Zoey swallowed. She wanted to deny the cheating accusation but, after last night, how could she?
‘I... No. I didn’t know that.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Another step closer. ‘They reached out to me after I proposed to you. As soon as they heard you’d said yes. They keep tabs on you, you see.’
‘They’re spying on me?’ Because that was creepy as all get-out. How many of them were there? Did they meet up for coffee or something, just to talk about how awful she was? Zoey wanted to ask more questions but she suspected this wasn’t quite the time.
Still. The idea of a support group for men she’d dumped at the altar, or just before, was frankly terrifying.
What sort of an awful person was she, anyway?
‘They said they wanted to try and save other poor fools from their fate.’ David’s mouth twisted up in a sneer. ‘Of course, I told them this time was different. That I was different.’
‘I wasn’t planning on running out on you,’ Zoey said miserably.
David scoffed. ‘Oh, of course not. What was it you told me on our third date? When we talked about past relationships?’ He put one finger to his jaw as if trying to remember. ‘That’s right. You told me that all those other men hadn’t been right for you—and you weren’t right for them either. Funny how you were the only one to realise that—and not until you’d dragged them all the way to the altar with you. Tell me honestly, Zoey. Do you get a kick out of destroying men’s lives?’
‘No!’ Zoey’s eyes widened as his words hit home. ‘No, David, you’ve got it wrong. I didn’t... I never meant to hurt you. Any of you. I just... I couldn’t go through with it. It’s me, not—’
‘Don’t say it,’ David snapped. ‘I know this isn’t my fault. What I don’t understand is how you think you can keep doing this to people.’
‘Would it have been better to marry you knowing we’d both be unhappy?’ she asked softly.
‘Yes! Of course it would!’
Zoey blinked. ‘I don’t... I don’t understand.’
‘Because you’re just thinking about you.’ David spat the words out, his eyes filled with hatred where she’d seen love only days before. How could she have got this so wrong?
‘So explain it to me,’ she said.
‘Every marriage has, at best, a fifty-fifty shot, right?’ David said.
‘I guess.’ Of course, she suspected it was rather less if the bride ran away and slept with another man the night before.
‘So why not just give it a go? Would it have killed you to have just shown up for once? To not run when your stupid instincts told you to? To go through with what you promised for my sake?’ His hands moved as he spoke, growing more animated as he explained. He had to have been thinking about this all night, Zoey realised.
‘You would have wanted me to marry you even if I was having doubts?’ Serious doubts. ‘Why?’
‘Because at least then I wouldn’t be the laughing stock of my company, my family and all our friends!’ David yelled and the words echoed off the walls, making Zoey’s ears ring.
‘I’m sorry if you feel embarrassed...’ she started, but David wasn’t done talking yet.
‘Do you even realise how much was riding on this marriage? Why do you think I went to such lengths to make sure it happened? It wasn’t just for my sake—it was for the sake of the company. Mine and your parents’, for that matter. We had plans, Zoey.’
‘Wait.’ Zoey frowned, trying to make sense of his words. ‘You wanted to marry me because of Mum and Dad’s company? I was a business deal?’
David waved a hand to dismiss her incredulity. ‘Not only for that, of course. It was just convenient that our industries lined up nicely. The company needs a boost right now and your parents are hoping to take early retirement, so I could have taken it over and built it up ready for when my own father retires, and I become CEO of the whole empire.’
‘Not only for that,’ she repeated faintly. Then she felt the anger rising, her instincts screaming that they’d been right all along. ‘Was anything about this relationship actually about me?’