The Scar He Gave, The Queen I Became

uined evening gown clung to her skin, and every breath she took tasted of chlorine

immaculate.His gaze bypassed His wife Cadence entirely, the gray-blue of his

ssed the threshold.She let out a weak, perfectly timed

ing Isabelle's shoulders with a fierce possessivenes

er heart gave a violent, painful spasm against her ribs.The

r face against Fra

ered, her voice trembling with manufactured tea

it match droppe

onto Cadence, radiating a fury so oppressiv

ow, dangerous rumble. "Pushing a woman who cannot swim into

ed blade in her back, the suffocating dark as

sending violent tremors down her spine."You d

diving qualification certificate, how could you be afraid of water?

sistant, stepped forward with a

ound Isabelle, completely ignoring his wife, w

playing out in front of her.A hollow, br

g with absolute mockery.The sound bounc

the laugh as a remorseless challenge, closing t

his shadow swallowing

d, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "I will

a final, twisting blade. "The second I sign those papers, you

chest tightened so hard she

f loving him until she bled. And h

ad.She shot Cadence a vicious, triumphant smil

m sensation of drowning merged with the crushi

ees bu

ction of an inch, a pure reflex to catch her.But he stopp

gh her wet, tangled bangs, she stared at the man she had traded her life for.The desper

n ordered his assistant.He wrapped his arm around Isabelle'

hall.The sound severed the last string holding Cadence up.

lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating her ghost-pale fac

gernails digging so deeply into her forearms t

aked hair back from her face.The fragile, broken look in her e

m the hidden lining, she pulled out a matte-

he screen reflected

ivating an encrypted, localized communicati

ed onto the black screen:

the device

e holding zero emotion as she initiate