Broken Promises, A Vengeful Heart Returns

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er' s broken body, my mind a complete and utter blank. Screams erupted around me, people shouting, someone calling 911

rd was a choked

he warm, sticky feel of his

I had lost the two people who anchored me to this world. I knelt between

ization had completely collapsed. Its remaining assets were being seized, and its key players were either in custody or had fled the

ding, as I begged him to stop. He was hearing my voice, choked with grief, as I told him he had

e and entitlement. "Darling," she chirped, "now that the Chambers

d his neck. "Why do you look so glum? We w

She' s worth ten of you," he sa

smile faltering.

he wedding will be in five days," he said, his voice flat. "I hav

amily was the final piece he needed to secure his promo

rom the family estate. The house, the cars, everything was being auctioned off to pay the family' s debts.

had left. I knelt between the graves, the news o

on the cold marble of her headstone. "I' m sorry,

get to win, after everything he had don

final, silent goodbye. "Wait for me,"

e only family I had left, my thin

etary buzzed him. "Agent Walter, ther

ever see me again. A part of him, a part he refused to acknowledge, fe

ng grew into a knot of anxiety in his stomach.

p ten minute

n to search the building. He had a terrible

rdinate burst in, breathless

ersonal cell phone rang. My name flashed on th

are you doing?" he

ss around my legs, the city spread out beneath me like a cruel,

my own voice eerily calm. "To watch the person you

voice tight with a panic I had never heard before.

he gray sky, and for a moment, he froze. He didn' t see the broken woman he had created; he saw t

ried, taking a

t," I said into the phone, my eyes locked on his. "But I can make you feel

let myself fall backwa

saw his mouth open in a silent scream. I saw him lunge

en, no

ast sight was of him, on his knees at the edge of the roof, m

d orchestrated the entire scene, her "suicide" a carefully staged performance to convince the world, and especially Kaiden, that Anya Chambers was dead. He had left me a n

rincess, a new woman was already taking her first breath