Peace After Pain: My Unwritten Blueprint

Matthe

"secret ceremony" post was a

antic thing I have ever s

ess engagement. You are his re

queen! True love

c heroine. Arden, the conflicted prince. And me, the co

s I typed a comment from my burner acc

' ve been together since they we

d" isn't a wife. Sometimes love isn

or the fiancée, she seems nice. But you c

nning through the sprinklers in the sprawling gardens of my family' s Hamptons estate.

u," he' d declared, as if he we

rs welled in her big, expressive eyes. "You can on

treaked face to my smiling one. He squeezed my hand tighter.

desperate to stop her crying, amended his statement. "Okay, okay! You

a prophecy. Arden, still trying to have both. And Dal

den's contact. I needed to see his face. I needed

n cut off. He had

Sorry baby, in the shower. Call

the screen, the images burned into my brain. The clock on m

ypad_dreams a

in hotel sheets, her hair spread across the pi

ballroom, but with me. Just me. Now I have to go play my part as the supportive maid of honor at the

nd clasped over my mouth, and retched into the toilet. Nothing came

oor, my body shaking. The com

rong. I could

deserve a fri

id of honor? That' s

ted. The sympathy for Dalla

r fiancé' s true love be he

to torture Dallas. Rich girls are

holding him hostage with that accide

the day I saved his life as a weapon against me. Turning my sa

cle. I was the villain. The ev

once-respected hedge fund manager, had been convicted of white-collar crime.

performative tears of a nine-year-old, but with the raw

hispered, her face buried in my pillow

. He had used his influence, made calls, and pulled the Mckinney family back from the brink of total r

ver forget this, H," she' d sworn, her voice thick with emotion. "I owe you an

am, painting me as a monster to an audience of strangers. The coldness that had

or tears. No more room for shock. There was only a hol

om the car accident where I' d pushed Arden out of the way of a speeding taxi, felt more pron

me at the door. "Ms. Matthews,

dress bag hung, pristine and white. But somethi

as there, as perfect as I remembered

?" I asked, my voi

terday afternoon. He said you wanted a piece of it removed for a... a sentimen

nd. I dialed Arden' s number.

Dallas. V

ood on the bustling Madison Avenue

the dress. Meet me at th

what looked like genuine concern. When he saw me standing there, calm

you here? I thought you were han

uestion. I just looked

is missin

red me." He walked towards me, his arms outstretched. "It was supposed to be a surprise, for