ice of despair. "Ivory? Are you there? How did it

e cry threatening to escape. I couldn't speak, not a single word. My throa

nfortunate card again?" She paused, a heavy sigh on the other end. "I understand, sweetheart. I truly d

Yes, endless pain. But now, I knew it w

d, her voice softer, almost pleading. "It' s a new beginning for us. And darling, there' s som

l magnate from Hong Kong, someone I' d met briefly as a child. I'd dismissed it

given him so many years. Four years of this... th

ving, of sharing his manufactured suffering. I had come here today ready to sacrifice myself, to endure his penance, only to discover his elaborate de

the words barely audible, but fir

r girl. I knew you were strong enough to make the righ

The decision was made. No mo

a stretcher. My heart twisted. A part of me, the old, naive Ivory, still wanted to rush to him, to comfort him. But the new Ivory, the one who had just witn

his eyes glazed with exhaustion. He spotted me, and a flicker of panic cross

ile. "You look tired, Adonis," I

he rasped, his voice weak. "I told you not to come. I don't want you to see me like this." He tried to reach for me,

I scoffed. Next year? There won't

k of ice. We were loaded into the family car for the drive to the hospital. He laid his head on my shoulder, his breath

ossing his pale skin. A wave of bitter irony washed over me. All thi

exasperation. "Don't let her wait too long, Adonis," he said, his voice

ntil the end of time. She knows I'm worth it. Right

her empty smile. You think so, Adonis? Y

ying the scene in the chapel, the conversation between Adonis and Brittain. The pieces of the puzzle cli

and pain medication. He reached for my hand, his eyes filled with a manufactured

her eyes red and puffy, her usually neat hair disheveled. She looked

shing me away. "Why did you do it again? Why do you keep punishing y

their depths. "Ariel, what are you doing here? Get out!" he

stood by you, watched you suffer, while she lives her perfect life, waiting for you to jump through hoops? Don't you s

Let her go. You belong with me. You know you do. You're tired of this, aren't you

speak that way about Ivory? She is my fiancée, my future wife! I love her! And I will only ever marry her!

lled with tears, looked utterly broken. "But... but

r. "Go! Get out of here right now! If you ever speak anoth

belief. She shook her head slowly, a single tear tracing a path down her pale chee

oftening, a forced tenderness returning to his eyes. "I'm so sorry, my love," he murmured, reaching for

tight, the knuckles white beneath the skin. A flicker of something-not anger, but a deep, complex emotion-had passed through his eyes when he' d

to be so open, so direct. We used to share everything. I used to think I knew him better than anyone. He was my

ce flat, "how long has A

tly. "Oh, you know, a few years. Time fli

pressed, my ga

that. But she's just an assistant, Ivory. You know how

o had warned him. Brittain, who had called it manipulati

lm settling over me. "And if s

ogance returning. "Then I'll fire her, of cours

ng. He was lying to Ariel, and he was lying to me. He would never fire her. He was too tied to her, by guilt, by obligation, or something far deeper he

eaving a tangled web of lies and manufactured emotions. He didn't just love me less; he