My Marriage License, His Public Fall

elyn

ingly, returned to consciousness. The harsh fluorescent lights above flickered, casting a sickly yellow glow on the chipped c

earing pain blooming from my shoulder down to my wrist. I tried to move, but a sharp, excruciating jol

omething on an IV pole, her movements brisk and impersonal. No gentle touch, no soft words

flat, devoid of warmth. She didn't loo

instead. My eyes felt hollow, my mind still grappling with the fragmented memories of

ged to croak, the words ra

g her face. "You were found trespassing at the Bentley penthouse. Severe blunt force trauma. Your lawyers are already informed

me like a fresh wave of nausea. They still didn't believe me. Even aft

an. No familiar face. Just the cold indifference of the medic

I begged, the quest

actly? Mr. Bentley? He explicitly denied knowing you. Said you were a 'delusional former employee'

g me? A delusional former employee? The words echoed in my head, a cruel, mocking refrain. He wasn't

ars blurring my vision. "No, he wouldn't. He... he lov

wise. You're Gracelyn Weeks, currently facing charges. Mr. Bentley is happily engaged to Ms. Celina McNeil. That's the reality." She paused, then, wi

rence. There he was, Chace, on a brightly lit podium, a confident smile on his face, his arm around a radiant Celina McNeil. They looked every inch the per

ce I had endured. His eyes, once full of a secret tenderness for me, now sparkled with a public a

on, built a new life, and comple

ng down my face, "please, just let me call

Fine. But I'm telling you, it's a waste of time. He al

r, my heart hammering against my ribs. I dialed his private number, the one I had memorized, the on

complete annihilation. I imagined him there, in his opulent office, surrounded by his empire, his new fiancée, his car

voice. Cold. Detache

spite myself. "It's Gracelyn. They... they won't believe me. You have to tell

Then, his voice, icier than I'd ever heard it. "I have nothing to say to you, Gracely

ankly at the TV screen, at his smiling face, at Celina' s adoring gaze. He had lied to me, not just about his

told you. You're delusional." She gave me a look of contempt, then turned to the officer wh

e? They always deny it. They're all crazy." He wrote something on his notepad

g from my throat. "No, please! I'm not cra

e met with blank stares, my tears with cold indifference. As they wheeled me out of the room, past the bustling hallways, I saw my re

er swallowed me was of Kristian. He was the only one who