His Sweetheart's Cruelest Betrayal

he was revealed as the long-lost heir to the Larson crime family. He

s the polished daughter of a rival

e. He ordered doctors to take my blood for the

hrown in a cellar. There, I was beaten,

t me had me tortured and br

off to a powerful stranger, a

finally came chasing after me, begging for forgiveness. I l

ryce Larson, are nothing but a strang

pte

Vaugh

him, Bryce, across the room, his head bent close to Diana, their laughter echoing a tune I no longer knew. This wasn'

at, a surrender, a desperate attempt to outrun the pain that clawed at my throat. I used to think my love was a shield, strong enough to weather any storm. Now, it felt like

me. He never was anymore. His eyes were fixed on Diana, a tenderness there that used

er guests brushed against my worn dress, a physical manifestation of the chasm between us. The ballroom

in the distance, and the air hummed with a thousand stories that weren't mine. I walke

ne white couture gown, was arguing fiercely with an older man in a shar

rather die than marry that monster!" she

. "He's a good man, from a powerful family. This marriage will secu

to escape this!" she cried, her gaze sweeping the stunned onl

nomical sum, enough to change a life ten times over. Yet, no one stepp

ith resignation. "He controls the entire Eastern seaboard, his fa

mine. "You! You look... desperate. Will you tak

tions. I saw the designer wedding gown she was supposed to wear, draped over a nearby chair. It was a

id, my voice flat,

ly alight with frantic joy. "You will?

e word a stone in m

, truly. You just need to show up, say your vows, and the rest is yours. No one will know. Just... be me."

, a flicker of pity in his eyes. "Very well. But you un

The deal was struck. My future, traded for a strange

n to play. Would Bryce even notice I was gone? Would he care that I'd traded my life for a million dollars and a stranger's vows?

my heart ached more. I knew where I was going: back to the empty room in the compound I shared with hi