Broken Hearts

Chapter Six

After the wedding reception, we said goodbye to our family and friends and, getting into the 2021 Porsche Panamera, we rode off to our hotel and went to the airport at half past noon the following day to head to our honeymoon destination, Paris. When we got there, it was 6:11 p.m. We were so tired that we decided to just sleep in the next morning.

The next day, the minute we get everything situated and, as I get ready to hop into the shower, Bryce comes over and wrapping his arms around me, he whispers softly in my ear how lucky he is to be my husband. Giggling, I get into the shower and, as soon as I got in, I felt like someone was in the shower with me. Feeling his strong hands around my waist, I moaned. “Oh, Bryce,” I cried out.

“Yes?” he asked. His sweet voice was in my ear, giving me tingles.

I turned around to face him. “Kiss me.”

He did as he was told. “I love you,” he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

I looked him in the eye. “Prove it,” I whispered seductively.

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20 minutes later . . .

“Wow,” I whispered. “That . . . You . . . Wow.” He chuckled softly and kissed my forehead.

“I love you so much, Hadassah.”

“I love you so much more,” I replied as I yawned, my eyes heavy.

“Get some sleep, all right?”

“Will you hold me?” He wrapped his arms around me as we lay there bare. As I closed my eyes, my mind immediately went there. To the day he used me. Why would my mind go there? We’re married for Pete’s sake!! my mind screamed. It was just a bet, I reminded myself. Just focus on the present, not the past.

When I woke up an hour later, at 11 a.m., I saw that Bryce was nowhere to be found. “Bryce?” I called out. No answer. “Sweetheart, are you there?” I got out of bed and decided to take shower since I was sweaty and nasty after the night before.

When I got into the bathroom, I noticed a note. It read:

We have your husband. If you want to see him again, come alone

-V

I didn’t have to figure out that the ‘V’ was Vanessa. But how? She’s in prison and we’re on our honeymoon. I decided to just take a shower but while I was in there, I heard the door open. I immediately got out of the shower and, putting on my robe, grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Someone walked in and . . . It was Bryce. I immediately dropped the knife on the floor.

“Bryce?” I asked as tears filled my eyes. “How did you—” I instantly grabbed a cloth from the bathroom and started rinsing it while getting a bowl with some antibacterial soap and as we sat down, I started applying some pressure on his wounds, making sure that they were getting cleaned. “Oh my goodness. Sweetheart, what happened to you?” He looked like someone had beaten the crap out of him. His left eye was purple and bruised and he had a cut on his lower lip.

“Do we really need to talk about it? I really just want to forget that she even existed,” he replied, his voice barely a whisper. “I feel so bad. Vanessa is ruining our honeymoon and we shouldn’t even be worrying about this, we should be sipping champagne and having honeymoon sex.”

“Easier said than done, honey.” As I was done cleaning his wound, I kissed his forehead and smiled. “I’m going to try to find a first aid kit, all right?” I kissed his cheek and smiled. “I’ll be right back.” As I left out the door, I couldn’t help but cry. Vanessa was ruthless but on my honeymoon? That was low. I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. I couldn’t think about that right now, I had to help my husband and get some sleep.

I went to the front desk and asked for a first aid. Fortunately, I was fluent in French so I asked for the manager as well. The manager came over and I explain everything. What I needed was a security detail. After talking to the manager about my situation, I headed to my room with the kit but when I came through the door, I saw that the window was broken. Oh no. I didn’t want to believe it but what I saw next will haunt me for the rest of my life.

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I screamed at the top of my lungs. “What the hell?” I saw Bryce naked in bed with another woman. When she turned around, however, it was none other than Vanessa. “Vanessa?”

Putting on his pants, Bryce immediately ran towards me. “Wait! Hadassah, please!” he yelled, catching up to me in the lobby. I whipped around furiously to look at him, my eyes burning with a fire that I couldn't control.

“What?” I snarled. “Bryce, we've been married for only a week and now you decide to go and cheat on me?”

“Look, she broke in, OK?? You have to believe me, all right? I would never hurt you like that, ever.”

“Hm, somehow I don't find that entirely convincing,” I replied. “You remember when you used me for s*x, right? Because I remember everything.” I scoffed. “You haven’t changed at all, you know that?” He tried to grab my arm, but I slapped him. “Why don’t you go back to your w***e, huh? Because that’s what you’re good at.” I turned and walked out the door, leaving Bryce standing there.

Standing there in the streets of Paris, I went to the one person who knew me better than anyone, so I started walking towards the cemetery.

When I got there, I started walking towards my sister’s grave and kneeled in front of it. I closed my eyes as I silently cried. I suddenly heard footsteps coming closer. “Hadassah?” I heard Bryce’s voice behind me, but I didn’t care. I just sat there, motionless.

“She would’ve been 25 today.” He kneeled down next to me and cupped my face with his large but soft hand.

“Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for all of this to happen. I just wanted us to have a great honeymoon.”

“Where’s Vanessa?”

“I called the cops on her. She’s being flown back to the U.S., and she’ll receive the death penalty.”

We embraced and I just wanted time to stand still. I never imagined our life becoming a drama movie. “Thank goodness it’s all over.”

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If I’m being completely honest, I never imagined marrying Bryce, but here we are. Happy and in love. And this is only our first week of marriage. We still have a lifetime to go. Until death do us part, right?

You guys know how much I love to read right? I still remember reading A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks when I first met Bryce. I can’t believe it’s been a week since our wedding day. That’s crazy.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked me in that soft voice that made my heart jump.

“You really want to know?” He nodded. We were standing in the middle of Champs de Mars, in front of the Eiffel Tower, staring into each other’s eyes. “I’m afraid to speak or move because if I do, I’m scared that I might miss something. I don’t want any of it to change, I don’t want us to change.”

He put his finger on my chin and his forehead on mine. “Well, I won’t change, that’s the least I can promise you.”

“Good. Because I now believe that miracles can happen. I mean, I found you, didn’t I? And I’ve never been happier.” We kissed, standing there, as if the world was standing still. I love him with everything my heart desired: him.