Chapter 224

Our lovemaking kept us up for hours, well past midnight. It was the most amazing sex I had ever had, even with Andrew. It made my heart ache with guilt and conflict by the time Andrew finally fell asleep.

As soon as Andrew’s snoring assured me that Andrew was truly asleep, I slipped out of his arms and quietly got dressed. I then found a piece of paper and a pen and sat down in one of the loveseats to start writing.

I wrote and rewrote the letter more times than I could count. Nothing sounded quite right, and nothing resonated with how I truly felt. I finally settled on something passable:

Dear Andrew,

Last night was one of the best nights of my life. I will never forget it or you, but we cannot go on this way. I think that, deep down, we both know that.

I know that we affirmed each other as mates, but our relationship is toxic—too toxic to take to the next level.

You cannot have an ex-con for a Luna or even a girlfriend. You and I know the truth about what happened to lead to my arrest, but no one else will ever accept that, not without proof. My prison record will forever be a stain on your image, and I could not live with myself if I cost you your position as Alpha King.

I cannot be your Luna or your girlfriend, not when it only leads to me being a target of constant assassination attempts. It is not good for me, physically or mentally. Even if you can handle all the physical threats to me, the attempts against me will constantly erode my mental state, and that won’t be good for our relationship, for you, or for me.

Others have tried to tell us what was best for us, but we ignored them because we love each other. Perhaps, though, we only feel a bond to each other brought on by our shared trauma. Maybe we need to see other people in order to see our true feelings for each other.

It pains me to write this, as I do not want this to be true…but it’s time that we open our eyes.

We both must accept that it is time for us to move on.

I could not see the depth of this truth until I watched your interview on Good Morning, Day-Walkers! Seeing you with Princess Aurora…you looked right together. We do not.

I know how much you want our relationship to work out. I wanted it to work out, too. It’s just not our time anymore.

I hope that you will not be mad, especially when I say what I could not say last night: I have already moved on. I suggest that you do so as well. I’m sure that Princess Aurora will welcome you with open arms.

Trust me when I say that Princess Aurora truly loves you. I saw it in the park, and I saw it in your interview. Give her a chance, just like you gave me.

There will always be a special place in my heart for you. You healed my heart when I thought that it would forever be broken. I can never thank you enough for that.

Please, take care of yourself.

Love Always,

Crystal

I folded the letter and gave it a light kiss on the fold. Then I set it on the pillow on my side of Andrew’s bed. I gave Andrew one last longing look before I left the mansion and drove off into the early morning sunrise.

My post went up on social media at 9 a.m. I simply changed my status from “in a relationship with Andrew Dubois” to “engaged to Noah Bernard”. Then I left the following comment:

Andrew and I have parted ways. I have moved on, and hopefully everyone else can as well. I wish Andrew and Princess Aurora nothing but the best.

I ended the post with a heart emoji, though my heart was actually breaking.

Within minutes, Noah had changed his relationship status from “single” to “engaged to Crystal Blanchard”. He posted a picture we had taken that morning over a cup of coffee and some croissants. In the image, Noah had his arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I waved my hand at the camera, Noah’s gold rose engagement ring serving as the focal point of the picture.

The caption read:

Breakfast with my beautiful fiancée. #GoddessBlessed #WeddingBells

I hearted the image and reposted it to my page.

When I returned to my original post, I could see that the comments had already started to pour in. None of them were good.

Really, b*tch? You’re just going 2 up and leave a hunk like the Alpha King for someone like HIM?

What a frivolous woman! Her bed’s not even cold before she drags another man to it—a downgrade, no less!

She’s bad to the bone, and not in a good way. Andrew Dubois is too good for her. Good riddance!

My hand tightened on my phone as I recognized some of the commenters as employees from Ever After Weddings:

Try working for her. She’s clearly fickle and without morals. Might just quit over this!

Me too! First, she breaks up his family by getting Bob arrest at his and Lisa’s wedding, now this? No wonder they got into it that night!

I’ve always known that she was no good. No one believed me. They should’ve pinned her for that murder!

The last comment obviously came from Miranda, so it was easy to let it slide. The others were harder.

Tears pricked the edges of my cheeks as Noah walked into the living room with a fresh cup of coffee for each of us.

“Something wrong, my love?” he asked.

My cheeks warmed at him calling me “my love”. I wasn’t used to that yet, but Noah had taken to it like a well-fitting glove. At least it made him smile.

I motioned for him to sit on the couch next to me. Noah set the mugs on the coffee table in front of us and took his seat on the cushion beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I rested my head in the crook of his neck, though it wasn’t as comfortable as when I would rest my head on Andrew’s shoulder.

“Here,” I said, showing him my phone with the social media comments on the screen.

Noah took the phone from my hand and scrolled through the comments. He let out a low whistle and even blushed slightly at some of them. He handed the phone back to me and scratched the back of his head with his free hand.

“Wow. Those are harsh,” he said. “What are you going to do about them?”

I thought about his question for a few minutes. Then I set my phone on the coffee table, face-down, and grabbed my mug. After a long drink of coffee, I finally responded.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Nothing?”

“Yeah, nothing. Those trolls want me to respond, but I won’t give them that pleasure. It’s my life, and I’m happy with my decision.”

Noah squeezed my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.

“I’m proud of you.” He paused. “And for the record, I’m happy with your decision, too.”

“I know.” I blew on my coffee and took another sip. “I know.”