His Cruelty, Her Comeback

, Bennet,

d, ending my career as an architect. Bennet promised me justi

rsary, I went to the county

ds show you were divorced three years ago. Your ex-

ext shattered my wo

shment w

was a lover

ouble life, celebrating our a

it was for my "healing." He even shoved me to the

ed men to assault her. He dragged me to a dark room, not even recognizing

wife," he snarled, "will fee

who swore to protect me became my torturer, all whil

d, ordering his me

I es

, my heart set on one thing: entering the Paris architectur

wings, but he only taught m

pte

fifth wedding

county office, the air thick with the

prestigious architecture competition in Paris. It was supposed to be a surprise for my

eyes and a name tag that read

, reading from my file. "Eve

eed to update my marital st

y. That' s

peered at her screen, then ba

" I said, my voice full of the prid

of the keys echoing too loudly in the quiet roo

What? That' s impossible.

nial all day. "Let me double-check." She typed m

softer now, tinged with pity. "You were div

he date hit me lik

ing to a whisper, "your ex-husband, Be

lted. My vis

The words w

then read the na

na Ski

as a ghost, a nightmare I thoug

me for months. Her devotion was a twisted, suffocating thing. It culminated in

n my right hand. The hand that held my pencils

-deep agony, and the sight of my

stice. He told me he' d "imprisoned" her in his most secluded lakeside cabin, a place with no

ke her suffer. He h

n my pocket. A me

ee you tonight. I have the biggest surprise wait

son. The loving husband, the protector, the man who ha

nishment was a

lse wa

all times, which I' d seen as concern. The way he discouraged my attempts to regain my career, saying he just

place with a horrifyin

d told me he kept her there, locked

gent, seized me. I had

pilot. I got in my car and drove, the two-hour journey to

lass and wood nestled by the water. It didn'

a frantic rhythm against my ribs. As I neared the pro

ndictive part of me hoped it was Gianna, final

ng behind a thicket

e leaves,

and G

locked in a passionate embrace. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, her head thrown

re was a lie. It wa

had designed myself. Bennet had it built for me, a symbo

his arms, in the life t

gernails into my palm, the sharp pain a welcome distr

towards me, carried

ck concern. "What if Harper finds out? She' s a brilliant arc

urn. "Let her go. Without her right hand, she' s nothing. She'

wed my injury. He had wanted it. He had used it to cl

ood to me," G

smooth as silk. "You did what I cou

g her. For dest

d Bennet had ruined the man' s company overnight. He had told

. A cruel, elabo

es here?" Gianna pre

ence. "She trusts me completely. She thinks you

out a small, velvet box. He opened it,

ersary, Giann

nniversary. He was ce

gain. Another mes

tes until I can hold you

a gift; it was a cage. A beautifully gilded cage

he woman who had ruined me, celebrating

but something else was rising

e thought I was his dependent

as w

escape. I would enter that competition. I would win. And I w

never see