Love's True Reckoning

Love's True Reckoning

Catherine

5.0
Comment(s)
23
View
24
Chapters

The sterile scent of disinfectant was my daily reminder: my parents were gone, killed in a car crash, and my brother, Alex, was paralyzed. Just seventeen, his vibrant blue eyes had dimmed, and our tiny apartment reeked of medical bills we could barely afford. I, Lily Reed, a waitress barely making rent, was all he had left. Then, like a mirage, Mark Thompson reappeared. Alex' s childhood best friend, vanished since the accident, now a polished, wealthy man. He swept into our lives as a savior, moved us to a luxurious apartment, hired nurses, paid our debts. His charm was intoxicating; I believed he was everything I needed, everything I thought I wanted. So, when he proposed, I said yes, feeling like the final piece of a perfect puzzle had fallen into place-a second chance at a real family, a real life. But at our wedding reception, a low, drunken conversation twisted my stomach: "He had to... it was the only way to keep her quiet about the accident. He owed her." Then, a whisper from Mark on a balcony, meant for his former girlfriend, Sarah: "This marriage is just a means to an end... I got rid of the obstacles, just like I promised." Obstacles. My parents. Alex. The world crashed around me. It wasn't an accident. It was him. My husband, the man I' d given everything to, was the monster who had destroyed my family. I had willingly walked into my own gilded cage. Rage, cold and sharp, ignited within me. He thought he had bought my silence, that I was a naive fool to be gotten rid of. He thought he had won. He had no idea what he had just unleashed. I would play his game, be the perfect wife, and wait. And when the time was right, I would destroy him.

Introduction

The sterile scent of disinfectant was my daily reminder: my parents were gone, killed in a car crash, and my brother, Alex, was paralyzed.

Just seventeen, his vibrant blue eyes had dimmed, and our tiny apartment reeked of medical bills we could barely afford.

I, Lily Reed, a waitress barely making rent, was all he had left.

Then, like a mirage, Mark Thompson reappeared.

Alex' s childhood best friend, vanished since the accident, now a polished, wealthy man.

He swept into our lives as a savior, moved us to a luxurious apartment, hired nurses, paid our debts.

His charm was intoxicating; I believed he was everything I needed, everything I thought I wanted.

So, when he proposed, I said yes, feeling like the final piece of a perfect puzzle had fallen into place-a second chance at a real family, a real life.

But at our wedding reception, a low, drunken conversation twisted my stomach: "He had to... it was the only way to keep her quiet about the accident. He owed her."

Then, a whisper from Mark on a balcony, meant for his former girlfriend, Sarah: "This marriage is just a means to an end... I got rid of the obstacles, just like I promised."

Obstacles.

My parents.

Alex.

The world crashed around me.

It wasn't an accident.

It was him.

My husband, the man I' d given everything to, was the monster who had destroyed my family.

I had willingly walked into my own gilded cage.

Rage, cold and sharp, ignited within me.

He thought he had bought my silence, that I was a naive fool to be gotten rid of.

He thought he had won.

He had no idea what he had just unleashed.

I would play his game, be the perfect wife, and wait.

And when the time was right, I would destroy him.

Continue Reading

Other books by Catherine

More
His Betrayal, Her Fiery Rebirth

His Betrayal, Her Fiery Rebirth

Sci-fi

3.5

The air still reeked of scorched metal and something sickly sweet, even as I stood on the gantry, watching the heat waves rise from the test pit below. My husband, Liam, stood beside me, his face impassive as he held out a pen. "Sign the papers, Ava," he demanded, his voice flat. Suspended beneath us, held by a massive industrial claw, were my parents-pale, terrified, and renowned NASA scientists. Liam' s new mistress, Scarlett, was pregnant, and he needed a "real home" for his new family. I had laughed, a raw, broken sound, when he told me, then confronted him, only for him to offer divorce papers and a blank check. "Take it. It' s more than you deserve," he' d said. My refusal led to broken legs, a vicious smear campaign, and then, he took my parents. Now, he offered the pen again: "Sign. Or they' re gone." My parents' eyes screamed, though their mouths were taped. My father shook his head, a desperate plea for me not to comply. But I couldn' t let them die. My own life was already over. "I' ll sign," I whispered, tasting ash. "Just let them go." Liam nodded to the operator, but the claw didn' t rise. It opened. My parents fell, their screams swallowed by an inferno. The stench of burning flesh hit me, and I vomited. Liam watched, his eyes empty. The world dissolved into grief and fire. There was nothing left. I turned, and with a final look at the man I once loved, I threw myself into the flames. And then I woke up. My legs were whole. The date on my phone was yesterday. It wasn' t a dream. It was a second chance.

From Discarded Wife To The Don's Successor

From Discarded Wife To The Don's Successor

Mafia

5.0

I was tightening my husband’s tie for the photographers at the gala when my phone buzzed against my thigh. A single notification stopped my heart dead. Julius had just wired five million dollars—capital I had secretly stolen from my father to build his company—to an account named 'K. Drake'. When I confronted him later that night, he didn't apologize. Instead, he lured me to an empty warehouse and detonated a rigged gas line. I woke up in a hospital bed, my body broken and my mind racing. Julius stood over me, checking his watch, looking terrifyingly calm. "The baby is gone," he said dismissively, referring to the pregnancy I hadn't even told him about yet. "But Kenzie needs a bone marrow transplant. You're a match." He was holding our daughter, Ava, hostage. He told me if I didn't give his mistress my marrow, I’d never see my child again. He looked at me with total contempt. To him, I was just a boring, civilian housewife. A prop he had used and was now ready to discard. He had no idea who I really was. He didn't know that the "bank loans" I secured for him were actually laundered syndicate money. He didn't know that the father I "didn't talk to" was Horacio Horton, the most feared Don on the East Coast. I let them take the marrow. I let them believe they had broken me. Then, as soon as Julius left the room, I reached for the phone and dialed a number I hadn't used in ten years. "Papa," I whispered into the receiver. "Send the army." The civilian Florence died in that bed. The Mob Princess had just returned to take her throne.

You'll also like

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book