Three Years, One Cruel Lie

Chapter 3

Word Count: 748 | Released on: 15/08/2025

licate and theatrical. "I' m so sorry, Jax

e a low murmur. "We' re a team. We' re husban

ntle intimacy that it felt like a physical blow. I stumble

need to he

station were whisp

rancis? He' s so de

board meeting when she called. And the way he looks

in-star chef from Paris. And when some reporter tried to ask an invasive questi

my ears. This was the man who claimed he didn' t

stayed by Krystal' s side day and night. How he patiently massaged her feet when they swell

o pick me up. Krystal was in the passenger seat of

the one to put me here. "I' m so glad. You have to come to our ann

looked back. But a dark, self-destructive part of me needed

o," I said,

overlooked the city. I stood in a corner, a glass of u

e ceiling, and a video began to play. A montage of Jaxon

uilding a snowman in Aspen. All the places he and I had dreamed of going. He was doing it al

t of them on their wedding day. He was looking at her, his eyes shinin

ry was their ro

filled with white roses, Krystal' s favorite. My favorite, the wild, purple

, its teeth bared, launched itself out of the rose bushes. I sc

side in an instant, pulling her behind him, his bo

d, its jaws clamping down on my arm. Pain, sharp and blinding, shot through me. Bl

y heart was s

s terrified of big dogs after a childhood incident. H

fe' s dog tore me apart. His c

Chapter End

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open

Three Years, One Cruel Lie

Xia Yingxi Modern

“For three years, my fiancé Jaxon kept me in a top Swiss clinic, helping me recover from the PTSD that shattered my life. When I was finally accepted into Juilliard, I booked a one-way ticket to New York, ready to surprise him and start our future. But as I was signing my discharge papers, the receptionist handed me an official certificate of recovery. It was dated a full year ago. She explained that my "medication" for the last twelve months had been nothing but vitamin supplements. I had been perfectly healthy, a prisoner held captive by forged medical reports and lies. I flew home and went straight to his private club, only to overhear him laughing with his friends. He was married. He had been for the entire three years I was locked away. "I've been handling Alina," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "A few tweaked reports, the right 'medication' to keep her foggy. It bought me the time I needed to secure my marriage to Krystal." The man who swore to protect me, the man I worshipped, had orchestrated my imprisonment. My love story was just a footnote in his. Later that night, his mother slid a check across the table. "Take this and disappear," she ordered. Three years ago, I had thrown a similar check in her face, declaring my love wasn't for sale. This time, I picked it up. "Alright," I said, my voice hollow. "I'll leave. After my father's death anniversary, Jaxon Francis will never find me again."”