Ten Years Of Lies, One Heartbreak

left me at the altar for another woman.

causing me to lose our baby. But when I woke up in the

is voice cold. "She's too sensitive for priso

mother, who was suffering from dementia. I gave in, only to learn that Hayle

royed my body and our child but had also orches

broken me, leavi

iggest competitor. They offered me a new identity, a new life, and the p

pte

n years with Collin, my best friend, my partner, my everything. But the dress was still, and so was I. My phone buzzed, vibrating against the polished m

chest. He had left me. On our wedding day. For Haylee Acosta, a woman ten years older t

rent sentence without a giggle, but she had a malicious cunning that simmered beneath her vacant gaze. Collin, the brilliant tech CEO, saw a damsel in distress. I saw a predator. He, the man who built an empire with m

ired her a personal assistant because she "couldn't possibly manage her own schedule." He' d even cancelled important investor meetings because Haylee had a "bad dream" a

DMV. The white dress felt like a shroud. "Collin," my voice wa

e passenger seat of her pink convertible, chewing bubblegum, utterly oblivious. "Kira.

embling finger at the pristine white fabri

ve been shame passing through his eyes before settling back into that unnerving obsess

alled into fists. "No, I don't.

in her saccharine voice, "Oh, look, it's Kira!

I marched towards the car, my vision

he brake. The pink convertible lunged forward. I stood frozen, a deer in headlight

celain. A nurse, her face grim, explained the extent of my injuries. Multiple fractures, internal bleeding.

was gone. Because of Haylee. Because of Collin. When the police came, I told them everything. The abandonment, the confrontation,

of remorse on his face. "Kira.

creaming. "Are you insane? She... she

e is too sensitive for prison. She's fragile. You, Kira, you're strong. You can handle thi

to the fog of early-onset dementia. "What are you talking

world to see." He held up his phone, a dark gleam in his eyes. "If you pursue this, it goes viral. Your mother

offee and shared dreams, twisted into a grotesque parody. I had given him my youth, my brilliance, my unwavering loyalty. I had believed in him when no one else did. I had crafted the very algorithms that made his company a powerhouse, always conten

, my voice crackin

be fine. You'll heal. Your mother... she might not recover from the public humiliation." He checked his watch, a cruel

erate plea. "Why? Why her? Wha

ts of a shattered future. I lay there, numb, the choice laid out before me, a poisoned chalice. My mother. Always my mother. I would protect her, even if it meant sacrificing the last piece of

e phone was like a chill wind. He thought he'd won. He thought he'd broken me. He was wrong.

in the garden. She had taken her own life. A note lay beside her, scrawled in an unstead

e his power to protect Haylee, and in doing so, he had signed my mother's death warrant. The grief hit me like a physical blow, bu

eginning. A New Identity. A New Power." A flicker of something, cold and sharp, ignited in the darkness within me. They knew about my AI breakthrough, the one Collin had dismissed as "too ambitious." They knew

finally gave up. The pain, both physical and emotional, became too much. The sterile white room spun,