Chapter 110
After the wedding, we honeymooned across every country we’d once only dreamed of.”
Eventually, I opened my own fashion studio. Life began to settle into something soft and steady. Little by little, l’let go of everything that had happened in Inverness–and I never looked back.
But Nigel was different.
There was a college reunion. He hadn’t planned on attending, but even the slimmest chance of seeing me was enough for him to show up.
Of course, he left disappointed.§
Brooklyn Faraday, one of our classmates, had moved to Denmark right after graduation. She hadn’t heard about the divorce.>>
Mid–conversation, she raised her glass and asked casually, “So, how are you and Rianne doing now? You must have a few kids by now, huh? You two built everything from the ground up–it’s really something, what you achieved together.”
Nigel just sipped his drink and murmured, “Reaily? I forgot.”
Brooklyn blinked. “You forgot? Back then, you ran all the way across the city just to see her for a second.“}
That one sentence stopped Nigel cold.
He had forgotten.”
Forgotten how he used to climb over the wall of my old neighborhood just to catch a glimpse of me.>> Forgotten the cramped basement where we once lived, where he swore he’d give me a big house someday. Forgotten the wedding where we had nothing, and he said he didn’t care–so long as I stayed by his side.} All of it… he had forgotten.D
Jonly learned what happened that night because Brooklyn called me afterward.
She told me no one had seen Nigel again after the reunion.
But just a few days after, he transferred every last one of his company shares and wired all of it into my account.” Brooklyn’s voice was careful. “Do you hate him?“D
I shook my head. “I don’t hate him. And I don’t love him, either. You know, he’s just not worth my energy anymore.”}]
Life went on peacefully like that until one evening, on my way home from work, someone stepped into my path–sudden, frantic. It was Luella.0
“Rianne,” she cried, “I was wrong. Please–I’m begging you. Talk to Nigel for me. Tell him to bring me back. I shouldn’t have framed you, I shouldn’t have tried to ruin what you and he had…”
Tears streamed down her face as she broke down in front of me. Her voice trembled.
“That place… It’s not meant for people! My baby… My baby didn’t make it through last month! I can’t–Rianne, I can’t–stay in that hellhole! It chews people up and spits them out!“>
I stood still, but I shook my head. “Luella… there’s nothing I can do.“}]
I turned to leave–but then, I felt it. That sharp shift in the air.
And when I glanced back, I saw the glint of metal–a knife.}
“You forced me, Rianne!” Luella–that lunatic–screamed. “If I can’t live, then don’t think you can either!“>
In a blur, a figure moved between us.
And then the blade sank–deep and brutal–into Nigel’s abdomen.}]
Luella stood frozen, the knife slipping from her hands, her sobs choked by shock.
I dropped to the ground, taking off my coat and pressing it to Nigel’s wound, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.
But it was no use.
Still, he smiled through the pain.
“R–Rianne… I’m finally free.” His breaths came shallow, but his eyes never left mine. “I just never got the chance to say… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, I lost you in the years that passed.”}
“Sorry, for all the blood and tears.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t… I couldn’t protect you.”
A week later, he was laid to rest in a quiet, simple funeral. On the same day, Luella was sentenced–twenty years for attempted murder.
I was there in court when the verdict was read. Hunther stood beside me in silence.
Afterward, he gently reached for my hand and said, “Let’s go home.“”
I nodded, ready to leave it all behind. But we hadn’t even taken a few steps when a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me.“]
Hunther caught me just in time and rushed me straight to the hospital.”
After a full examination, the doctor walked in, smiling.
“Congratulations, sir. Your wife is pregnant.”
My lips parted in disbelief. I instinctively placed a hand over my belly.
After everything–after all the drinking, the hemorrhaging–I’d convinced myself I would never be able to carry a child.
And yet… somehow, against all odds, life had found its way back to me.}
My husband and I held each other, crying without shame.}
For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt complete. And at that moment, I knew…
‘I’ll be happy from now on.
