Stolen Melody, A Love Betrayed

e Edwar

o my bed. I lay under the crisp white sheets, my hands resting on my stomach-a place that now felt strangely,

ments. She was my rock, the only person who hadn't flinched when I told her my plan. She' d simply nodded, her eye

' s done. The transfer is complete. Your

y, a calm anchor in

na," I whispered

r eyes holding a trace of sympathy. She checked my vitals, h

, her gaze meeting mine. "You understand that this procedure is irrev

y voice firmer now. There w

there any family we s

The people who had orchestrated my ruin? The man who saw

voice chillingly ca

yes. She must see women in my position all the time, women forced into impossibl

a steady metronome counting down the end of one life and the beginning of another. This was not a loss. It wa

that settled deep in my soul,

ed but urgent. "He' s been calling nonstop. He somehow found out

ning over me, her face etched with wor

mach. The slight, familiar roundness

ess, a phantom limb searching for

" Alaina asked, her v

ster' s wrist; my mother' s condescending smile; my father' s dismissive sigh. The

ge. A pure, unadulterated fury at my own blindness, at the years I had wasted lo

lips. "No," I said, my voic

ll ache in my core. I reached for t

rs," Alaina said,

voice raspy but firm. "Tell

pulling out her phone.

cks I bought under

said with a grim smile. "The funds are already being transfe

the small stipend my parents gave me, a paltry allowance meant to kee

umble. I want him to know that every brick was built

Hurried footsteps pounding

m. I had been waiting for this. I sat up straighter agains

or bur

led. His eyes, wild with a panic I' d never seen bef

staggering step into the room, his gaze dropping to my

ered, his face ashen. "You didn