(Hailey’s POV)
I sit in the expensive sheets, surrounded by evidence of what can never be mine, and finally let myself cry.
Not because I feel guilty. Not because I regret what I did to Caroline.
But because I just realized that I never actually won anything at all.
I was never the prize, never the goal. I was just convenient and available, willing to accept whatever scraps Samuel threw my way.
Caroline had his ring, his name, his public devotion. She had the respect of his family, the admiration of their friends, the security of being Mrs. Samuel Daves.
What did I have? Secret meetings and empty promises. A daughter he refuses to acknowledge. And a job that's just payment for my services.
I pick up the wedding photo I knocked over earlier. Caroline's smile glaringly bright.
She al
