The laughter that followed the woman's comment swept through the restaurant like a wave, hitting Amanda from every direction. She could feel each laugh landing on her skin, each snicker pressing into her back as she tried to gather herself. Her fingers tightened around her purse strap until the leather bit into her palm.She wanted to vanish. To simply stop existing in this room full of strangers who were watching her world collapse with the casual entertainment of people scrolling through their phones at night.Julian sat quietly through all of it. His water glass was still untouched, his hands resting on the table, his expression carrying something that would have been unrecognizable to him even thirty minutes ago.Relief.For the first time since he'd met Amanda in college, since he'd spent years building her into something perfect and untouchable inside his own mind, Julian felt genuinely fortunate that she'd never accepted him. The woman he'd been in love with, the woman he'd ima