Wedding Night Betrayal: A Fading Heart

Wedding Night Betrayal: A Fading Heart

Pike

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The doctors gave me three years to live. I used every last bit of my strength to marry Cedric Moon, the man I loved. On our wedding night, he abandoned me for another woman. He brought her into our home, forcing me to serve her. He made me apologize for crimes I didn't commit. His family despised me, but they adored her. Then came the staged kidnapping. To save her, Cedric traded me-his pregnant wife-to the man holding a knife. As the blade pressed against my throat, I heard my husband's voice yell at the police. "Shoot!"

Protagonist

: Kacie Oliver and Cedric Moon

Chapter 1

The doctors gave me three years to live. I used every last bit of my strength to marry Cedric Moon, the man I loved.

On our wedding night, he abandoned me for another woman.

He brought her into our home, forcing me to serve her. He made me apologize for crimes I didn't commit. His family despised me, but they adored her.

Then came the staged kidnapping. To save her, Cedric traded me-his pregnant wife-to the man holding a knife.

As the blade pressed against my throat, I heard my husband's voice yell at the police.

"Shoot!"

Chapter 1

The wall clock showed it was almost midnight. Kacie Oliver sat alone in the vast wedding suite. The room was filled with white roses, Cedric' s favorite, but their scent felt suffocating.

This was her wedding night.

The door finally opened, and Cedric Moon walked in. He looked surprised to see her awake, still in her wedding dress.

"Kacie? Why aren't you asleep?"

His voice was calm, with no hint of guilt. It made the hollow space in her chest ache even more.

She didn't answer. Her mind drifted back to the afternoon. They were at the reception, about to share their first dance as husband and wife. Then his phone rang. He looked at the screen, his expression changing instantly.

"I have to go," he had said, his voice tight.

"What's wrong, Cedric?" she had asked, her hand still on his arm.

"It's Jayden. She' s been in an accident."

He didn't wait for her response. He just turned and walked away, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the dance floor, the whispers of the guests rising around her. He left his bride for another woman on their wedding day.

Now, hours later, the memory was a sharp, physical pain. Her heart, already weak, felt like it was being squeezed. The doctors had given her three years. Three years to live, to find love, to feel something real before her time ran out. She had thought she' d found it with Cedric.

"Jayden's car was hit," Cedric said now, pulling her back to the present. He walked over and started unbuttoning his shirt. "It wasn't serious, just a few scratches, but she was scared. You know how she is."

Kacie knew. She knew all too well.

"I need you to understand, Kacie. I have a responsibility to her." He looked at her, his eyes asking for her compliance, for her to be the understanding wife.

But all she felt was a profound weariness. Her heart condition, cardiomyopathy, made every day a struggle. It was why she had pursued him so relentlessly. When she first saw Cedric Moon, the brilliant tech CEO, on the cover of a magazine, she felt a pull she couldn't explain. She knew she had little time, and she wanted a grand, all-consuming love story.

She had done everything to get his attention. She learned his routines, his favorite coffee shop, the park he jogged in. She engineered a dozen "accidental" meetings.

At first, he was dismissive, cold. People in his circle laughed at her, the unknown woman so obviously chasing the unreachable Cedric Moon. The humiliation was nothing compared to the ticking clock inside her chest.

Then came the company gala. He was drugged by a business rival, and she was the one who found him, disoriented and vulnerable. She got him to his hotel room, and one thing led to another. It was a messy, unplanned night.

The next morning, she expected him to be furious, to throw her out. Instead, he looked at her with a strange expression and said, "I'll take responsibility."

That was how it started. He officially accepted her, and they began dating. And to her shock, he was a good boyfriend. He was surprisingly gentle and attentive.

He remembered she didn' t like onions. He learned to cook her favorite soup because he said the food from restaurants wasn't healthy enough. He would hold her when she felt weak, his presence a warm anchor in her uncertain world.

One evening, her heart acted up. She collapsed at home, struggling to breathe. He found her, his face pale with a terror she had never seen before. He rushed her to the hospital, and as she lay in the bed, he held her hand and said, "Marry me, Kacie. Let me take care of you."

She had cried, believing her desperate quest was finally over. She had won.

She was discharged a week later. As they were leaving her room, a beautiful young woman appeared.

"Cedric, you' re here!" the woman said, her voice bright. She linked her arm through his. "I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?" She had completely ignored Kacie.

Cedric had gently removed her arm. "Jayden, this is Kacie, my fiancée." He then turned to Kacie. "Kacie, this is Jayden Moore. She's like a little sister to me."

Jayden was the daughter of Cedric's late mentor. He felt a profound sense of duty to her, a promise made to a dying man. His parents, Burt and Carroll Moon, adored Jayden. They saw her as the perfect daughter-in-law, a match in status and background. They saw Kacie as an outsider, an unwelcome disruption.

The conflict started subtly. At a company retreat, Jayden twisted her ankle. It was a minor sprain, but she cried out as if she' d been shot. Cedric immediately swept her up into his arms, his face a mask of worry, and rushed her to the medic, leaving Kacie standing with his colleagues.

He fussed over Jayden, his voice soft with concern, his hands gentle as he examined her ankle. He showed a level of panic and care that Kacie had only seen once before-when he thought she was dying.

That was the moment a cold dread settled in her heart. His tenderness wasn't just for her.

A week later, Jayden was transferred from the marketing department to become Cedric's personal secretary. She was always there, a constant presence in his life and, by extension, hers.

The night before the wedding, Kacie had gone to his study to find him. The door was slightly ajar. She saw Jayden sitting on his desk, leaning close, her hand on his chest. Cedric was looking down at her, his expression unreadable.

Kacie pushed the door open.

Jayden didn't look surprised. She just smiled, a slow, knowing smile. "Oh, Kacie. Cedric was just helping me with a speck of dust in my eye." Her voice was sweet, but her eyes were full of victory.

Now, standing in their wedding suite, Kacie looked at her husband. The man who had just abandoned her for that same woman. The hope she had clung to for so long was finally starting to crumble.

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