The Scorned Fiancée's New Life

nted our relationship with her fake brain cancer. He swore his dev

ake wedding with Aurore. He claimed it was "therapy" to cure her ju

aking for months. I found the love letters he wrote to her on our anniversaries, on my birthda

ceholder, a convenient stand-in until h

eworks, I didn't cry. I packed my bags, took the company shar

I put on a diffe

powerful heir my twin sister was suppos

pte

n waiting for an hour. Adelard was never on time, but this wa

familiar car pulled up to the curb, Adelard' s sleek black sedan. My

wasn'

merged, looking pale and fragile. He wrapped his arm around her, his head bent low as if listening to a pr

in a sharp, painful rus

t was him. 'Sorry, baby. Stuck

i

as I typed back a s

. I walked out into the cool night air and didn' t look back. The pain in my chest was a dull

ally, I stopped under a streetlamp and pulled out my ph

er voice bright and happy. "Arah!

g hollow and distant. "Hazelle, about yo

hat about it, Arah? D

Galloway twins to marry him?" I asked, t

laced with confusion. "You know I can't.

d on a crack in the pavement.

a deep

marry Grady Barb

cture her on the other end, her brow furrowed in

h escaping my lips. "He's with Aur

had tearfully re-entered Adelard' s life, claiming her cancer was back and she only had months to live. Ade

rst love. "She has no one else, Arah," he'd pleaded. "It's the rig

ife, my career as a chef, my everything on hold while he played

routine check-up for Aurore that showed she was perfectly healthy. I overheard

e admitted he knew she was f

t explained everything. "Her mental state is fragi

cut Aurore off. For a few blissful months, I thought he had

ts. "You don't even know Grady Barber. This is a business arrangement

" I shot back, the anger finally bubbling up. "It hasn't been love

e firm now. "You get to be with the man you lo

sisterly love. "Okay, Arah. If this is

sion was made. The pain was still there, but it was overshadowed b

back to the hotel where Adelard and I were staying for our "annivers

ew hours later, Adelard came ba

ng ran late, and then Aurore c

at him, not

this is hard to understand. But her condition is really bad this time. The doctor s

m, my expressi

sted something... unconventional. A way to give her that closure so she ca

" I asked, m

an old promise I made to her. The therapist thinks it will act as a final, definitive end to that chapter of her life. After

ysically hurt. The absurdity of his request was so profound it was almost f

me to just sta

hrown something. But I was beyond that. I was somew

is hope

, my voice sho

my quick agreement. "Real

er conditions? Anything else you

while we 'plan' this. It might be better if... if we kept some

t of the way. O

ight nod. "I unde

hole speech prepared. My easy compliance left him wrong-footed, and for a second, he loo