Marrying The Protector: My Second Chance

na

ceased to be a home long ago. It was

he commissioned for our anniversary. They weren't gifts; they were bribes. They were shiny d

y-duty trash bag

m suits, the shirts that smelled like his cologne-a scent that used to make me feel safe but now just

o of us from our wedding day. I looked at the girl i

ed the spiderweb cracks obliterate our smiling faces. I swept

nt door

my ribs. He wasn't suppose

from the hallway. He sounded ti

the ruins, clutching th

, he stopped. He didn't look angry. He looked annoyed, like I was a

this?"

hug. It was instinct. I stepped back so fast

The word came out

arms to his sides. "Are

m f

, pulling out a checkbook. He wrote somethin

hat fake, soothing tone he used on difficult clients. "Go buy yourself s

the check. I

ce tag. He thought he could buy my si

can be solved with money,

, Elena. I don't have time for ri

y," I repea

plit second, his mask slipped. His eyes softened in a

already turning away. "It's urge

n ask why I was throwing his

the dresser where he'd left it for a second before grabbing it

misses his dad

retched until there was

wasn't just emotional shock. My

e hospital, my hands

per sheet covering the exam table. The doctor came

she said, smiling gen

at

egnant. Se

room

ripping the edge of the table. "I c

e can regenerate. You

The one thing Jackson and I had cried over.

ming. Seve

r a long trip. The week he was particularly atte

he hospital into

h a man who had divorced me three years ago in

acle. In this moment,

king Jackson's things. I called a charity service to come p

pty bedroom, my h

room, my voice steadying, "does n