Rejection's Fury: A Wife's Return

riage license application, waiting for the man

. But this time, a picture on my phone showed him smiling with his hig

er, Cecil, gave Hadley a family heirloom bracelet, dismissing me as a servant. Damien, instead

g from him anymore. He responded by dragging me to my room, pushing

et me take my dying father to the hospital, claiming Hadley was having a panic attack. His mother, Ce

to my hand, telling me it was what happened when I disobeyed him. He st

me as property, who let my father die? Why did I

CEO of the Morrison Group. It was time to go

pte

g home, A

almost a whisper, but the decision f

mething she' d saved for, something she thought was special. It looked cheap and out of place against the backdrop of imposing columns an

late.

he had stood here, or at a restaurant, or at some event he promised he' d attend

derson' s voice crackled throug

ared at the entrance, a flicker of

A sharp pain shot up her leg, a familiar ache from an old injury. She shifted her weight

h fury. "He' s been using you for five years. Come home. The Morrison fami

of the Crawford family' s head of security, but for five years, sh

is do

n neatly on one line. The other was blank. She ripped the paper in half, then again, and again, until the pieces were too small t

er voice finally steady. "But y

ythi

is whole life. I need to bring him with me. He

tation. "I' ll arrange for the best doct

zzed with a new message. It was fro

Hadley Stuart, his high school sweetheart, the woman he' d never gotten over. He was feed

felt nothing. No tears, no anger. Ju

started fiv

te empire, crashed his sports car. The accident was horrific. He w

, on her way home, but she didn't hesitate. S

it exploded. The force of the blast threw her ag

tal, Damien' s body was failing. He needed a bone marrow trans

ted. She was a

ip bone, a secret, painful donation she never told him abou

hers. It was Hadley' s. He screamed for Hadley, who ha

attered his pride, turning him bitter and crue

rses. He tried to tear the IVs

ried to stop him. She would hold his hand, h

ing her away. "You're just a servant's d

to be, the one who would smile at her when she was just a kid hanging around the e

ttle girl. A secret, hopeless crush

t, when he held a shard of glass

ng down her face. "Please, don't do this. I'll sta

fed him, bathed him, read to him. She became

to Hadley for him, pouring his heartbreak onto the page, and then dutifull

u after, girl?" she'd ask, her eyes cold. "You think because you'r

" Aliana would reply qu

y on her. He grew accustomed to h

"Hadley won't come back to a cripple. But if she sees I'm

roke, but s

arship for a Ph.D. in computer science. It was her dream. She looked at the letter,

res who had lost her as a child and found her agai

Anderson had pleaded. "Come

used. She c

dying for hours every night. She pushed and pulled his unresponsive limbs, her own body strain

t was slow, but it was happening. The day he took his first unassisted

ion of his progress. She went to his room, her heart full of

voice thick with emotion. "Thinking of you co

ess at someone else's party. He hadn't even noticed her. He hadn't acknowledged t

ould keep his word, he said. But every time, Hadley would have a "crisis." A headache. A bro

-eight

told herself that once they were married,

me, looking at a picture of him with another woman, a

ad tossed the box at her last week. "Wear these to t

l. They pinched her feet,

she was never meant to fit. She was j

wait for th

ld be no

de. She was leaving