Chapter 14

Terrence couldn't pinpoint the exact moment things started to change between them. The memories eluded him, except for one—after his first sexual encounter with Alyssa, the immediate relief that Thea would never find out about his betrayal because she was deaf. That single thought had set the stage for his downward spiral. Yet, he had never anticipated that Thea would punish him in the most irreversible way possible—by taking her own life on what should have been their wedding day. Now, there was no denying it. Thea was dead, and he had been the one to push her to this end. The last two lines of her note cut deeper than any blade, leaving him in unbearable agony. The woman he loved so deeply no longer wished to cross paths with him. What unimaginable pain must she have endured to write those words? And the one to blame for all of it? Himself! A wave of stunned silence swept through the guests as the casket came into view. What they first dismissed as a prank by some business comp