Chapter 6
Irene let out a shriek and fell back onto the bed, covering her face as she sobbed in anguished pain.
“I didn’t! It was already like this when I got here!”
Liam froze where he stood, like ice had wrapped around his entire body. His eyes reddened.
Then, as if waking from a nightmare, he bolted out of the villa toward the garbage bins that hadn’t yet been cleared.
Sure enough, inside one of them, he found the charred remains of a wedding dress–burned to ash, along with every single memory the two
of them had shared.
Liam let out a bitter laugh. Then suddenly, he pressed a hand over his face and collapsed onto the edge of the bin, sobbing uncontrollably.
He could no longer lie to himself at this moment–Melanie was never returning.
He knew better than anyone how much these things had meant to her.
And he also knew, better than anyone, that beneath her gentle
demeanor was a stubbornness so deep that once she made up her mind, there was no turning back.
The moment she threw all of that away, it wasn’t just their memories. she’d burned. She’d sentenced him to death, too.
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Chapter:
His phone buzzed. It was a video from his assistant..
“Mr. Whitaker, I pulled this surveillance footage from the psychiatric hospital. Maybe once you see it, you’ll understand why Ms. Sinclair. left.”
Hands trembling, Liam opened the video, praying in his heart that it wasn’t what he feared. But his worst nightmare unfolded before his
eyes.
“Don’t cry. I promised I’d be your husband for these two weeks, right? If you want the stars and moon, I’ll bring them down for you.”
“Liam, do I look better in the wedding dress, or does she?”
“So what if you two get married? He still has a place for me in his heart. That wedding ring? It’s just a hand–me–down from me. And your man? I slept with him first!”
His tall, imposing frame crumbled like a house of cards. Liam stared at the screen, at the footage of Melanie crying, and hot tears streamed down his face.
It was over. She knew everything.
She knew his illness was a lie. She knew about his affair. She knew there were two wedding dresses. She knew he’d given away her diamond ring.
He watched himself hurling his shoes at her, spitting cruel words- God, he wanted to go back and slap himself.
That girl, the one he had held in his heart for over a decade, had never once been treated so cruelly by him until now.
Chapter
Irene came running out just in time to see Liam’s devastated figure. She panicked and threw herself at him.
“Liam, if Melanie doesn’t know how to treasure you, that’s her loss. I’ll always be here for you.
“If you’re hurting, don’t bottle it up. Let it all out on me, okay? Let’s return to the room–you can use me however you want.”
She tried to hide the smug satisfaction on her face. She knew her body was the most powerful weapon she had against him.
But this time, she’d miscalculated. Liam’s hand shot up and wrapped. around her throat. His bloodshot eyes glared at her with pure, unfiltered rage—as if he really meant to choke her to death.
“I warned you to stay away from Melanie, didn’t I?!
“Who the hell gave you the guts to set her up?! If it weren’t for you, she never would’ve found out about the dress or the ring! I wouldn’t have hurt her!”
Irene’s face turned red as she struggled, convulsing in fear.
Liam threw her to the ground with disgust, then kicked her twice in the stomach for good measure.
“You’re nothing but a cheap whore–just a little cleaner than the rest. Who the hell gave you the right to compare yourself to Melanie?!”
She stared at him in disbelief, tears streaming down her face as she clung to his shoe.
“Liam, how can you say that?! You used to lie on top of me and call me your cure–you said you’d give me anything I wanted. Doesn’t that
mean you loved me, even just a little?
“I did it all because I loved you! I only wanted her gone! Don’t you remember how worried you were about me when I was hurt? I was your exception–your special one!”
Smack! A slap so hard it knocked her face sideways and left blood. trailing down from the corner of her mouth.
Liam loomed over her, grabbed her by the hair, and yanked her head up to face him. His eyes were full of hatred so deep, it could shred her to pieces.
“That was just bedroom talk, got it? You really thought it meant
something? You threw yourself at me–you’re nothing. You’re not even worthy to lick Melanie’s shoes!
“I warned you. Cross Melanie and you’ll pay a price you can’t afford!”
Under her terrified gaze, Liam stood up and called for his assistant, who had just arrived.
“Take her to that business partner from yesterday.
“You wanted to climb the social ladder, right? That guy may be fat and greasy, but he loves women like you–cheap, trashy, and shameless. Let’s see how you hold up against his 18 mistresses.”
