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Chapter 1 - Chapter 1: The Rain That Broke Me

POV: Suzzane Everlyn Knight

The rain blurred everything.

Streetlights melted into silver streaks.

The world was a smear of headlights, thunder, and the hollow ache inside my chest.

My vision burned.

I couldn't tell if it was the rain on my lashes or the tears I hadn't wiped away.I didn't even retract hardtop from the storage compartment to avoid the rain, it didn't matter to me. Nothing mattered.Not anymore. The nightgown I wore clung to my body like a second skin, soaked and see-through, but I didn't care. My feet were bare. My hands trembled on the steering wheel. My breath hitched in the stillness between thunderclaps.

The road beneath car tires was wet and cold.

Just like the house I'd left behind.

Josh had cheated again.

Only this time… he didn't even hide it.

He stood there — shirtless, unapologetic — while a woman I didn't recognize walked out of our bedroom with a smirk like she belonged there. Like I didn't.

I had stared at them both, waiting for the punchline.They didn't even know I was there.But the joke was me.

I didn't scream.

I didn't cry.

I just walked away.

Into the night. Into the storm.

Into the silence I'd grown too comfortable with.

Then… pain.

A sharp jolt in my lower stomach.

I stopped, one hand flying to my belly.

No. No. No. Please, no.

I hadn't told him yet. I hadn't even told myself.

This pregnancy wasn't planned.

I hadn't dreamed of it. I hadn't prayed for it.

But it was mine.And now it felt like it was slipping away.

A horn blared.Headlights came fast. Too fast.

My feet froze.

And then—

Impact.

---

Beep. Beep. Beep.

That was the first thing I heard when I opened my eyes.

The ceiling was white. The lights were too bright.My mouth was dry. My chest ached.

Hospital.

A nurse leaned over me with kind eyes and a clipboard.

"You're lucky," she said softly. "There were no broken bones… but you were bleeding when they brought you in."

I stared at her.I didn't blink.I didn't breathe.

"You were pregnant," she added gently.

Were.

Past tense.

I closed my eyes.

And then came the sound that shattered me —Silence.No heartbeat. No kicking.No crying baby.

Just empty space where something had once lived.

Tears finally came. Hot, slow, steady.

"Is there anyone we can call?" she asked quietly.

I almost said no.But before I could answer…

He appeared.

In the doorway.

So still. So quiet. Like a shadow that had always been there.

TRISTAN.

My voice cracked as I whispered, "Why… are you here?"

He stepped inside, his tall frame casting a long silhouette across the floor.

"I was nearby," he said, too fast. Too rehearsed. "I saw you collapse."

He was lying.

His voice was soft, but his eyes — they were wild. Wide. Wrecked. He looked at me like he knew every reason I had run, every secret I hadn't said out loud.

"Josh—" I started, then stopped.

I didn't need to finish the sentence.He already knew.Of course he did.

"I called him," Tristan said flatly. "He didn't answer."

Of course he didn't.Josh never showed up for the things that mattered.

Tristan moved closer, pulling the chair beside my bed. He didn't touch me. Just sat there like a sentinel. Like he'd been waiting for this moment longer than I could understand.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"For what?"

"I don't know," I breathed. "For not leaving sooner."

He looked away. "You don't have to explain anything to me."

But I wanted to.I wanted to tell him everything.I wanted to tell him that I saw the way he looked at me at my wedding. The quiet grief in his eyes when I married his brother. The way he vanished from the house not long after.I wanted to ask him why his voice always softened when he said my name.

But instead—

---

Three Years Earlier

Flashback Begins

The room was filled with fairy lights and laughter.The scent of roses and vanilla danced in the air as I stood in front of the mirror in my ivory wedding gown.I was glowing.

Josh had just kissed my forehead, whispered that he couldn't wait to start forever.He looked at me like I was a dream.

Back then, I believed him.

We danced under the stars.He called me beautiful.He said he'd never love anyone the way he loved me.And somewhere in the crowd, dressed in black, quietly sipping champagne—

Tristan watched us.

He never smiled that night.

He didn't speak much, either.Just stood near the edge of it all, distant and unreadable.I thought he didn't approve of me.

I was wrong.

He wasn't angry I married into their family.

He was broken that I hadn't remembered him at all.

He was broken that I hadn't remembered him at all.

That night, I danced in white and promised forever…to the wrong man.

And Tristan watched silently…

as the girl he once knew —

the girl he once loved —

slipped away AGAIN.

---

Back to Present

I blinked hard, dragging myself out of the memory as a single tear escaped down my cheek.Tristan was still beside me, eyes fixed on the floor. He hadn't said a word in minutes.

"Why are you really here?" I whispered, my voice hoarse.

He looked up then. Straight into me.And for a second, I saw it.Something raw. Something… aching.He leaned in slightly. His voice low, careful.

"You really don't remember, do you…?"

My brows knit together. "Remember what?"

He didn't answer.He just reached out… brushed his knuckle down my cheek... and said the name only he ever used.

"Suzzy."

My breath caught.And in that instant —something inside me shifted.But before I could ask what he meant, or why his touch felt familiar—

The nurse rushed in.

"Miss Everlyn… your husband is on his way. He's demanding to see you."

Tristan stood up immediately. The softness vanished.The air turned cold.And all he said, before walking out:

"Don't trust him."

---

[End of Chapter 1]

To be continued…

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