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While I Was Bleeding Out, He Lit Lanterns For Her

Chapter 3 He won't be smiling for much longer.

Word Count: 850 | Released on: 09/03/2026

brakes, tires screeching against the aspha

iver's door open and sp

nd, Vera let out a sharp gasp. June's face was completely devoid of co

hing June just as her knees gave out.

Vera's shoulder. A weak, bi

r than being in the

e's attempt to walk. She scooped her arm around June's waist a

to her own apartment. She slammed the car into gear and sped t

ripped the steering wheel, her knuckles wh

dangerously through the Manhattan traffic. "I'

st the cool leather seat

wave of pain washed over her,

bled into the silence of the car. "I w

confused but too focu

's connections bypassed the waiting room e

mined the torn stitches. Hi

ctor snapped, looking at Vera. "Who did t

so tightly her nails dug into her own ski

d the wound. The pain medication finally kicked

era was sitting in a chair beside the be

iately poured a glass of warm

orce papers?" Vera as

and nodded. "Signed. I'm

re you insane? That's Compton money! You gave him four

were completely calm, devoid of the panic

June said quietly. "I just want

ce college-but she had watched June play the role of a submissive ho

"Do me a favor. Go to my old storage unit.

fused. "Your coll

brin

returned with a heavy,

he pressed the power button.

complex string of code into a black terminal wi

understand a single line of the code, but the sheer spee

n the wall of the VIP room

crophone into Cole's face as

bsent from the gala last night. Is ev

djusted his suit jacket, his face

" Cole lied smoothly to the camera. "She is

reen. The plastic shattered against the glass, lea

l bastard!"

oked at the cracked screen, her fingers

ce dropping to a deadly whisper. "H

Chapter End

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While I Was Bleeding Out, He Lit Lanterns For Her

Katie Oettgen Romance

“As I lay on the floor of our manor, bleeding out from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, I used my last ounce of strength to call my husband, Cole. I begged him for help, my vision blurring. But the only thing I heard was the clinking of champagne glasses and his mistress's giggle in the background. "Stop the drama, June," Cole snapped, his voice cold. "We're about to go on stage. Don't call again." He hung up, leaving me to die alone on the Persian rug while he accepted an award with another woman on his arm. I woke up in the hospital days later. My baby was gone. They had removed my fallopian tube. Cole finally arrived, smelling of expensive scotch and his mistress's perfume. He didn't hug me. He didn't cry. Instead, he leaned over my hospital bed, pressing his knee into the mattress until my fresh stitches tore open and bled. "You embarrassed me by calling an ambulance," he hissed. "My mistress, Alycia, says you're faking it. Clean yourself up." He left me bleeding again to go announce a $10 million donation to Alycia's "groundbreaking" medical research. I stared at the TV screen, numb. The research Alycia was taking credit for? It was mine. I wrote that patent years ago under a pseudonym. They thought I was just a poor, orphan housewife who needed Cole's money to survive. They had no idea I was actually a billionaire scientist hiding my identity. I pulled the IV needle out of my arm. A drop of blood fell onto the divorce papers I had been hiding. I didn't wipe it off. I signed my name right over it. Then I walked into the bank, reactivated my dormant account with $128 million, and bought the penthouse directly overlooking Cole's house. The mourning widow is dead. The avenger is born.”