Part 3Erasing The Man Who Broke Me

I stared blankly at the ceiling. My thoughts drifted back seven years.

We were fresh out of the nightmare, and we were still so desperately in love. But the relentless grind of working multiple shifts finally broke Killian. He collapsed at his construction site.

Diagnosis: Malignant cardiac arrhythmia.

We’d just graduated and found decent entry-level jobs, but we still worked extra shifts—him, to let me cut back. He exhausted our savings and borrowed from every friend he had. But the ICU bills grew more enormous every day.

I felt like I was drowning, no matter how hard I kicked, I couldn’t reach the surface, couldn’t see the light. I sold my blood. I sold a kidney.

Still not enough.

I only cared about Killian living.

I swallowed my pride. I used Killian’s phone to call his father.

Men like Mr. Alistair North are hypocrites. He could have an affair, but he couldn't stand the thought of his son running away with the daughter of his mistress.

He said he would save Killian’s life—but the cost was that I had to leave him. He said I had to make Killian hate me permanently, only then would he return home and reclaim the life that was meant for him.

We made a deal.

Killian was fully recovered a month later.

On the day he was discharged, he took my hand. I could see the words forming on his lips—he was about to drop to one knee.

“Cassidy, I want to marry you.”

He never got the chance. He saw the ridiculously large, fake diamond ring on my finger and the man who stepped out from behind me.

The ring was a cheap bauble I’d bought at a dollar store. The diamond was enormous, a convincing fake.

The man was an actor I’d paid eighty dollars. He had a great, professional demeanor—enough to sell the lie.

My voice was dead, stripped of all feeling.

“It’s too hard, Killian. You ran yourself into the ground trying to buy me a decent ring, and you spent every last cent we had saving your life.”

“You made me feel like our lives would never get better.”

“My family wronged yours, so I stayed until you walked out of the hospital. We’re even now.”

“But thank God you got sick. Because while you were in the ICU, I met my fiancé. I had no idea life could be this easy. You’re broke, and I’m done.”

I turned away, terrified that another second would betray the tears already burning my eyes.

The actor, Daniel, was professional, repeatedly intercepting the enraged, broken Killian. Killian fought him off, lunging at me, his eyes red, until he finally sagged from exhaustion.

“You tell me how we’re even! You tell me you’re lying, Cass!”

But his father was right. Killian wasn't meant for that life. Pushing further would only kill him. He had to hate me to go back.

That was the last time I saw the old Killian before the sham marriage. I thought he'd do exactly as his father and I had planned—go home, inherit the empire, and lead the life of luxury he deserved.

Instead, Killian tore the North mansion apart. He cut his hand open, smeared the blood on the walls, and warned his father to stay away from me. He didn’t believe I would betray him.

Not until he saw the staged photos of me and the actor naked in bed, and the purposefully “hidden” pregnancy test.

Heartbroken, he left.

It took him three years, without a single cent of family help, to build an empire large enough to rival his father’s. Then he found me, cornered me, and forced me to sign the marriage certificate.

He was changed. The truth—the words of sacrifice, the bitter honesty—all the things I never got to tell him before he found the girls, just withered inside me.

What difference would it make now? Would it make him regret? Would he feel guilt? Or would he simply sneer and tell me I was weaving desperate lies?

We were already beyond repair. My debt to him. His debt to me. It was a tangled knot that could never be undone. I thought we would simply torture each other forever.

But finally, I found the strength to cut the cord.

Killian pushed the door open and walked to my bedside. Seeing my eyes open, he momentarily faltered.

“You heard that?”

“I was just messing with her. You know I wish you were dead.”

Killian, I thought bitterly, you never dare to look me in the eye when you say those things.

I managed a dry, painful smile.

“Perfect.”

“If not for her, we wouldn’t have known about the baby.”

“Though I know you’d never let me keep your child.”