The Price of His Choice

hed, pulled tight by the zip ties that dug into my wrists. Across from me, Chloe Evans, my fiancé

, innocent eyes fixed on Liam. "L

tood pale and trembling before our kidnapper. The man, Marcus, was larg

Liam. "I'm a simple man, Mr. Gallagher.

owed hard.

gestured with the gun, first toward me, then toward Chloe. "You've got the

got the cute, young thing. The one everyone's been whis

small, dark part of me was certain of his answer. He would choose me

ice barely a whisper. He didn't

ears was a high-pitched whine. It

You sure? You're choosing the mentee over

desperate edge to his voice. "Save C

nsified, but I could see a flash of triumph in h

then. But a choice has consequences. To show me you're serious, you're goin

o his knees in front of Chloe. He crawled across the dirty floor and pressed his lip

asn't my humiliation, but it felt like it

doing?" My voice w

eyes on Chloe, his face a

gainst my restraints. "I'm pr

am froze. I saw a flicker of something in his eye

ous sweetness. "Ava, stop it. This isn't the tim

face a stranger's. "She's right. Why would you li

irl he'd known for a semester over the woman he'd promised

ispered, tears finall

ng." He walked over to my chair. "Since your man chose

rburst of pain in my side and my head. I cried out, instinctively tryin

"What are you doing? I told you to save her!

body, even though Marcus wasn't moving toward her at all. He didn't even glance in my dire

grew louder in th

he was gone, Liam was at Chloe's side, fumbling

n. He hovered over Chloe, wrapping her in his expensive jacket, whispering

e me, his face grim. "M

of images: Liam proposing on a bridge in Paris, the blueprint for our first office, his smile as

. A dull ache throbbed in my head and a sharper, deeper ache resonated in my womb. I knew, with

u're awake. You gave us quite a scare.

escaped my li

you," she said, handing me a tablet. "It's a press rel

ech CEO Liam Gallagher and Mentee Chloe Evans Rescued from Traumatic Kid

ad earned, the career I had built alongside him, was gone. Wiped away in

r my child was a hollow cavern inside me. The pain of Liam's betrayal was a f

When you have nothing left to lo

ture, my child, my career.

en, deleting his contact, our photos, every digital t

t he had discarded me. He was wrong. T