ia, stood over me. Her face was a mask of cold fury. Our son, the boy I h

"If you hadn' t been so desperate to climb the s

mell of gasoline filled the sterile room, a

mous hiss. "Our son was conceived with Alex' s sperm. IVF. Aren' t you

r the liquid over my frail body,

d my belove

. My world exploded into pain and fire. I scream

I opened

and lilies. I was sitting up, my body whole and strong, dressed in a perf

were the hands of a young man,

s younger. I was back at the moment my life

pale, her beautiful white gown a stark contrast to the panic in her

id, her voice trembling. "He' s a

run, but a stern

stood in the doorway,

will not lea

going to kill him

you don' t stay and complete this wedding today, the Mille

pair. She looked from her father to me, and her eyes filled

ice dropping to a harsh

all your

arp, stinging pain bloomed on my cheek. It was nothing compare

begged her to give me a chance. I had been a fool, blinded by a love that was never returned. I spent the n

ured their legacy. I raised her son, Alex'

rvice, they s

red for me. I looked at her father, a man who valued reputation above all els

nt nightmare. It was a fre

I would not

ecting me to beg, to plead, to play

my cheek already fading, and made a d

from the ashes o