The Woman I Saved Destroyed Me

es was the last so

dly intent. One second, Olivia Reed, my fiancée, was laughing, her hand in mine as we crossed the street, talking about the fin

no time

st a

and onto the safety of the sidewalk. I saw the surp

me the

world shattered into a kaleidoscope of pain a

as a frantic plea, a silent

ase, take care

ready growing frail, to the woman I was about to marry. I trusted

three ye

, a neurosurgeon with sharp eyes and a surprisingly gentle voice. Sh

in of scar tissue, the bone structure beneath it shattered and poorly healed. The

didn't recognize, haunted by the ghost of the man I used to be. During that tim

w Ol

her face a perfect mask of tragic grief. She spoke of her fiancé, the

voice thick with emotion. "I pray for him to wake

ooled me, lying there paralyzed in my hospital bed. A p

al facial reconstruction," she said. "W

man reborn, ready to put this tragedy behind us. I spent months in grueling physical therapy, learning to w

ok a cab to the house I had bought for us, the home I had designed myself. My heart hammered in

alked through the familiar rooms, but they felt different. Colder. Her

upstairs. A woman's l

amiliar. Mark Stevens. My bes

I stopped just outside the master bedroom, the

ended for the

They were kissing, a deep, passionate kiss that spoke of lo

other?" Olivia murmured against his lips, her voic

or her expensive medication? That we let the old woman waste away in that cheap n

sweet, gentl

ad kil

d down his chest. "That house, the company... it's all ours now. We just have to

ting on the ashes of my family. The sound of their pleasure was a

ed, a strangled gasp of agony escaping my throat. It wasn'

oom, the mov

?" Mark's voice wa

the door. He had heard me.