The Runaway bride

Theplan

The whole house went quiet after the incident. Max was standing, reviewing a thick file folder, voice recording and documents that had to do with Kara and all the business she'd ever had with the company, including bank statements, signed documents Kara had forced the staff to sign. Footage from hidden security cameras, proof of embezzlement, fraud and blackmail.

"She'll never recover from this," Linda said softly.

"She was never meant to recover," Max replied. Then he looked straight at Linda and smiled, saying, "I'm proud of you, you know. For not running this time", Linda smiled calmly and said, "I ran because I didn't know how strong I was, but now I know.

Maxwell tapped enter, and that's how the final file was uploaded. They had to do that with an investigative journalist. A well-respected name in the world of business exposures. She had promised to break the story the moment she had concrete evidence. The emails were made, the articles were drafted and at 7:00 am, Kara's secrets would no longer be secrets anymore.

"It's all scheduled to go live," Maxwell said.

Just as planned, the news went viral the following morning and the whole world watched in disbelief.

"Business heiress Kara Austin, involved in corporate sabotage and threats."

"Billionaire right-hand woman and business partner, caught in the middle web of lies"

"Maxwell, Liam's ex-fiancée, ran away because of this woman"

The whole internet was bubbling with these headlines.

At first, Kara denied all of these, her team tried to twist the whole story, claiming it was a misunderstanding between them. But the whole news was invalid as the evidence Linda and Maxwell gathered and published gave them no reason to believe otherwise.

By evening on that day, Kara was escorted out of Liam's Corp headquarters. Her badge was deactivated and her legacy shattered.

Later that night, little Eli had already fallen asleep. Linda and Maxwell were still up, wondering if the whole misfortune was actually over. Maxwell reached out for Linda's hand and said, what's left now is healing.

She nodded slightly. "I never meant to leave you," she said, almost crying again. "I know," he said, "you were protecting us."

He hugged her tightly as they both sobbed together.

Maxwell wished, deep down in his heart, to have found them sooner, before now.

Linda finally stepped into Maxwell's mansion. Everything looked the same but nothing felt the same. Five years ago, this was the place she was meant to walk in as a bride. Now she's returning as a mother, a survivor and a woman who has lived through fear and silence and returned even stronger and bold.

Eli ran into the house in shock. "Wow, is this our new house? "It's your real home son, Maxwell replied, kneeling before him. He looked up to Linda and said "ours too", smiling. For the first time in years, Linda let herself believe she could actually be happy.

Over the last few weeks, their lives finally began to knit together. Linda laughed more than she had done in years. Eli was more active and vibrant. Scents of delicacies surrounded the house every morning as breakfast was a happy time for the family. Eli was always there to assist his mum in the kitchen. Maxwell and Linda were both stealing glances at each other. Their smiles lingered longer, their touches becoming familiar again.

At night, Max sings to Eli before bed and tells him stories until he sleeps off. He makes sure he kisses his forehead every night before he sleeps off. Linda would stand at the door, watching them sometimes and smiling widely in her heart. She didn't ruin their bond after all, she would say in her heart. She had always protected this. And now, they had time to rebuild.