My Fiancé's Ultimate Deception

visibly relaxed, as if a great burden had been lifted. The performance

is voice sharp. "If yo

ture he' d just taken, but my face was now a deliberate blur, an unrecognizable smudge next to his perfectly composed prof

y lips. He was so transpare

ne from the bedside table. His fingers flew a

asked, my voice barely a

cold, but I was too weak, too stunned t

xpression. "I apologized for you. And I told her I'd make he

ry for the misunderstanding, Annis. Hope you're feeling better.

s reply: 'Oh, Clarissa! You're too sweet. An

inside jokes, all through my phone. I watched them, two strangers conversing, as if I wasn't even in the room,

was still weak, still bleeding, still reeling from the D&C. My body ached, a constant du

nson, the discharge papers are ready. But Ms. Joyce is sti

." He walked over to the counter, already signing the papers. "Honestly,

minor outpatient procedure last month, and it was a fraction of this." H

y breath caught in my throat. I stared at him, my hear

g slightly. I pulled out my credit card.

ned to Coleton, her voice laced with thinly veiled anger. "Mr. Stephenson, your fi

"And who are you to tell me about my fiancée'

to the nurse, forcing a weak

and bruising. "Let's go," he snarled, p

the nurse called after me, her v

t was that?" he hissed, pulling me into a secluded alcove near the elevato

wide. "I wasn't complainin

some sob story about how I 'forced' you into this?

ng to her, Coleton.

s laced with an unnerving calm, a warning. "Because I'm the one who's

austion. "No, Coleton. I'm not a

atisfied. "Fine." He turned

bdomen throbbed with every step. Coleton didn't look

urb. He got in, the engine revving. I was almost ther

d forward. My hand slipped. I lost my

he pavement. A searing pain exploded be

ce, distant and muffled. "Clarissa? Oh, for God