Sonya found Jayden talking with Angel Swan, and something in her chest went cold.
She'd been expecting something like this. She'd even been half-prepared for it. But seeing it actually happen—seeing the way Jayden looked at Angel, the way he was completely ignoring everyone else in the room—made it real in a way she hadn't anticipated.
She excused herself and went to the bathroom. She locked the door and sat on the counter and allowed herself exactly five minutes to feel the sting of it.
He was supposed to be interested in her. Her mother had orchestrated this whole thing specifically so Jayden would want her, would choose her, would secure her position in a powerful family. And for a few weeks, it had worked. He'd been focused, attentive, engaged.
But now there was Angel.
And Angel was everything Sonya was and more. Richer. More powerful. More independent. Someone who didn't need Jayden; she'd just chosen to interact with him.
Sonya looked at herself in the mirror and thought about her mother's words: "Keep this man close."
But how could she keep someone close when he was already looking away?