The Jilted Bride's Billionaire Savior

ng Frances Benjamin from a shallow, restless sleep. Her body ached, a hi

n. A news alert. The headline swam in the dim light, sharp an

on the arm of a woman whose face was lost in shadow. Yet, Frances's feverish eyes caught a tiny detail-the woman's

s no shock, no surge of pain. Just a profound weariness that settled deep in her bones. This wasn

zed again. A

And don't let th

explanation.

like a shroud against her clammy skin. She pulled on a simple cashmere robe, her movements

The air was thick with the scent of old money and fresh decay. As she

epsister. High-pitched, clo

diot Frances take the fall. Just say she's being dramatic,

dread, sharp and absolute, seized her. The woman

he. "Don't worry, baby. Her grandmother's li

. Her stomach twisted into a tight, painful knot. She felt the world tilt o

the heavy o

air turned away from the door. Her dress was hiked up her thighs, his tie was loosened, and

before settling into a defiant arrogance. They were

is tie with a practiced motion. He looked at Frances not as

his desk and tossed it at her. It

d. "At the press conference. Or I pull the p

had once, long ago, thought she might love was a stranger. A mon

th poison. She leaned in, whispering so only Fran

e hospital room, flashed in Frances's mind. The thought of her gasping f

s, slowly uncurled. The fight drained out

words on the page were a grotesque parody of th

he said, her vo

d into a media circus. The flashes of the cameras were li

llows. Evan was beside her, his arm wrapped around her wai

e on her from somewhere in the crowd.

bitter cocktail of emotions. She recognized every stitch of that fabric; she had stayed up all night sewing it for h

stions, their words a cha

you aware of your f

edding ca

l to be cheated

rced her lips into a smile, a perfect, empty curve. She felt

er. Every letter was

one, each word a betrayal of herself. She explained that the woman in the photo was

Evan "unwavering" and thei

d her thumbnail into her index finger, hard. The s

the cameras to see, a pantomime of unity

r, pitying her, mocking her. She was a clown in a very e

ers began to disperse, their hun

owered, Evan's smile vanished. He drop

even loo

e knew Jenna was waiting, leaving Frances alone on th

eeze felt like a ra

the manicured lawn of the Sterling estate. And she had be