Left To Die: Now The CEO Begs

Marcus walked out on our dinner becau

ver my presence. According to the sick bet

in a restaurant. It happened

a halt, I lay trapped under debris, my leg fractured and head

n't even l

my broken body

rrying her out to safety while I lay

o die in tha

"jealous." He claimed I was a burden, a placeholder he m

zing lake to protect her from

wife waiting in the shadows. He thought his lov

as w

threw my ring into the ocean,

as a celebrated artist, with a man who t

fortune, found me. He knelt in the rain on the city

the husband who

us', Marcus,"

ack on him and wal

pte

ie

t me, the champagne was s

pouring the vintage Dom Pérignon, the golden bubbles racing

s face, usually a mask of co

tatement. Not a question. A

fluttering onto the untouched

ocatingly filled with couples whispering promises they i

pered, my voice trembling.

lready buttoning his jacket, his mi

is, Ellie. You know

abella 'Izzy' Vance peddled. She was as fragile

out. He didn

watched as he hailed a cab in the

rom the shadows of the

just a little too tightly, her hair perfectly disheveled for the per

a tenderness he had never show

ainst the tabletop

Ellie. That

e

The memory assaulted me, dragging me back to that dorm room

ed on her bed, a cruel s

let you play house. But if he leaves you for me nine times-nine specific

in love with Marcus Thorne. I thought my love was

s wr

as the ni

cus was opening the cab door for her, shielding her head with

break. It was a quiet, structural failure. Lik

hree years could have filled the Hudson, but tonig

was heavy. It felt like an anchor dr

harp tug, I slid it off. It left a pale band on my fin

e table, next to the st

ked out of the restaurant, past the sympathetic glances of t

il a cab. I just walked. I walked until my he

d up. The dinners I ate alone. The way I reorganized my

p his bed occupied while he played knight in

uzzed agai

. Izzy is safe no

safe. And I

past me, heads ducked against the storm. I took a dee

I said to the

but I heard them. They echoed in my chest, fi

in washed over my face, mixing with

, I choos