Her only option now was to be completely honest and show sincere repentance, all while playing the victim in hopes of stirring Finnian’s sympathy.
But from start to finish, Finnian’s expression remained cold and distant.
He withdrew his hand from Liliana’s grasp and said evenly, “Liliana, we’re not getting married.”
His words hit her like a bolt of lightning. Liliana’s face turned deathly pale, and she stood frozen in place.
Finnian continued, “You deceived me and wasted so much of my time. Considering that you once saved my life, I’ll let all of this go. From now on, let’s just be strangers. You don’t have to return any of the gifts the Everly family gave you. Keep them.”
With those words, Finnian turned and strode away.
He wasn’t leaving the gifts to her out of kindness—or as compensation.
After all, in this situation, he owed Liliana nothing. If anything, Liliana owed him far more.
If Liliana hadn’t occupied that spot beside him that night, he would have woken up and, finding no one else in the room, gone to look for the woman he truly had been with. He would have found Amara.
Back then, he and Amara were still married. Once he found her, the two of them would have talked things through, and the shared experience would have brought them back together.
Amara had been pregnant with his child. Even if he’d felt nothing for her at the time, responsibility alone would have prompted him to look after Amara—and, in time, affection would have grown.
He couldn’t even bear to imagine how happy their lives might have been. The very thought of it left his heart in agony.
So, in this matter, it was Liliana who had wronged him. She was the one who had turned his chance at happiness into nothing.
He wasn’t sure whether he should hate Liliana—but one thing he was certain of: he never wanted to see her again. That’s why he didn’t want the gifts back; he was determined to cut every last tie between them.


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