The Wife He Forgot, The Fury She Unleashed

The Wife He Forgot, The Fury She Unleashed

Gavin

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The sterile white ceiling of the hospital room was the first thing I saw when I woke up, a dull ache throbbing at the back of my head. The kind nurse told me I' d fainted at the clinic, and that my son, Leo, was in the pediatric ICU. My son. Leo. The name alone brought back a flood of terrifying memories: his pale, sweaty face, his eyes wide with a terror that seemed to swallow the light. And Jake' s voice, cold and hard: "My son shouldn' t be weak and afraid of the dark! His bad habits need to be cured." I, no, Ava Miller, as I had been for the last five years, had clawed at the locked therapy room door. "Leo is terrified of the dark, and extreme fright can be fatal. If you need to punish someone, punish me..." Jake just laughed, his arm around Chloe Davis, the woman he claimed was the "real" Ava Miller, the one who needed a kidney. A news report on a private island wedding flashed on the hospital TV: "Billionaire heir Jake Hayes is celebrating his wedding to Chloe Davis." Chloe Davis. My name. The name I hadn't heard in five years. Memories crashed down, violent and agonizing: a rainy night, a car accident, my mother' s terrified face, and then Jake, whispering "You' re Ava Miller. You were in an accident. You need a kidney. You feel so guilty, don't you?" He had twisted everything. He wanted my kidney for the real Ava Miller. He stole my identity, my health, my memories. And now, he had stolen my son. Leo. "Mom... if I overcome my fear... will Dad love me?" His voice message, garbled and frantic, echoed in my mind. Rage pulsed through me. I was Chloe Davis. The woman on that island, wearing my name, had my kidney. And they were trying to steal my son. I ripped the IV from my arm. I had to get to Leo. When I found him, his chest wasn't moving. His eyes were wide open, fixed in terror. My mother-in-law, Eleanor, who had once pitied me, was sobbing. "Mom," I said, my voice flat, holding back tears. "I remember everything. I am Chloe Davis. It' s time for me to leave." His eyes finally, slowly, drifted shut as I whispered, "Mommy's here, Leo. Mommy will take you away from here. We'll go somewhere far away, and we'll be together forever." The nurse in the hallway sighed, envying Jake Hayes's "love." If only they knew that his real wife and son, lying dead in a hospital bed, couldn' t earn a fraction of that look. Not even in death. Later, in the house I had shared with Jake, I held Leo's urn tightly. Jake and Ava Miller were on the sofa. "Did you leave Leo with my mom again?" he asked, a condescending edge to his voice. "Bring him back to apologize to his aunt immediately." I turned to him, my eyes direct. I articulated each word with chilling clarity. "Leo is dead."

Introduction

The sterile white ceiling of the hospital room was the first thing I saw when I woke up, a dull ache throbbing at the back of my head.

The kind nurse told me I' d fainted at the clinic, and that my son, Leo, was in the pediatric ICU.

My son. Leo. The name alone brought back a flood of terrifying memories: his pale, sweaty face, his eyes wide with a terror that seemed to swallow the light.

And Jake' s voice, cold and hard: "My son shouldn' t be weak and afraid of the dark! His bad habits need to be cured."

I, no, Ava Miller, as I had been for the last five years, had clawed at the locked therapy room door.

"Leo is terrified of the dark, and extreme fright can be fatal. If you need to punish someone, punish me..."

Jake just laughed, his arm around Chloe Davis, the woman he claimed was the "real" Ava Miller, the one who needed a kidney.

A news report on a private island wedding flashed on the hospital TV: "Billionaire heir Jake Hayes is celebrating his wedding to Chloe Davis."

Chloe Davis. My name. The name I hadn't heard in five years.

Memories crashed down, violent and agonizing: a rainy night, a car accident, my mother' s terrified face, and then Jake, whispering "You' re Ava Miller. You were in an accident. You need a kidney. You feel so guilty, don't you?"

He had twisted everything. He wanted my kidney for the real Ava Miller.

He stole my identity, my health, my memories. And now, he had stolen my son.

Leo.

"Mom... if I overcome my fear... will Dad love me?"

His voice message, garbled and frantic, echoed in my mind.

Rage pulsed through me. I was Chloe Davis. The woman on that island, wearing my name, had my kidney. And they were trying to steal my son.

I ripped the IV from my arm. I had to get to Leo.

When I found him, his chest wasn't moving. His eyes were wide open, fixed in terror.

My mother-in-law, Eleanor, who had once pitied me, was sobbing.

"Mom," I said, my voice flat, holding back tears. "I remember everything. I am Chloe Davis. It' s time for me to leave."

His eyes finally, slowly, drifted shut as I whispered, "Mommy's here, Leo. Mommy will take you away from here. We'll go somewhere far away, and we'll be together forever."

The nurse in the hallway sighed, envying Jake Hayes's "love."

If only they knew that his real wife and son, lying dead in a hospital bed, couldn' t earn a fraction of that look.

Not even in death.

Later, in the house I had shared with Jake, I held Leo's urn tightly.

Jake and Ava Miller were on the sofa.

"Did you leave Leo with my mom again?" he asked, a condescending edge to his voice. "Bring him back to apologize to his aunt immediately."

I turned to him, my eyes direct.

I articulated each word with chilling clarity.

"Leo is dead."

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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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