Chapter 12
Kimberly’s POV
Cedric still had no idea why I’d really left him all those years ago.
When he returned after making his fortune, announcing his intention to marry me as if it were some grand gesture, I knew I owed him the truth. I had carefully prepared to tell him everything.
I wanted to confess that those cutting words I’d hurled at him when ending things–about wanting someone with money, about being tired of his struggle–they were all calculated lies meant to make him hate me enough to let go.
He deserved someone whole. Someone who could give him a future filled with healthy children and decades of companionship. Someone whose body wasn’t a genetic time bomb. Someone whose presence in his life wouldn’t be a burden but a blessing.
I’d rehearsed my explanation countless times in front of my bathroom mirror, practicing how to smile convincingly while encouraging him to find happiness with someone else. How to make it sound genuine when I wished him well. How to hide the devastation I felt at the unfairness of it all.
No one–not even Olivia–knew how many nights I spent with my face pressed into my pillow, muffling sobs until my throat was raw. The agony of letting him go had been almost physical, like severing a limb.
The cruelest joke was
that I’d sacrificed everything to give him wings, only to discover I’d cut out my own heart in the process.
After weeks of gathering my courage, I finally felt ready to tell him everything. I called to arrange a meeting, but he was at an exclusive club closing some business deal. Not ideal, but I couldn’t wait another day carrying this weight.
He sounded tipsy on the phone, his words slightly slurred. Concerned, I decided to go to him. When he stopped answering my calls, I was forced to search the club room by room, flashing his name to get past security.
When I finally spotted him through the frosted glass panel of a private lounge, my heart stopped. There he was–the man I’d sacrificed everything for–with another woman in his lap, kissing her with an intensity that felt like a physical blow to my chest.
I pushed the door open. He turned, registering my presence with cold recognition rather than surprise.
“Is this some kind of sick joke?” I asked, voice barely steady.
He disentangled himself from the woman and approached me, the expensive whiskey on his breath filling the space between us as he backed me against the wall.
With his thumb, he wiped away a tear I hadn’t realized had fallen. His smile was chilling–nothing like the boy who had once looked at me with such warmth.
“Originally, yes. Watching you squirm was going to be my entertainment,” he said with casual cruelty. “But seeing your pathetic little apartment, how far you’ve fallen… I felt almost sorry for you.”
“So here’s a better idea, Kim. I’ll actually marry you after all.”
His eyes glittered with something dark. “But I don’t love you anymore, so we’ll need some ground rules. No emotional scenes. No jealous tantrums. I have other women, and I intend to keep them. If you can’t handle that, I’ll find your self–righteousness incredibly tedious…”
Each word was precisely targeted to wound. I felt tears streaming freely now, unable to stop them.
Drawing a shaky breath, I struggled to maintain my dignity. “I came here to tell you I won’t marry you, Cedric.”
“I need to explain about our breakup. My mother was diagnosed with—”
His grip on my chin was sudden and painful. “Don’t you fucking dare use your dead mother as an excuse.”
“You’re both the same–looking for the highest bidder. Don’t pretend there was anything noble about dumping me when I had nothing.”
His fingers dug into my jaw as he leaned closer. “This marriage isn’t a proposal, Kimberley. It’s happening. You should thank whatever god you believe in that I’m still willing to take you.”
He didn’t want explanations or truth. He wanted retribution.
The pain I’d inflicted demanded equal suffering in return–that was his distorted concept of justice.
Looking into those cold eyes, I couldn’t reconcile this man with the one who had once shared his last dollar with me. The one who had held my mother’s hand in the hospital and promised to take care of me. Where had that person gone?
Perhaps the kindness my mother and I had shown him had been wasted. Perhaps I should have let him struggle under the weight of my illness, watching his dreams die alongside me.
My naive younger self seemed pathetic now–sacrificing everything for someone who could transform so completely.
His voice dropped lower, more menacing. “By the way, I did some digging into Olivia’s past. Interesting that she worked as a ‘hospitality hostess‘ at clubs like this.”
“She’s done quite well for herself, landing that architect boyfriend. Real Cinderella story.”
“I wonder what would happen if someone informed him about her previous career entertaining businessmen?”
White–hot rage surged through me. I slapped him hard across the face, the sound echoing in the small room. “You absolute monster.”
He touched his tongue to his inner cheek, a slow smile spreading as he recaptured my chin. “Sweetheart, to get revenge on you, this is nothing. I’m just warming up.”
“Try me if you think I’m bluffing.”
I knew Cedric’s ruthlessness wasn’t an idle threat. I’d seen his capacity for calculated cruelty in business. I couldn’t risk him destroying Olivia’s chance at happiness–not when she’d fought so hard to rebuild her life.
I told myself my life was already forfeit. The disease would claim me eventually. What did it matter where I spent my remaining time?
So I married him.
His revenge played out methodically over years–the parade of women, the public humiliations, the cold silences.
By the time he tired of the game and showed signs of wanting reconciliation, the girl who had loved him had disappeared entirely.
She had been replaced by someone who understood that love wasn’t enough to save you. Sometimes it was just another way to bleed.
Chapter 13
