Bones of Love, Ashes of Us

"Lila White! Is this your idea of an engagement present?!"

Ethan Mitchell gritted his teeth as he slammed the magazine straight at Lila’s chest.

Caught off guard, Lila flinched and took a shaky step back. Her trembling hands fumbled to grab the magazine.

And then she saw it—photos of her getting all cozy with some random guy.

Her face went pale in an instant. Shock. Confusion. Panic.

What the hell was this?!

She didn’t even know the guy in the photo. How could pictures like this even exist?

"Ethan! Please! Just listen to me! This isn’t what it looks like! I—mmph!"

Before she could finish, Ethan lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat. The sudden squeeze knocked the breath right out of her, her whole body stiff from the pressure.

"Listen to you? Listen to what? How you cheated? How there’s literal proof in front of me, and you still have the nerve to deny it?"

His voice was ice-cold, and his eyes looked at her like she was the worst thing he’d ever seen. "Have you no shame, Lila?"

"I didn’t... I swear I didn’t!" Lila’s voice cracked as tears poured down. Why wouldn’t he believe her?

She’d only ever loved one man her whole life—Ethan Mitchell. How could she possibly be with someone else right when they were about to get engaged?

"Ethan! Please! There’s gotta be some kind of mistake!"

She dropped to her knees, wrapping herself around his leg, but he kicked her away like trash.

Pain shot through her body, but she barely noticed. Scrambling up from the floor, she still tried to explain.

Ethan stood towering over her, expression unreadable. For a split second, there was something else in his eyes—something like hurt—but then it was gone, swallowed up by disgust.

"So you’re still gonna lie to my face?"

"No... I’m telling the truth!"

He sneered and waved someone in. The door opened, and a beautiful woman stepped in slowly.

As soon as Lila saw who it was, hope flashed across her face. She crawled toward the woman and took a deep breath.

"Ava! Tell Ethan! You know I’d never do something like this!"

Ava Morgan—her best friend. She’d back her up, right?

Ava lowered her gaze, hiding the quick flicker of triumph in her eyes, then gave a sad, conflicted look.

"Lila... you shouldn’t have lied to Ethan. He really cared about you."

"What..."

Lila felt like she’d just been shoved into a bottomless pit. All the color drained from her face.

Ava stepped behind Ethan and whispered, “Lila told me herself she never liked you. She just used you to help her family stay afloat financially..."

"Enough!" Ethan roared, eyes burning with fury as he stared Lila down like he wanted to crush her.

“No… Ava, why are you doing this? I never said anything like that!”

Lila collapsed to the ground, shaking. Her whole world felt like it was falling apart.

Then it hit her.

It had to be Ava. Ava must’ve set her up. The photos. The lies. All of it.

She didn’t understand why her best friend would betray her, but right now, all she wanted was for Ethan to believe her.

"Ethan, please! Someone’s doing this to me on purpose! You know how much I—Ah!"

Lila clutched her face, stunned. He’d just slapped her.

"You think someone’s framing you? Go look in the mirror! Look at how happy you seemed in those pictures! Lila White, I’m disgusted."

The loathing in his voice cut deeper than any slap. He turned away, not sparing her a glance.

"From now on, the engagement is off. The Mitchell Group will no longer support the White family financially!"

Ethan’s voice was cold enough to freeze. Detached, final. Like she meant nothing.