Accidentally His Forever

I rehearsed my proposal a hundred times. In the mirror. In the shower.

In my head while brushing my teeth. "Cullman , will you marry me?" Simple. Sweet. From the heart. I had the ring. I had the dress. I had my courage. Tonight was supposed to be the night I asked the man I loved to spend forever with me.

He said he had a surprise planned, told me to meet him at his family's estate around eight. He sounded nervous.

I thought maybe-just maybe-we were thinking the same thing. Maybe he was going to propose, too. I smiled the whole drive there. I should've known better.

The moment I stepped into the grand hallway, something felt... off. Music played softly in the background.

Laughter echoed from the garden. His mother's voice floated in the air-shrill, excited. And then I saw the lights. Fairy lights wrapped around every tree. White and gold petals lined the ground. And at the center of it all... Cullman, down on one knee. But the woman in front of him... wasn't me.

I stopped breathing. "No," I whispered, the ring box slipping from my fingers. He didn't see me. Or maybe he did and didn't care. His voice was loud. Clear.

"Lara, will you marry me?" Lara. His family clapped. His sisters cried. His mother hugged her like she'd just won the d*mn lottery.

I stood there like an idiot. My hands shook. My chest burned. I felt naked. Stripped. Betrayed. Before I could move, someone bumped into me from behind. It was one of his aunts.

"Oh-Matilda," she said with fake sympathy. "You weren't... supposed to come this early."

This early? Like betrayal had a time slot. "I was told to come at eight," I said, my voice tight. She blinked, smiled like a vulture.

"Maybe you misunderstood. Or maybe this just wasn't meant to be."

Then came her. Cullman's mother. She walked up to me like she was doing charity. "Matilda, dear... you're a sweet girl. But you were never a good fit. Not for our family. Not for Cullman. Lara is a better match-she's graceful, educated, comes from a reputable family..."

"I'm a police officer," I bit out.

"Yes, but you work. Hard." She cringed like the word work was beneath her.

That was it. I turned away before the tears could spill, before the humiliation could eat me alive. Cullman didn't even look my way. He was too busy kissing Lara's hand and soaking in the applause.

My heart broke clean in half.

I drove for hours. I don't even know where I was going-I just wanted to get away from that house, from that ring in my purse, from the version of me that thought I was loved.

Around midnight, I found myself parked outside a club. The music thumped like a second heartbeat in my ears. The line outside was long, the air smelled like smoke and sweat. I didn't care. I just wanted to feel something other than this gut-wrenching pain. So I walked in.

I wasn't dressed for it-just jeans and a black blouse-but the bouncer let me through after a long look.

Inside, the lights were low and moody, people grinding on the dancefloor, others sipping drinks with secrets in their eyes.

I went straight to the bar. "Something strong," I told the bartender.

"Surprise me." The first drink burned, the second dulled everything. By the third, I was swaying to the music, tipsy and numb. I was done crying. Done thinking. Done feeling like nothing.

Then, I felt him. A warm hand touched my lower back gently, then slid up between my shoulder blades.

I turned around fast, heart in my throat-ready to tell some drunk guy off. But this wasn't just some guy. He was tall. Broad shoulders. Black shirt hugging his frame like it was custom-made. His jaw was sharp, his lips full, and his dark eyes... God. They weren't just intense-they were unreadable.

He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. He extended his hand toward me, palm up, waiting. Like this was his floor. His night. And I had just been chosen. I didn't move.

My brain screamed stranger danger, but my heart was too drunk to listen. And my pride? It was hanging by a thread.

So I put my hand in his. A small spark shot through my fingers. Electricity. Heat. His lips curled into the tiniest smirk-like he knew something I didn't.

He pulled me onto the dance floor, one step ahead of me like he'd done this a thousand times. And as his hands slid to my waist, his body aligned with mine, and the music swallowed us whole.

"Just play along" he whispered into my ears.

Tipsy and lost in the moment, I played along...what could be the worse that could happen after a heartbreak from the one I thought I would do forever with!