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Lauren stilled where she stood, a kind of nuh her li before he had proposed to her And this hy

Like everyone else in her life, she had only been secondary to his actual goal Like always

She slid to the settee in a shaking heap, her chest so tight that she couldn’t breathe

“Head down, Lauren Between your legs,” Farrah’s voice sounded sharp, as if it was rolling in through a fog

Breath caulps and with it the sound of her heart shattering She heard Farrah rushing Sal the door Heard her call her name, her face worried

But as she raised her head, and scrunched her knees up, all Lauren could see, hear, feel was Zafir

“I need you, Lauren Unlike anything or anyone else in the world”

He’d so cleverly laid out a trap for her without really saying anything, let her spin a story with his teasing glances and caresses and words

Manipulated her into believing what they had was e of convenience she had thought

Used her guilt that she had hidden the truth fros for him

Played the part of the char for her

All for Behraat

She hadn’t asked for the fantasy of it She hadn’t asked for him to tease her, and charm her and pretend as if he cared about her

You’re the fool, Lauren, so nasty whispered inside her head You’ve always been a fool for hi

Again and again, he’d proved that only Behraat counted for him It was only Behraat that had his heart

Pulling in a long breath, she got up from the settee and told Farrah that she wanted to lie down

Behind her bedroo with fury

She couldn’t bear to be here another moment Couldn’t bear this ache in her chest Couldn’t bear to live the rest of her life with a ain, not only showed her how little she meant to him, but used her and their situation

How could she ever trust hiain? How could she trust herself, when apparently, she could spin a fantasy out of nothing?

Afternoon gave way to evening and she shivered at the sudden chill co in from the balcony

She splashed water on her face, changed her clothes, called Abdul and instructed hi for her Only one person would help her leave the palace, the city and Behraat without notifying Zafir Without caring about bringing down Zafir’s wrath