The Secrets She Died To Protect

ted her downfall-ruining her family and her reputation-as payback for trapping me

ator called. He told me Ava had been secretly battling a

n't for an affair. The child I accused her of aborting was a pregnancy her dying body c

ence? Why let me believe she was a m

l, revealing the one secret she died to protect. The woman

And I had destroyed

pte

Berr

my family. My father's desperate social media campaign, meant to manipulate Elliott with lies about my 'illness,' backfired spectacularly. Now everyone believed the illness itself was a fabrication, another tool in a con artist's arsenal. I was supposedly sick, but not a single perso

th came with a cage. And I had been locked in

eement. He would pay me a large sum of money to refuse the arranged marriage. He had a woman he loved, Angella Olson. I agreed. He paid the money. But then, my grandmother's condition worsened, and the cost skyrocketed beyond what Elliott paid. My fat

ut I could neve

th Angella. He publicly humiliated me. I endured his emotional cruelty. My frequent hospital visits for my brain tumor became gossip. He saw my friendship with my oncolog

e only weapon I had left. And every day, it c

lawyer. He looked relieved. A quiet satisfaction settled on his face. This was the end. He wanted to finalize it quickly. He made it

t looked at me with a detached gaze. He probably found my calm unsettling. He expected a fight, tears

t I had left was counting down to a

in my mind. The lawyer pushed the signed agreement across the table. I whispered my consent. Elliott watched me, his eye

nsaction. "A sizable settlement,

ng-off period before finalization. Ellio

guarantee I would not come back. My palms tightened. My finger

figure. The doctor's words about my diminishing survival time echoed in my head. This was likely the last time I wo

d. What he never knew was that I had been protecting