/1/133635/coverbig.jpg?v=d713e494df448a949b06005e14e3547a&imageMogr2/format/webp)
e one hundred and eighty-eight time
to take care of his ex-girlfriend, Fi
the night to fix her plumbing, I called
he was annoyed. He stayed silent for a long time before saying, "
Hudson used his body to shield me, his lower half crushed b
. "Hate me for getting you killed
r all these years. But I won't let you die. I don't owe yo
back in my past life. This time, I
pte
Caldwe
asthma attack. You know she is clinically unstable. If you want the Aguilar fortune and the status of a billionaire's wife so desperate
silver kitchen knife pressed against my left wrist. Hudson stood three feet away fro
ng breath in the snow hit me like physical trauma. My chest se
that promise into a cage. In my past life, I foolishly thought everything would be fine once we got married. I used suicide as a threat, and it worked. But to rush off and care for Fio
m my grip. As his fingers caught the steel, the sharp edge sliced across his p
oo
d flashed back to Aspen, to the dark red pooling
The knife clattered against the fl
linen handkerchief from his pocket and wrapping it tigh
ds from the snowstorm echoed in my ea
ifteen years. I had convinced myself that his coldness was just stress, that his loyal
ll self-
id. My voice was
e was used to my screaming, my tears, and my fr
nued, looking directly into his dark eyes. "I a
. "Emerson, stop the theatrics. I told you, I am tired. I worked a fourteen-hour sh
nter out of reach. Then he took a box of antiseptic wipes from the cabinet, grabbed my wrist, and began che
s fragile. You have a roof over your head, my family's fortune, and my name. You don't have to compete with a sick woman. Just behave, Em
y, just like his father ha
idn't lean into him either. I simpl
e, two, one, I c
vibrated loudly on
displayed th
atience vanished, replaced by sharp, genuine urgency. He dropped
asked, his voice full of protective warmth
s, only high-pitched sob
and walking quickly toward the foyer. "I'm coming right now.
at rack, and shoved his arms into the sleeves. He didn
s shoulder. "Order dinner. We'll disc
oak door s
e fell compl
fe, every time he walked out that door, I would throw vases, shatter wine glasses, and call his phone f
win a race against someone the othe
paper towel, and wiped the blood off the
ook out
era Wang bridal suite on Madison Avenue. I tapped the screen and c
est Virginia, specifically McDowell County, where a rural teaching
g credentials, and bought a one-way
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