From Wedding Bells to Shattered Dreams

he apartment the next morning, her mind clear and resolved. She found

va said, her voice firm. She stood

we still on this? I told you, she' s just stayin

how

deal?" he said, pouring coffee into a mug. A mug

are engaged. You don' t just invite another woman t

! You' re being completely unreasona

er was a bottle of prenatal vitamins. The label was fresh, the bottle nearly full. Th

oom door opened. Chloe emerged, wrapped in one of Liam' s bathrobe

ears. "I heard everything. Ava, I' m so sorry. I' ll p

go back into the bedroom, he

oe, pulling her into a protective embrace. "No,

. "Look what you' ve done. You made her cry.

mixture of disbelief and fury.

o pushed me down a flight of concrete stairs in high school, Liam. The re

r shirt to show the top of the pale, jagged line

l? Do you remember holding me while I cried about it? Or was that

ds. The raw pain of years of buri

ment, a flicker of something-guilt, maybe-crossed his features.

ring me," Chloe w

ardened again. He looked at Ava' s scar no

one does stupid things when they' re kids

Ava were the attacker. He looked back at the exposed

ld cover that up. It' s

st dismissed her pain, he had weaponized it against her. He had taken her de

e, replaced by a profound and chilling emptiness. She saw him clearly for the

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