From Devoted Wife To Indifferent Stranger

From Devoted Wife To Indifferent Stranger

Qing Bao

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The official report said my husband, Liam, a heroic smokejumper, died saving me from a wildfire. Pregnant and heartbroken, I tried to end my life, only to wake in a hospital bed, the world a muffled blur of pain and grief. Then, a voice cut through the fog – Liam's. He was alive, outside my room, telling a buddy the "story was solid" and everyone thought he was dead. My world didn't just burn; it was pure, calculated arson. I heard him choose Claire, his twin brother's fragile fiancée, over me, his pregnant wife, dismissing my suffering with a chilling "Ava has Noah. She has her family. They'll take care of her." He planned to assume his deceased brother's identity and money, all for her. The man I worshipped, the hero, was a cold, calculating stranger who had discarded me and our unborn child for another woman. Every memory, every shared dream, turned to ash in that hospital room. Lying there, the old Ava died. A new one was forged in betrayal and ice, and the first act of this new woman was to accept my childhood friend Noah's long-standing marriage proposal, right under Liam's nose. The game was far from over.

Introduction

The official report said my husband, Liam, a heroic smokejumper, died saving me from a wildfire.

Pregnant and heartbroken, I tried to end my life, only to wake in a hospital bed, the world a muffled blur of pain and grief.

Then, a voice cut through the fog – Liam's. He was alive, outside my room, telling a buddy the "story was solid" and everyone thought he was dead. My world didn't just burn; it was pure, calculated arson.

I heard him choose Claire, his twin brother's fragile fiancée, over me, his pregnant wife, dismissing my suffering with a chilling "Ava has Noah.

She has her family. They'll take care of her." He planned to assume his deceased brother's identity and money, all for her.

The man I worshipped, the hero, was a cold, calculating stranger who had discarded me and our unborn child for another woman.

Every memory, every shared dream, turned to ash in that hospital room.

Lying there, the old Ava died. A new one was forged in betrayal and ice, and the first act of this new woman was to accept my childhood friend Noah's long-standing marriage proposal, right under Liam's nose. The game was far from over.

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Love Lost, Life Fading

Love Lost, Life Fading

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Ava Jenkins stared at her reflection in the darkened bus window, a stranger looking back. Her fiery red hair and loud clothes screamed for attention, but inside, she carried a secret heavier than a brick: Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Her heart was failing, and there was no cure. She just needed to see him, Liam Hayes, her distant uncle, one last time. Her world shattered when his mother, Martha, slammed an engagement announcement into her chest: Liam was marrying Chloe, Martha's own daughter. The boy who had once comforted her with candy at her father' s funeral, who had been her sole source of light, was now lost to her-and worse, he didn't even remember her. Desperate, she confronted Liam, only to be met with cold disdain. He pushed her away, repeatedly, with cruel words, accusing her of being pathetic, attention-seeking, and a disgrace. Even when her beloved Grandma Rose lay dying due to Martha's greed, Liam, a renowned lawyer, chose to represent Martha in court, effectively sending Ava to prison, crushing her last shred of hope. Liam's constant rejection and disbelief-even when she told him she was dying-left her utterly bewildered. How could the person she loved most, the one who taught her kindness, become so full of hatred and indifference towards her? Why did he believe everyone else but her? Lying in a hospital bed, medically paroled and close to death, Ava made a final, heartbreaking decision: she would let Liam believe he had saved her out of guilt, giving him a clean conscience, and then slip away quietly, finally finding the peace he had always denied her.

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