Till Death, A Bloody Vow

d: "Till death do us part." For fifteen years, that promise

w while she called to announce her pregnancy.

recording of him calling me

ho can't give you an

le wedding gift: a file detailing t

He orchestrated it to break me, and in the proce

the file was his o

was barren. He was. A

pte

Taylo

Carson killed for

ond cutting glass. I remember the splintering sound of the cheap wooden baseball bat as it connected wit

of a terrified boy. They were calm, almost serene. The cuffs clicked around his wrists, and

smile spread a

ispered, the words carrying across the

thick glass partition, our futures planned in hushed tones over a monitored phone line. The day he got out, he lo

ng. He was the charismatic face, the ruthless shark who could smell opportunity from a mile away. I was the strategist be

at violent night. Our bond wasn't just love; it was a pact sealed in blood and trauma. On our wedding day, s

saved me. "Till death do us part," he said, his voice a l

ck without hesitatio

re, the unspoken threat that hung in the air of every boardroom and every whis

it w

A meticulously curated collection spanning years. All of the same girl. A girl with wide, innocent

guilty. He leaned back in his leather chair, the skyline of the

Cassie. A diversion

dangerously low, a coiled snake ready to strike. The stack of printed

c," he said, wavin

a teenager cowering in a trailer. I pushed a single sheet of paper across the desk

looked at me, a flicker of someth

isn' t a ne

o that possessive growl I knew so well. "You se

ade by children who di

you made to him in return." He stood up, towering over me, and repeated the words that had once bee

of tearing paper filling the silent office. Then he wal

known number. I answered, a sick fee

e on the other end.

?" I asked,

"I just wanted to call and... well, to thank you. Adam talks about y

y knuckles white as

her tone. "He felt so bad. See, he' s been watching me since I was in colleg

ath hi

nspiratorially. "He' s so sad you' re upset. He really

m kissing her neck as she smiled at the camera. At a gala I was supposed to attend with him, him whispering in her ear in a se

of Avery' s hand resting on her flat stomach. On her finger wa

followed was

g he could never give you.

er me

ht, Cassie. But soon, he' ll be

my arm across Adam' s desk, sending photos, awards, and years of shared history crashing to the f

dst the wreckage, the

ath do

igned his own

-