Her Vanishing Act, His Deep Regret

e's

as lying in a hospital bed in the recover

lucky, Elle. This surgery was comple

At least I w

on the screen. Even at this point, a pathetic shred of hope

rmth. "What was that ridiculous stunt yesterday? My mom eve

shattered. He still t

nk. I was seriou

again, don't come home. What are you trying to threaten me for now? Wa

undant. I felt an unprecedented sense of peac

ouldn't survive a single day without me. No wonder your parents always said you loved to lie and play the vic

abused me, yet in this moment, he w

rything. You've been jealous of her and bullied her since you were kids! When she was sev

k then, Azure had tripped on her own and f

ed, a tearing agony shot through my hea

d suddenly blared a pierci

etely ignoring the shrill alarm. "Elle, you are truly pathetic. No wonder no one gen

hammer, shattering the la

ct me. He had promised to build a home with me

silenced the monitor's alarm, checked on me, and then h

ath. "Kellan, let

ck, hard as ice: "Fine. Don't expect to ever come back. Wait fo

into the operating room for a secon

gain. Passing a shop window, he spotted a small porcelain bird figurine. I used to love collecting those fragile little things. He stopped, bought the porcelain bird an

the empty house, he was gre

and waited quietly, but I didn't return

lled my office, and my

ore, Kellan," her voice was

nking feeling in his chest

Elle?" he asked, tr

dripped with fake sweetness. "She hasn't come home? That's w

ntrum. Thinking he knew my bottom line, he drove to the hospital I had mentioned. He planned to generou

smirk still on his face. "I'm here to pick up my wife, Elle Gillespie. S

mindedly. "Gillespie... Ah, found it. She was adm

rgery? What are you talking about? Sh

extremely critical condition. Because there was no family present, she signed the surgical co

the blood in Kella

rred to a specialized rehab facility. Since no famil

espie' her maiden name or married name? It looks lik

self-righteous, solid world comple

ble. She couldn