Brand

fered him my meager savings, believed in his crazy dreams. He swore he' d repay me, that he' d make me his queen. Then he found me, years later, a self-made billionaire. W

, his eyes filled with tears, "I' ll wait for you. Five yea

fresh ache. My arm throbbed, the burn from Eva' s porridge a constant, fi

On my bedside table, a folded napkin. Austin' s scrawl. "Alexis, as long as

napkin into tiny pieces, flushing them down the toilet

linic I knew. The doctor, a kind older woman, cleaned and bandaged the wound without asking too many questions. As

d defiant, pricked at me. I fumbled with the clasp, and the folder sprang open, papers scattering a

ity. Austin was sterile. Ev

asn't even his! My mind flashed back to Austin' s furious face, his accusations, his cold dismissal. All for a lie. The irony

arma. This was

report, and slipped it back into the file.

ce surprisingly steady. "I'm at the clinic,

is." His voice was sharp

in my heart solidified into cold resolve. He was a blind fool, led by the nose by a cunning