"Whether you want to go in and sign the papers is up to you."
——
Silence.
I fixed my gaze on Phil, then slowly shifted it to Clarissa, cowering behind him.
This was the man I'd loved for seven years.
This was the scholarship student I'd supported for five.
They'd been tangled in each other's sheets in the Maldives behind my back. They'd been at it again the night before we were supposed to register our marriage.
I tore the number slip to pieces.
The shreds drifted down, scattering across the floor of the registration office.
Phil's expression darkened instantly.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Serena?"
"This is a government office. Have some decency."
I didn't spare him a glance. My eyes were locked on Clarissa.
"I supported you for five full years."
"I paid your way through college. I bought your clothes, covered your tuition, even footed the bill for your mother's medical treatments."
"And this is how you repay me? By crawling into your benefactor's fiancé's bed?"
Clarissa flinched. Her fingers twisted into the hem of Phil's jacket, and she stammered out a broken explanation.