He smiled, dismissive.
"Obviously—I needed a slut like her to make you look good by comparison."
"Those videos? I set that up. I fed them to the media myself. All of it was to prop up your pure sweetheart persona."
"My parents won't let you through the door, right? But once they find out I'm about to marry trash like Deidre Morton, the comparison alone will make them accept you."
I stood frozen where I was, ice spreading through every limb.
So from the very beginning, I had only ever been the foil for his idealized first love.
But I'm Deidre Morton. Nobody made me to be stepped on.
——
I stayed behind the hedgerow in the garden,
chest slamming against my ribs, every gulp of air coming up short no matter how hard I tried.
Clyde's voice kept cutting into me like a blade.
"Victoria, you know why I picked her?"
"Deidre Morton—big tits, no brain. Dangle anything shiny and she'll chase it. I barely had to try before she actually believed I was going to marry her. Moved to tears like a complete idiot."
He pulled out his phone, scrolled through something, and handed it to Victoria with a grin.