hands touched my arms, I broke.
The tears weren't just for the betrayal anymore—they were for the stranger, for the mess I'd made of my own life, and for the death of the future I'd planned.
"Georgia," she whispered, guiding me to the sofa. I sat there, trembling and sniffing back the salt.
"Jaime's cheating on me," I finally choked out. Natalia's jaw literally dropped.
"Jaime? But… how?"
"After everything, Natalia… he was in his bed with someone else. He didn't give a damn about me or the years I've spent loving him. I never wanted his money; he knows that. I've worked myself to the bone to build my own brand so I wouldn't have to depend on him. And that girl? She's clearly just after his status. So why her? Is there something wrong with me? Am I not enough?"
"Don't you dare go there," Natalia said firmly, her voice sharp with protective instinct. "You are more than enough. This is Jaime's greed, Georgia. Some men think they're entitled to everything they see. Do not take the weight of his lack of self-control onto your shoulders."
"How long has he been playing me for a fool?" I asked, staring at my interlaced fingers.
"Don't torturing yourself with the 'whens' and 'whys,'" she said, gently tucking a stray hair behind my ear and wiping my cheeks. "Speculating will only poison your mind. We don't know if it was once or a hundred times, and trying to guess will only lead to explanations that hurt you more."
"Maybe you're right," I murmured.
"So, what's the plan?"
"I'm ending it. I'm calling off the engagement and canceling the wedding. I know I've spent months on this, but if he's doing this now, he'll do it when we're married. There's no doubt in my mind. I refuse to live a life of looking over my shoulder. I'm done."
Natalia gave me a small, supportive smile and pulled me into a hug that felt like a lifeline.
I forced myself to shower and eat the breakfast she prepared—rice, meat broth, and steamed greens. I had zero appetite, but I refused to let Jaime be the reason I starved. I chewed the beef with a sort of vengeful intensity, as if I were taking a bite out of him.
Once I was dressed in boyfriend jeans and a pink cropped top—looking as unaffected as possible—Natalia looked me over one last time.
"Be careful, dear. Be calm. We don't know how he'll react when you actually stand up to him. Just come back to me safely, okay?"
The trip back to Jaime's was a nightmare. The traffic was a sweltering, standstill mess. It gave me too much time to think, my mind drifting back to the day he proposed.
We'd been at a picnic under the cherry blossoms, sitting on a pink blanket I'd picked out.
"Today is perfect," he'd said.
"It is," I'd replied. "The trees, the sky…"
"No," he'd interrupted, looking at me with those sea-blue eyes. "It's beautiful because you're here. Without you, it's just scenery. With you, it's everything. I realized last night that I never want to experience a day without you. Georgia, will you marry me? Oh god—the ring! I forgot the ring!"
I'd laughed so hard back then, fashioning a ring out of a blade of grass and telling him to put it on my finger. My heart had felt like it was blooming right along with the flowers.
How was that the same man I saw last night? It felt like a glitch in reality. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I'd hallucinated the whole thing.
But the traffic eventually broke, and by the time I reached his front porch, the sun was beginning to dip. I didn't use the code this time. I knocked. I needed that boundary.
Jaime opened the door looking like a wreck—eyes bloodshot, hair a mess.
"Georgia," he breathed.
I walked in, but I didn't go to the dining table—our spot. I stayed by the stairs, standing next to his "Alpha Wolf" statue. It was a centuries-old family heirloom he treated like a sacred protector. Standing near it felt like standing on the edge of his world, ready to jump off.
"Georgia, please. Sit down. Let's just talk," he pleaded, stepping toward me. "About last night…"
"I didn't come here for a long chat, Jaime. I have something to say."
"Just hear me out first," he grabbed my hand, but I pulled back. "You're acting so cold, so unlike yourself. I just need to explain."
"That's funny, because you don't look anything like the man I thought I knew."
"It was a mistake, Georgia! A one-time mistake."
"A mistake?" I scoffed. "You just tripped and fell into her?"
"She was heartbroken, Georgia! She's had feelings for me for a long time and I—I felt responsible—"
"So you slept with her to mend her heart?" I cut him off, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Look, stop being so rigid! This is the kind of mistake every man makes at least once. It's nature."
The room went cold. "Don't you dare use that excuse with me."
"Why not? It's the truth! I'm a man before I'm your fiancé."
"Then go find someone who wants a 'man' like that. I want a fiancé who puts his commitment to me above his 'nature.' If it's such a 'little mistake,' why don't I bring a man over and sleep with him right here? Then we're even, right?"
"Georgia!" he snapped, his face darkening. "You're going way too far."
"Why? Is it not a mistake a woman can make once in her life? Or is the 'nature' excuse only for you?"
"It's not the same and you know it!"
My temper finally snapped. My voice rose until it filled the entire house.
"That 'little mistake' burned everything we had to the ground! It killed my trust, it fouled every memory I have of us, and it turned me into a pathetic joke! I hate you, Jaime! I never wanted a man like you, and I never will!"
"Georgia, I'm sorry!"
"Sorry is a word you use for breaking a glass, not a person! You're an ingrate. You took me for granted and expected me to just smile and take it? You're a dog, Jaime. A dirty dog."
I reached up, wrenched the engagement ring off my finger, and hurled it at his feet. It hit the floor with a sharp clink and skittered across the hardwood.
"As of right now, we're done. The engagement is over."
The look of pure, unadulterated shock on his face was the most honest thing I'd seen from him in years.