Chapter 20

Serena's POV I just wanted to have lunch with a friend. A simple, fucking lunch. Was that too much to ask for after everything I'd been through? But no—there he was, Ryan fucking Blackwood, standing at our table looking like someone had stolen his favorite toy. A toy he'd thrown away himself. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" As Julian walked away,I kept my voice low but couldn't hide the razor edge. My hands trembled slightly under the table. "Following me? Spying on me?" His jaw muscle twitched—that familiar tension I'd seen a thousand times—but he didn't back down. Those steel-blue eyes just drilled into mine, unapologetic. "And you came running like some jealous husband," I continued, shaking my head. My chest felt tight, like something was squeezing my lungs. "Newsflash, Ryan—you divorced me. You don't get to play that role anymore." "Do you love him?" The question burst from his mouth, raw and unfiltered. I blinked, knocked completely off-balance. "What?" "This Julian."