The Fiancé Who Chose Another

Walk

rough me, raw and brutal, leaving me gasping for air in the aftermath. It happened on our fifteenth anniversary, a day we were

unwavering current that had carried us through adolescence, college, and into adulthood. Fifteen years. A lifetime, it felt like. How

ng longer hours. He' d come home late, smelling faintly of something unfamiliar, not quite his office, not qu

cob? Never. And if he ever did, if he ever got hims

But more devastatingly, I had profoundly underestimated the terrifying depth of my own love for him. A love so absolute, it would

really splurged on Kierra' s gallery opening, didn' t he? That sculpture alone must' ve cost a fortune." The words hung in the air, a sudden, deafening silence

er known. I' d planned a surprise dinner, a whispered announcement, a future unfurling before us. Instead, I learned of his betrayal. T

I screamed, I cried, I demanded to know every sordid detail. He looked at me, his eyes cold, then stepped in

so sorry. It' s all my fault. I never meant... I just needed help." Her eye

ee. My hand shot out, connecting with her cheek with a shar

r instantly, his furious eyes burning into mine. "What is wrong with you, Audra?!" he roared. "How coul

rength, my suffering? For him, my strength was a flaw, and her weakness

rawling back, as he always did. They knew how much he relied on me, how I was his anchor. But

t I was pregnant. I was so convinced that our baby, our actual, tangible future, would be the thing that brough

ou really going to throw that away for her?" The words hung in the air, a desperate plea and a manipulativ