Not Her: The Shadow Bride's Great Escape

a

nd designer gowns, but amidst the noise and the clin

constant, possessiv

d their perfectly manicured wives, showing me off

he word, a foolish t

e in ten lifetimes, a lavish gift from him that felt

ear, his breath hot against my ne

mil

like a

otice the way the other women looked

e men looked at Ethan-with

y saw

, asking if I was cold, and shieldin

en I s

o perhaps, emboldened by drink,

dn't fade, but h

went

te zero, a void where h

pped laughi

d away, muttering

the warmth returned to his ey

y love," he said,

e had to be har

cruelty was a sh

ays before the weddi

heavy v

e, the centerpiece a pendant

incredibly valuable, the stone

, letting him fasten it arou

lingered on

r, but his focus seemed to drift, as if

" he said softly. "A p

etal, desperately wa

nsigliere, why he looked a

went deathly silent when I w

a blur of white lace

wn the aisle, his arm

't look

o the gallows, but I was too b

ited at

ed magn

and his grip wa

id ou

to love a

to protect

, take yo

pau

rted up, past me, to the high v

re of angels ascending into a

ression

heartbeat,

ny that had nothi

eplaced by the mask

e ring ont

elt

d the crowd erup

ed into him, thinking I h

a bandage placed over a w