Erased By His Lies And Love

nd sold my grandmother' s locket to fund his startup. Now, on the verge of his company's IPO, he was

urora Quinn. He called her the love of his life, thanking her for "believing in

beat me unconscious at a mall. He locked me in a dark basement, fully awa

hen the attacker told him he could only save o

d his precious deal. Lying in a hospital bed for the second time, bro

hoked out, "can I c

s instant. "Of course, darling. My private jet is on

pte

Payn

rs across our kitchen table. The polished oak felt cold under my

teen

x months I' d been asked to legally e

my hands shaking with a rage that felt foreign and terrifying. The tenth time, I had held a shard of a broken plate to my own wrist, m

as gray and lifeless as a winter sky, had actua

nd held me for hours, whispering promises into my hair. Promises that this was all temp

him. I always

ent, a profound and hollow exhaustion settled deep in my bones.

"We' ve been over this. It' s a strategic move. A temporary dissolution to appease

sound was on mute, but the images were crystal clear. Desmond, my Desmond, was on the screen, his smile as bright and blinding

ra Q

media had dubbed the other half of Silicon Valley' s new power couple. Her smile was poised, her posture perfect.

voice an annoying buzz in my ear. "This is just... business. Aurora' s family has

wife from his impoverished past, a rel

ust sounds, empty air shaped into words that were supposed to manage me, t

next to a blank line. His name, Desmond Day, was already signed

so quiet, so devoid of emotion, that for a

is professional mask fa

rovided. It felt heavy, like it was carved

pected another fight, another scene, another desperate, pathetic display from the incon

ft in me to melt. I was

othly, a black river severing a ten-year bond. Each letter was a s

as if he feared I might change my mind. He tucked it safely into his leather

on," he said, already backing toward the door, his job f

ng me alone in the cavernous house t

forward, my forehead resting on the cold, unforgiving surface of the table. I was an a

rviewing Desmond. He was radiant, magnetic, the man I had fallen in love w

eared at the bot

ora Quinn. She' s not just my lead investor; she' s my inspiration, my partner, and

a digital epitaph fo

him when no

red working three jobs-waitressing, cleaning offices, bartending-my hands raw and my body aching, just so he could afford the tuition for his MBA. I reme

wo of us. He couldn' t afford a real ring, so he' d given

tears as he slipped it on my finger, "I' ll buy you an island. I

s being offered to another woman, on

had jus

ed at in years, past names that felt like ghosts. I found the one I was looking for. Evelena

five years, not since a bitter fight over Desmond, a man she

ed the

g, her voice as sharp and prec

broke from my chest. "Aunt Evelena," I chok

veins. "Of course, darling. I' m in a meeting right now, but it' s almost over. My private jet is on

e in the wreckage. "And Ariel? Whatever

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