The Tragedy of Unspoken Love

Six years ago, I destroyed the man I ever loved to save him. Today, he walked back into my life to take the only thing I have left.

I was dying of leukemia, with only months to live. My only wish was to spend that time with my daughter, Kenzie. But I was being sued for custody by my deceased husband's sister, who demanded a fortune I didn't have.

Then, the opposing lawyer walked in. It was Bryan Flores.

He stood by, his face a mask of indifference, as his client slapped me across the face. He threatened to take my daughter, calling me an unfit mother.

"Sign it," he said, his voice like ice. "Or I will see you in court, and I will take everything from you. Starting with your daughter."

He didn't know Kenzie was his child. He didn't know I was dying. He only knew he hated me, and he now had a new family with the very woman whose family had destroyed mine.

I had sacrificed everything to protect him, pushing him away with cruel lies so he could have a future. But my sacrifice had turned him into a monster, and he was now the weapon being used to destroy me completely.

To save our daughter, I gave up my life-saving treatment money and sent her far away. As he celebrated the birth of his new child on the floor above, I died alone in a hospital bed.

But I left him a letter. A letter that would burn his perfect world to the ground.

Chapter 1

Ellie Daniels POV:

Six years ago, I destroyed the only man I ever loved to save him. Today, he walked back into my life to take the only thing I have left.

The mediation room was cold, the air thick with the scent of cheap coffee and unspoken resentment. Across the polished mahogany table, Guadalupe Swanson, the sister of my deceased husband-of-convenience, dabbed at her dry eyes with a tissue. A performance of grief, as hollow as the marriage that connected us.

My own grief was a quiet, constant ache, a companion I' d grown accustomed to, much like the fatigue that settled deep in my bones. Leukemia, the doctors had said. A ticking clock I couldn't afford to watch. All I wanted was to spend my remaining time with my daughter, Kenzie, not in a sterile room fighting a baseless custody claim.

I'd agreed to this mediation to avoid the cost and publicity of a trial, hoping a quiet settlement would make Guadalupe and her greed disappear.

Then the door opened, and my world tilted on its axis.

Bryan Flores.

He was no longer the boy whose laughter echoed in my college memories, the one who' d traced constellations on my back in his cramped dorm room. This man was a stranger, sculpted from ice and ambition. His suit was impeccably tailored, his jaw set like stone, and his eyes-the same deep, soulful eyes I once got lost in-were now cold, assessing voids. He was the opposing counsel. Of course, he was. The universe had a cruel sense of humor.

Guadalupe' s voice, shrill and grating, shattered the silence. "There she is. The black widow. Look at her, Bryan. Not a tear in her eye for my poor brother."

I flinched, my gaze fixed on the wood grain of the table.

"She probably cheated on him the whole time," Guadalupe spat, her voice rising. "My brother was a good man, a saint, to take in a woman like her. A fallen heiress with a bastard child!"

The mediator, a tired-looking woman in her fifties, cleared her throat. "Mrs. Swanson, let's maintain a professional decorum."

Guadalupe ignored her, her eyes zeroed in on me. "I want compensation. For my brother' s emotional distress. He died of a broken heart, I tell you!"

"He died of cancer, Guadalupe," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

"Because of you!" she shrieked, lunging across the table. Her hand cracked against my cheek, the force of it snapping my head to the side. The sting was sharp, but it was nothing compared to the ice that flooded my veins as I looked at Bryan.

He just stood there. Motionless. His face was a mask of indifference as he watched his client assault me. The Bryan I knew would have thrown himself in front of a bus for me. This man wouldn't even cross a room.

I didn't move. I didn't cry out. I just absorbed the blow, my pride the only shield I had left.

"That's enough, Guadalupe," Bryan said finally, his voice devoid of any emotion. It was calm, measured, the voice of a lawyer commanding a courtroom, not a man witnessing a woman he once loved being struck.