My Dying Heart, His Cruel Vows

. He told me to come down to the 5th Precinct because there was a "situa

kidnapping. But the real shock wasn't the accusation. It

th affection, calling her "Kiley" and gifting her a diamond ne

He looked at me like I was a piece of furniture. A cop muttered to his

eving I ran away and left her to die. He doesn't know I collapsed whi

owed to love "till death do us part." The irony is, he doesn't have to

pte

ie

t wasn't jewelry. It was a phone

hollow silence of the mansion I called home. "Mrs. Peters? This is Mark from Elijah'

lijah, there was al

nstinctively went to my chest, a familiar tightness beginning

see for yourself, ma'am

ne wen

rembling as I fumbled with the buttons. The drive downtown was a blur of tr

cameras flashing, microphones thrust forward at anyone who looked even vaguely official. I slipped in through

tic. And in the center

r the harsh fluorescent lights. She was surrounded by a small crowd of officers, her face a mas

s her

, brighter, unbroken version of th

ct. "The billionaire, Elijah Peters! He locked me in his penthouse

with a spoiled, pouting coyness, a thinly veiled boast. She wasn't a victim; she w

a desk, sipping coffee from a paper cup, utterl

partner, a fresh-faced rookie whos

asked, his hand hovering near his notepad. "She's accusin

hat's what rich people call a 'whirlwind romance.' Elijah Peters could buy this wh

, confused. "But..

ating moment, landed on me, standing in the shadows by the wall. A flic

ed, but they were held back by a wall of black-suited security. Elijah

ing to his powerful frame, his chiseled face cold and impassive. His eyes, the color of a st

d on the young infl

e ice

y a tender, all-encompassing affection. The change was so swift, so comple

pine. He closed the distance between them in three long strides, cupping her face in his hand

arms around his neck. "You're terrible! You locked me up and

led back slightly, his thumb stroking her cheek. "But I missed you so

pouted, though her e

ve to make it up to you." He reached into his pocket and produced a small, velvet box. Inside

h, Elijah... you

ping again, thick with meaning. He fastened the neckla

a pout. "I'm

lding his wrists out in mock surrender. "Lock me up,

away. "You're impossible!" She threw her arms around him a

roking her back. "Let's

till soft from gazing at her, swept

harder than before. It was as if he' d looked at a pie

flat and devoid of any emoti

"Oh, Elijah, don't be cross. Your PR team called her. You know, to help with the... m

n. His focus was entirely on Kiley

is voice low but audible in the sudden quiet. "That's

ailing organ, felt like it was

me only. A ghost haunting t

always l

hed garden. I was a scholarship student, quiet and out of my depth at a lavish party, and Corine P

der and already a legend in the tech world. He seemed to

he noticed I wasn't drinking. He' d talked to me about classic literature, a passion we d

hispered to me later, giggling. "I've n

gentle intensity that left me breathless. He made me feel like the only wo

, Jamie Leblanc, to be my wife," he'd vowed, his voice thick with emotion. "To have and to hold, from this day forward,

I believed eve

lasted less

ne and I were alone. They were brutal. Corine, brave, beautiful Corine, s

, a crushing pain exploded in my chest. The world tilted, went black, and I

Corine

al to two sentences t

didn't m

y, Ms. Leblanc... you have hypertrophic cardiomyopa

Elijah's. His sorrow was a bottomless abyss that qu

pain and rage. "Why?" he rasped, his voice a raw wound. "

ain, about collapsing, about the faulty, traitorous he

do? Would it bring Corine back? No. It would only add another layer of pain to

et him believe I was a coward who had abandoned my b

n't divorce me. That would have been too kind. Instead, he

an his slow, me

with all the affection, all the tenderness, all the public declarations he had once given me.

gger to my heart. He was performing our love story with another actress, and

the irony. I wa

weeks, Jamie," he'd said, his voice g

was near. Soon, I would see Corine agai