Jaxxon staggered backward and crashed to the floor, completely disheveled.”
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and glared at me venomously.
“Megan, this is the kind of violent man you’re into now? What are you going to do when he beats you to death one day?“>
As he spoke, he tried to lunge at Alec.
Alec sidestepped him easily, sneering coldly. “Seems like unless I beat some sense into you, you’ll never shut up.“>
Jaxxon missed entirely, slamming headfirst into one of the stone pillars in the hall. Blood immediately poured from his forehead.
He swayed, looking like he was about to pass out.
Bethany screamed and ran over to catch him, then looked up at me with red–rimmed eyes and shrieked, “Megan! The divorce is done–you could’ve walked away clean! Do you really have to get your wild man to kill my brother–in–law?!“}
Jaxxon braced himself against the pillar, barely standing, his eyes still locked on me.”
“Come here,” he said, hoarse. “We can pretend none of this happened.”}]
“Jaxxon!” Bethany clutched his sleeve in disbelief. “You still want her after everything?!“}
“Megan!” Jaxxon barked, ignoring her completely. “I’m ordering you to come here!“>
I let out a low, mocking laugh, slipped my arm around Alec’s, and turned to leave without looking back.
Behind me, a loud thud rang out–Jaxxon had finally lost consciousness and collapsed.”
Behi
Bethany’s hysterical sobbing echoed through the hall.
It’s
“Jaxxon! Wake up! It’s our marriage registration today!”
-0
Jaxxon woke with a start from a nightmare.§
Every scene from the dream was etched vividly in his mind.
In it, he was drunk, holding a very pregnant Rhea in his arms–eight months along–but the name he kept murmuring was “Megan.”} Rhea had looked at him with such utter despair, her lips curling into a bitter smile as she stormed out only to trip and fall.
The next second, barely clinging to life, she stared at him with a gaze full of hatred.§
“After I die, marry Bethany. That’s the price you’ll pay for what you owe me,” she’d rasped.”
Jaxxon gasped for breath, clutching his chest. It almost felt like sobs were trying to escape.
Rhea knew him too well. That final wish was a curse meant to trap him in eternal guilt–one that would ensure he could never be with the person he truly loved.
But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let go of Megan.}
He’d rather die than live as a puppet, marrying a woman he didn’t love.
Two years ago, when he stood on that bridge and made that last phone call to Megan, he had already made up his mind.”
Either she came back–or he jumped.}
But when Megan did give up everything to return to him, he plunged into even deeper torment.
…D
Bethany’s sobs pulled him out of his thoughts.
“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?” she accused, tears brimming in her eyes.
Jaxxon rubbed his temples in frustration. “If I’m not thinking of her, you think I’d be thinking of you?”
memory?”
Her face changed in an instant. “Jaxxon! You’re already divorced from Megan. Is this how “And what would you call honoring it?” He suddenly laughed, a twisted grin on his pale, blood–streaked face.§
you honor my sister’s “Bethany, wasn’t it you who said that after one child, you’d let me go? Who promised I didn’t have to marry you anymore?”
His voice turned hoarse, each word heavier than the last.
“For six months, you called and I came every single time. I did everything you asked. And now what? Now you’re forcing me into marriage to give the child a title?”
“Fine. But once it’s on the birth certificate, what’s next, Bethany? What’s your next move?
