Chapter 15
The night air was cold and sharp when Linsey finally stepped out of the bookstore.
Her fingers ached from holding her phone too tight. Her thoughts were tangled—caught somewhere between heartbreak and clarity. The streets were quieter now. The frenzy had moved back online, where speculation ran wild.
“Will she stay?”
“She’s been used.”
“She married the villain.”
But they didn’t know the full story.
Not the years she spent invisible. Not the way Collin had looked at her when no one else ever really saw her.
She called a cab and gave the address. But she didn’t go straight to the penthouse.
Instead, she went to see the one person who knew her better than anyone—Mrs. Harriet Lane, the bookstore owner who had once offered her a job and a warm cup of tea when Linsey had nothing.
Harriet opened the door in a robe, eyes wide. “Well, I’ll be. Look who the storm blew in.”
Linsey gave a weak smile. “Still make that peppermint tea?”
“Only if you still know how to cry quietly.”
They sat in Harriet’s tiny kitchen, surrounded by mismatched chairs and the smell of cinnamon. Linsey sipped tea while Harriet watched her with that same knowing gaze.
“I saw the headlines,” Harriet said softly. “Saw the photo, too.”
“I feel like the whole world’s watching me crash,” Linsey murmured.
“Does he love you?” Harriet asked bluntly.
Linsey looked up. “I think so.”
“And do you love him?”
“I don’t know what to do with what I feel,” she admitted. “He betrayed me. But he also stood by me. He didn’t let the world tear me down, even when they turned on him too.”
Harriet nodded slowly. “Sometimes, the people who hurt you are the same ones who’d go to war for you. The question is—can they change?”
Linsey was quiet.
“You’ve always been strong,” Harriet said gently. “But strength doesn’t mean walking away. Sometimes, it means staying long enough to rebuild something broken.”
Back at the penthouse, Collin sat in the dark, the living room lit only by the flicker of the TV.
Every news channel had his name on the screen. His company’s stocks were dropping. His lawyers had already called twice. His PR team wanted a statement.
But none of it mattered.
Because she hadn’t come home.
Then his assistant rushed in without knocking.
“Sir. You need to see this. Now.”
He handed Collin a tablet. A livestream was trending—Felix and Joanna holding a press conference.
Collin stared at the screen as Felix stepped up to the mic.
“I was misled,” Felix said, voice trembling. “By Joanna. She fed me lies. She told me marrying Linsey was a mistake. I see now that I lost the best thing I ever had.”
Collin’s jaw clenched.
Joanna followed him, dressed in white, smiling like a queen.
“It’s true,” she said. “We dug into Collin Riley’s past because we thought the public deserved to know the truth. But what we didn’t expect… was how deep the manipulation went.”
She held up a document.
“This proves that Collin Riley knew Linsey’s weaknesses years before their wedding. That he targeted her, got close, and used that relationship to rewrite his own image.”
The reporters shouted questions. Flashbulbs popped.
But then something no one expected happened.
The back door opened—and Linsey walked out onto the press stage.
Hair slightly windblown. Eyes tired. But spine straight as steel.
Everyone froze.
Joanna’s smile cracked.
Felix whispered, “What is she doing here?”
Linsey walked calmly to the mic and said, “I wasn’t invited. But since everyone’s talking about me, I figured I should speak.”
She turned to the crowd. “Yes, Collin knew me before I ever knew him. Yes, he kept secrets. And yes, I was angry when I found out.”
Joanna looked smug again.
“But I’ve had time to think,” Linsey said. “And here’s the truth the headlines won’t tell you.”
She looked straight into the cameras.
“I’ve been abandoned. I’ve been underestimated. I’ve been left at the altar. But the man you’re trying to crucify? He didn’t run. He stayed. When I was at my lowest, he didn’t look away.”
Reporters began scribbling furiously.
Linsey took a breath. “This isn’t a perfect love story. But it’s real. And I’d rather fight for something real than go back to a lie in a tuxedo.”
She glanced at Felix. “You had five years.”
Then to Joanna. “You had power. Beauty. Games.”
And finally, to the cameras again. “But Collin? He had choice. And he chose me.”
The crowd erupted with flashes, shouts, questions.
Linsey turned, walked off the stage, and disappeared into the night.
Collin watched the entire thing from the penthouse.
And when the screen went dark, he finally smiled—for the first time in days.
Because she hadn’t come back for safety.
She’d come back for him.