Destined to be a Replacement MateEpisode 1
The door clicked open behind me.
I turned, startled, only to find Isaac entering—radiating warmth, his eyes sparkling with that familiar charm that once made my heart flutter. But the brilliance wasn’t for me. It never truly had been.
“Not close to whom?” he asked casually, amusement lacing his voice.
I didn’t hesitate. “You,” I answered, blunt but trembling.
His brows rose in mock surprise. Without waiting for an invitation, he stepped in and wrapped his arms around me. The gesture that once brought comfort now made my stomach churn.
“Really now?” he whispered, breath warm against my ear. “Strange. You’d think all those nights we spent together meant something.”
I tried to wriggle free. My eyes, unwillingly, landed on a faint smear of lipstick on his collar—one that wasn’t mine.
The sting on my wrist sharpened like a warning, reminding me of the burns I’d tried so hard to ignore. My composure slipped. I blinked back tears, but they came anyway.
Isaac’s teasing faded. Alarm replaced it as he noticed my wince. He grabbed my arm and pushed back the sleeve.
“What the hell—Wendy, how did you get these burns? When? Why didn’t you say anything?”