Chapter 2
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The sound of shattering glass vidently interrupted by fade
“Who dares-
Her voice transformed from anger to terror “Mr. Mr Thornet 1. I didn’t realize
“Get Out” Eugene’s voice filled the room, the temperature seemed to drop with each syllable
“If I ever see your face in this hospital again…”
The threat hung in the air like frost, leaving the nurse’s panicked footsteps echoing down the corridor in her wake.
Familiar arms enveloped me, and I felt Eugene’s body trembling slightly against mine.
“Victoria, my love, I’m so sorry,” his voice cracked with what seemed like genuine remorse. I should have been here sooner. I never meant for you to be treated this way, I’m so sorry…”
A bitter smile twisted my lips. Such righteous anger over a rough nurse, while he orchestrated the surgical theft of my future.
Yet he held me tighter, as if he could somehow protect me from the very pain he’d inflicted.
“Take me home,” I whispered, feeling his warm breath stir the hair at my neck. “Please… I can’t stay here anymore.”
His lips brushed against my temple, “Soon, darling. After the doctors check you over, I’ll take you home myself.”
What Eugene failed to realize was that “home” held a different meaning for me not his luxurious estate, but the towering Montgomery mansion in Boston.
Memories flickered through my mind: the family power struggle that forced my father to hide me in Eastbrook, though even there, danger found me.
That rain–slicked night in the alley, lightning illuminating Eugene’s face as he stepped between me and the blade – my dark knight in designer armor,
In that moment, I fell into the cliché of love at first sight.
We ended up at the same university, becoming the couple everyone envied young love personified, turning heads wherever we went, inspiring envious whispers and dreamy sighs.
05:42
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Sti
56.3%
Chapter 2
That’s when Claire entered our story. My heart ached seeing her survive on food bank donations, her artistic talent withering in
poverty.
I became her patron, never suspecting I was nurturing the seed of my own destruction.
Her gratitude seemed pure then, crystalline tears in earnest eyes as she hugged me, promising eternal friendship.
We became inseparable, the wealthy benefactor and her gifted protege.
How exquisitely blind I’d been, missing the subtle signs the lingering glances, the charged silences, the carefully orchestrated “accidental” meetings.
Eugene’s fingers traced my jawline now. “Victoria, my love, let’s have our wedding tomorrow as planned. I can’t wait to make you
Mrs. Thorne.”
The wedding I’d once dreamed of now loomed like a nightmare. “No,” I whispered.
His hands stilled, surprise evident in his voice.
“Sweetheart,” he coaxed, uncharacteristically patient. “Everything’s perfect. No one will dare whisper about your… condition. Claire’s volunteered to be your maid of honor.”
“And Dempsey Montgomery himself will officiate – Boston’s elite patriarch himself. Remember? I promised you the grandest wedding imaginable.”
My fingers clutched his sleeve at my brother’s name. The Montgomerys remained blissfully unaware of my life in Eastbrook, of my
engagement to Eugene.
I’d severed ties after refusing an arranged marriage to some blue–blooded heir, choosing love over duty.
Bile rose in my throat imagining Dempsey’s face when he saw me – his proud sister, now a blind puppet in someone else’s play.
Suddenly, a weight fell against me, accompanied by a sickeningly sweet voice:
“Victoria!”
Claire’s arms wound around me like python coils. “I’ve been so worried! Let me be your eyes now, I’ll take care of you forever…”
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