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1229 Words
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A voice pierced through the heavy fog in my mind, urgent and insistent.
“Hailey! What the hell are you still doing in bed? Get up! The engagement party has already started!”
I frowned, my body stiff and sluggish. My head throbbed, and my limbs felt strangely weak, as if I had been submerged in darkness for too long. Slowly, I forced my eyes open. The room swam into focus familiar yet impossibly foreign. My gaze landed on the ceiling, the soft gold chandelier hanging above me.
Wait… this wasn’t right.
My hands clenched the sheets beneath me as I forced myself upright. The room was my old bedroom—back when I still lived in my adoptive parents’ house. The floral wallpaper, the vanity mirror covered in pictures of me and—
A shudder ran through me as my eyes landed on a particular photo. A smiling version of myself, my arms wrapped around Austin.
No.
Panic clawed at my throat. My breath came in short gasps as I turned, my gaze darting toward the small desk in the corner. A calendar hung above it, red circles marking important dates. My heart pounded as I scanned the numbers.
Three years ago.
The realization struck me like a lightning bolt. My blood ran ice cold.
Three years before Austin had betrayed me.
Three years before he had abandoned me for Sophie.
Three years before he had—
My hand instinctively flew to my stomach, expecting to feel the searing pain of the knife, the warm pool of blood beneath me. But there was nothing. My skin was smooth, untouched.
I was alive. I was back.
A sharp gasp left my lips, and I gripped the edge of my bed, struggling to process what was happening.
“Hailey!” My sister’s impatient voice snapped me out of my trance. “I swear, if you don’t get your ass up right now, Mom’s going to lose it! Everyone’s already downstairs waiting for you.”
I turned sharply toward the door, where my younger sister, Lily, stood with her hands on her hips, scowling at me.
Lily.
I hadn’t seen her in years. After Austin had discarded me, my so-called family had done the same, treating me like an embarrassing stain they needed to wash away and my stepsister occupied the spotlight. I had been abandoned by everyone I had once loved.
But now… here my younger sister was. Whole. Alive. Just like me.
“Lily…” My voice came out in a whisper, my throat tightening.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t ‘Lily’ me. Get dressed, Hailey! You’re the main event tonight, remember? Your engagement party?”
The words sent a fresh wave of nausea rolling through me. Engagement party. To Austin?
A bitter laugh almost escaped me. Fate was cruel, throwing me back to the very moment before my downfall. But this time, I wasn’t the same naive girl who had blindly loved him.
This time, I knew exactly what kind of monster he was.
And I would make him pay.
Few moments later, I was dressed up as I stepped out. I moved through the hallway, Lily beside me, completely oblivious to the storm brewing inside me.
As we descended the grand staircase, the sound of laughter, clinking glasses, and music filled the air. The engagement party was in full swing. Guests in elegant dresses and suits mingled, their voices overlapping in a sea of empty congratulations and polite conversations.
The moment I stepped into the hall, my body tensed.
And then, I saw him.
Austin stood at the center of the room with Sophie, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, his dark hair styled to perfection. His sharp jawline, his confident smirk—the same smirk he had worn when he told me to abort our child.
The sight of him made bile rise in my throat.
I clenched my fists so tightly my nails bit into my palms. I wanted to scream, to tear into him, to wipe that smug expression off his face.
But not yet. Not yet.
I needed to play my part first.
Austin’s gaze flickered toward me, and his expression shifted into one of approval. As if I was some prized possession he was about to claim.
I felt sick.
He left Sophie and started walking toward me, weaving through the crowd with the ease of a man who believed the world belonged to him.
“Hailey,” he said smoothly, reaching for my hand. “You look stunning tonight.”
I stared at his outstretched hand, remembering the warmth of those fingers when they had held mine, when I had foolishly believed they were meant for me. Now, all I could feel was disgust.
The moment his skin touched mine, something inside me snapped.
I yanked my hand back so forcefully that a few guests turned to look. The air between us grew heavy, tension crackling like a live wire.
Austin frowned, his confidence faltering for the briefest moment. “Hailey?”
I forced a tight-lipped smile. “Don’t touch me.”
Surprise flashed across his face, but he quickly masked it with a charming chuckle. “What’s with the attitude, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart.
He had called me that the night he promised we’d build a future together. The same night he had been sleeping with other women behind my back.
I swallowed the bitter laugh threatening to escape. Not yet. I had to be patient.
Instead, I tilted my head, my eyes scanning him up and down. “I just realized something, Austin.”
His brows furrowed slightly. “What?”
I smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “You’re not as charming as I thought you were, maybe you should end the party.”
Lily, who had been standing beside me, gasped quietly, while a few nearby guests turned to glance our way, sensing the shift in atmosphere.
Austin’s jaw tensed, but he quickly covered it with a smirk. “You must be nervous about the wedding. It’s normal—”
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself.” I cut him off, my voice dripping with false sweetness. “If anything, I’m relieved.”
His eyes darkened slightly, but before he could respond, I stepped past him, my heart pounding. I needed to get away before I lost control completely.
I took a deep breath, ready to regain my composure until it hit me.
A scent.
It was intoxicating, unlike anything I had ever smelled before. Rich, powerful, wild. My heart stuttered, my breath catching in my throat as my body responded instinctively to the strange pull. It was an overwhelming force, wrapping around me like an invisible tether, commanding my attention.
I turned sharply, my pulse hammering.
And that’s when I saw him.
He stood near the edge of the hall, his presence like a cloud that had settled over the party. He was tall, dangerously built, with a raw power that made everyone in his vicinity seem insignificant. His sharp golden eyes locked onto mine, and in that instant, the world around us ceased to exist.
A deadly aura clung to him. He was a predator in a room full of prey.
But more than that
He was my mate! And he knew.
- Writer
