The Devious Husband (The Windsors, #6)

by Catharina Maura

This one is for those who learned the hard way that while words can be wielded as weapons, the things we leave unsaid can leave deeper scars. Take your chances. Follow your heart. It might just lead you to a life better than you dared dream of.

“Marriage isn’t easy, Xavier, especially not when it’s arranged. If you’re going to marry her, commit to her, even at times when it’s hard. Promise me that even if she shatters your heart into pieces, all those broken shards will still belong to her, and you’ll give her a chance to put them back together.”

want your raw, unfiltered truth, your insecurities, your jealousy. I want every single thing you dislike about yourself, every single thing you try to hide. I want all of you — all the little things that make you who you are, not who you pretend to be.

“Don’t do that,” he says, his tone pleading. “Don’t dismiss your needs simply because I failed to meet them.”

“You once told me that I shouldn’t lower my standards just because you failed to meet them, and I’m finally taking your words to heart. I’m done expecting better from someone who is more attached to his fears and insecurities than to me. You made me fall for you, only to push me away and show me that my love isn’t worth fighting for. You built me up, only to shake the foundations I thought we had, and you didn’t even have the decency to watch me fall apart.

This story… it’s one I was certain would end in the words, ‘and they lived happily ever after’, but instead, you’ll always be the one that got away. The thing is, I should’ve tried harder, should never have given up on the only woman I’ve ever loved… but what else could I do when you’d begun to look at another man the way you used to look at me? Your happiness is all I’ve ever wanted, even if it’s at the cost of mine.

I know I don’t compare to the heroes you read about, but I will never stop trying to make your wildest dreams come true.’ I had it all memorized, spent months working on what I’d say. This was supposed to become her new favorite book, our story her favorite of all. Now it’s one she doesn’t even want to hold on to.

After all, ‘Happily Ever After’ isn’t a moment. It’s a choice, one we must make over and over again, every single day. It’s a commitment to