Reborn From Their Cold Betrayal

res was laid out before me. I was supposed to sign my life aw

hen it came crashing down, my fiancé didn't pull me to safety. He

her. Inst

I needed to be more understanding. "Cassidy has alw

ld hospital room from a cancer they found too late. Jace was on a romantic

e in the universe. I had wasted my one precious life on

contract on the table. Jace wanted Cassidy. My

line through my name on the signature lin

I would liv

pte

Stanle

y my life was also supposed

er voice as crisp and cold as the starched white linen on the dining table. "

ent rhythm against the polished mahogany. The sound echoed the frantic beat of th

mportant, permanent. It smelled of money and lawyers. My fingers traced the embossed seal of Robert

aking with joyful anticipation, my heart fluttering at the thought of binding my life to Jace Robertson. I had loved him, or at least, I had

nated in one blindingly clear moment. The Stanley Foundation Gala. A night of champagne

," my mother prompte

against my skin. I didn't look at her. I didn't need to. I knew the exact

le floor. He didn' t greet me. He just walked stra

he air in the room was suffocating him. He was anxious. I could see it in the

he pages of business magazines under headlines like 'Most Eligible Billionaire Bachelor.'

t me. Not

fluttering to her chest. "Oh, Ellie, that jawline could cut glass. You' re the l

I need a minute to read this over properly," I said, my voice surprisingly steady.

assidy was probably waiting by the phone, anxious f

f I hadn' t spent years studying his every micro-expression. "Right.

make sure she doesn' t do anything... creative. Cassidy isn

agile one, the one making a sacrifice, sent a familiar, bitter taste to the back of

ending, explaining. It never worked. Th

all, and the room fell silent again, save for the

h fear, but with a rage so profound it felt like a physical

here was a groan of stressed metal, then a collective gasp from the crowd. I was stand

en look at me. He moved like a lightning strike, shoving past me so hard I stumbled backw

ingle thought for me, his fiancée, who was l

the emotional wound was mortal. In that split second, I saw the

while a stranger helped me to my feet. Later, in the hospital, my own mother told me I needed t

t there. Jace was on a business trip, a trip I later found out was a romantic

ast coherent thought was a regret so deep it felt like it could tear a hole in the universe.

e contract, smearing the ink of the first p

t this

f my palm. The pain was grounding, a fierce, bright anchor in

e line designated for the br

nk was definitive, a brutal slash across a future I refused to accept. Then,

DY CO

w her as the prize. Fine. Let them have each other. Let them be bound together, not just by their sordid affair, but by the full weight of the Stanley-Robertson merg

itness for the Stanley family. Then I capped the

k Persian rug. My mother was on the phone in the

ticking clock, and out the front door into the crisp autum

in my life, I was free.