To him, I was just the ugly backdrop that made his idealized first love look even more radiant. A foil.
A tool.
A piece of trash to be used up and thrown away.
I spun around to run,
but my knee buckled and I stumbled back a step without meaning to.
A dry branch snapped under my foot.
Both of them turned at the same time.
Victoria's face went bone-white. She shrank behind Clyde on instinct. "What do we do? She heard everything we just said..."
Clyde's head snapped up, his eyes locking onto me. "Deidre. Come out."
I straightened my spine and stepped out from behind the hedgerow.
Three people facing off under the moonlight. The air between us was eerily still.
"You heard all of that?"
A slight crease between his brows. His voice perfectly calm.
I looked at him and laughed.
It must have been an ugly laugh—I could feel the tears forcing their way up, burning behind my eyes—but I choked them back with everything I had.
"Every word."
Victoria glanced at my face, then at Clyde, biting her lip.
"Clyde... she's the one you're with. I'm the one who shouldn't be here. Maybe you should just let me go."
Clyde actually smiled. "You're everything I've ever wanted, Victoria. Why would I give you up for anyone else?"