Free From His Shadow

Free From His Shadow

Gavin

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The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Ballroom reflected in the champagne, but the light felt cold. My husband, Mark, was across the room, his eyes fixed on Lily, the young intern who had become his entire world. I walked towards them, the whispers of the crowd following me. He handed me a pre-prepared divorce settlement. "I\'m going to marry Lily," he said, loud enough for those nearby to hear. Then, with a cruel twist of his lips, he added, "Consider our partnership terminated. Effective immediately." In the weeks that followed, Mark systematically dismantled my family' s business. He orchestrated a public scandal, leaking fabricated documents that implicated my father in fraud. My father had a heart attack. My mother aged a decade overnight. I sat by my father' s hospital bed, watching the news report on Mark and Lily' s engagement. That' s when I truly broke. Then, a blinding flash of light. A gut-wrenching pull. I gasped, my eyes flying open. The date on my phone was October 12th. The day I found Lily' s photo on his computer. The day the nightmare began. I was back. The memory of my parents' ruined faces, of my father in that hospital bed, was burned into my mind. It was not a dream. It was a warning. I had a second chance. Not for revenge. Not to win him back. For survival.

Introduction

The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Ballroom reflected in the champagne, but the light felt cold.

My husband, Mark, was across the room, his eyes fixed on Lily, the young intern who had become his entire world.

I walked towards them, the whispers of the crowd following me.

He handed me a pre-prepared divorce settlement.

"I\'m going to marry Lily," he said, loud enough for those nearby to hear.

Then, with a cruel twist of his lips, he added, "Consider our partnership terminated. Effective immediately."

In the weeks that followed, Mark systematically dismantled my family' s business.

He orchestrated a public scandal, leaking fabricated documents that implicated my father in fraud.

My father had a heart attack.

My mother aged a decade overnight.

I sat by my father' s hospital bed, watching the news report on Mark and Lily' s engagement.

That' s when I truly broke.

Then, a blinding flash of light.

A gut-wrenching pull.

I gasped, my eyes flying open.

The date on my phone was October 12th.

The day I found Lily' s photo on his computer.

The day the nightmare began.

I was back.

The memory of my parents' ruined faces, of my father in that hospital bed, was burned into my mind.

It was not a dream.

It was a warning.

I had a second chance.

Not for revenge.

Not to win him back.

For survival.

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When Love Turns to Ash

When Love Turns to Ash

Short stories

4.2

My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.

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