He Loved Her, Not His Wife

ya

ffy pillows, was Bella. She had a small, decorative bandage on her forehead and was watching a movie on a la

I lay bleeding and broken on the f

h, baby?" he asked, his v

y for something else. I want that special bird' s nest soup f

landing on me. There was no concern

he said, his voice

y. He had his men drag me from a surgical table, a woman with b

eft for dead at the auction, and now this-it all

t over five long years of sil

ttural scream torn from the de

g pain that shot through my body. Tears

r wife! Your legal wife! I have broken ribs, my leg is fractured! I

has a scratch! And you treat her like a queen while yo

my hospital gown was torn, and my dignity was in sh

th the detached curiosity of a

covered her ears. "Donnie, she' s s

He stroked her hair, his expression softening. "I

s eyes now glacial. "Ar

The memory of the car crash, of his lawyer' s cold

ught had already turned to dust, somehow managed to break all over

ooking pale. "The board is demanding an explanation fo

s eyes still locked on me. He then gav

he cold storage in the basement. Let her

ards moved

king my head in disbelie

oom. The pain was unbearable, but the cold finality in

s. The cold was immediate and brutal. It seeped through my thin gown, biting at my skin. My teeth ch

re. He was going to l

I possessed, clawed its way past my shattered pride

s, my voice raw. "Okay! I' ll do it! I'

nto the hospital' s industrial kitchen. My body was

pport, my broken ribs screaming in protest. My hands shook so badly

ck to Bella' s room, carrying

look at my new bruises, at the blood that had st

ne dismissive. He gestured to the b

lt the last tear I would ever shed fo

, as the anesthesia began to

surviv

er, ever let hi

ve, the hope, the m

e