SHATTERED TRUST

ANNIVERSARY OF ASHES

CHAPTER 1

An unknown number called me, and the voice that came through carried an edge of danger and

urgency. I verified the number on my screen, it was definitely someone I didn’t recognize. I was

about to disconnect when his next statement made my blood run cold.

“There’s a fire outbreak.”

I threw my phone into my bag as soon as he spoke those words. My hands shook as I frantically

searched for my car keys. Within moments, I was speeding out of the parking lot, my heart

hammering so violently against my ribs that I thought it might break through my chest.

I called Adam immediately to check if he was safe. Did he know about the fire? Was he in

danger?

I dialed his number repeatedly, but each time I got nothing but silence on the other end. In

desperation, I tried calling my father’s nanny to let her know I wouldn’t be coming home that

day. I exhaled in frustration when I couldn’t reach her either. What was I supposed to do? Panic

consumed me as I drew closer to Adam’s mansion.

When I arrived, I was shocked to see no smoke, no flames, no emergency vehicles anywhere.

Adam’s vehicle sat in the driveway, which told me he was home and safe. Had the caller been

lying to me? Today was supposed to be our wedding anniversary, and I found it hard to believe

Adam would play such an elaborate and expensive prank on me, particularly knowing that my

father was ill and required my attention.

I tried calling Adam one more time, but again, there was no answer. Since I was already there at

the mansion, I figured I might as well go inside and verify that everything was really okay. I left

my purse in my vehicle and entered the mansion.

The interior looked completely normal. Every furniture piece was exactly where it should be. The

lighting was on. Nothing seemed out of place. I made my way up the spiral staircase toward our

bedroom and stopped short. I found something I didn’t expect to see, a condom wrapper. Oh no.

The door to our bedroom was already partially open, which allowed me to see what was

happening inside without stepping fully through the doorway. I could hear quiet laughter and

moaning sounds that grew increasingly louder as I got nearer. My eyes filled with tears as I

gripped the condom wrapper tightly in my shaking, cold hands. I could hear Adam clearly calling

out another woman’s name in passion.

I pushed the door fully open and froze in absolute shock. Adam was completely naked, moving

intensely inside not just any woman, but my own stepsister.

“Adam!” The cry that escaped my mouth was filled with anguish and pain that I could no longer

contain.

He withdrew from her and moved his fingers in and out of her before stepping toward me with

those same wet fingers, trying to touch my mouth. My reaction was instinctive, I struck him hard

across the face.

“Happy anniversary, wife,” he said with a laugh, acting like my pain was amusing. Meanwhile,

my stepsister Bia just smirked, clearly satisfied when she saw me holding the condom wrapper.

“How could you do this to me on our anniversary, Adam? You couldn’t even keep this day

sacred,” I struck his chest repeatedly out of pure rage and hurt. Wasn’t Bia supposed to be

caring for our father? Hadn’t I done everything required of me as a devoted wife and as

someone deeply in love, not just today, but every day before? So what could I possibly have

done to deserve this betrayal?

“I’m telling you to get your filthy hands off him right now,” Bia spoke with a voice that was both

smooth and dangerously cold. The tone of her words cut right through me.

“He’s my husband, you filthy w***e!”

“Don’t you ever speak to her like that again, Bella,” Adam spoke to me with pure contempt and

disgust in his voice, and I could feel what remained of my heart shattering. “And I’m not your

husband anymore. I’m finished with you. Now leave!”

Looking at him, at the hatred burning in his eyes, at the poison dripping from his words, at the

complete indifference he displayed, I couldn’t recognize this man at all. Was this truly the person

I had fallen in love with? I turned to look at Bia, fighting desperately to keep the tears from

spilling down my face.

“What you’ve done will have consequences, Bia!” I shouted as I slammed the door between us

and ran with everything I had.

The longer I remained inside that house, the harder it became to breathe. The image of the two

of them together kept replaying in my mind, suffocating me, draining the oxygen from my lungs.

All I could do was run, run as fast and as far as my legs could take me.

I drove toward the office building and made the decision to remain there for a while until I felt

stable enough to go back home. If my father saw me in this state, he would become extremely

worried and upset. In the past, Adam loved to create romantic surprises for me at my workplace

on our anniversary; if I showed up there today, it would raise questions I wasn’t prepared to

answer.

I remained seated in my vehicle, letting my sorrow completely overtake me until I had exhausted

all my tears. My head was pounding just as intensely as my heart was breaking. After the initial

shock wore off and the world grew quieter, I managed a sad smile, desperately hoping that the

worst of this day was finally behind me. Then my phone rang for the second time that day. My

heart leaped with a sinking feeling, wondering if it was Adam calling to say he was sorry. But the

call was from the nanny instead.

“I apologize that I couldn’t get home earlier, I..."

Before I could finish my sentence, I was interrupted by an agonized cry on the other end of the

line. The woman I had always known to be my father’s nanny, a woman who was the second

most resilient I knew after my own mother, was now weeping like a helpless child.

“W-w-what happened?” I asked nervously, my voice shaking. I wasn’t emotionally prepared for

any more devastating news today.

“Please, I need you to get to the hospital right away,” her voice broke as she spoke.

“Is everything alright? I..." I began emptying the contents of my bag onto the seat next to me,

trying to gather my thoughts. “Are you there by yourself?”

“It’s your father, Ma’am,” she continued through her sobs. “Please hurry, Ma’am. I believe you’re

the only person he wants with him right now.”

Her words matched my immediate action, I felt like I already knew the way to the hospital by

heart. I drove at high speed toward the hospital, my angry heart blaming myself for wasting time

with Adam when my father was the one who truly needed me.

“Over here!”

I followed her voice as she showed me where to go. I stepped into the room and encountered

the most horrific moment of my entire existence. The medical staff were already placing a blue

sheet over him as the heart monitor emitted a single, final tone.

“Dad! Please don’t leave me!” I grabbed onto his bed as hard as I could while the nurses fought

to pull me away.

“Please, Ma’am, try to stay calm,” one of the nurses attempted to comfort me while pulling me

back, but my body wouldn’t respond.

I shook his body with such force that any living person would have awakened. But there was

nothing. His body was already growing cold, and he wouldn’t respond.

“Just let the dead man rest, Bella, and stop pretending like you actually care,” Bia’s voice came

from the doorway, and I saw Adam standing right next to her.

I lunged toward her neck, driven by a primal need to silence her forever. How dare she speak

that way about a man who had always treated her with the same love and respect he showed

me? He was her father as well!

Adam immediately positioned himself between us, pulling us both away from each other before

we could hurt one another.

“You murdered him, so you have no right to..."

“Bia!” Adam’s sharp rebuke was the first time I had heard him use such a tone with her. His

voice was so cutting that she immediately stormed out of the room.