1 The year I turned thirty, I did something stupid. I hid Wade Thorne’s little canary, his mistress, in a desperate attempt to win back his heart. When he found out, he didn’t hesitate. In a matter of days, my family’s company was bankrupt. My father, his life’s work destroyed, saw his hair turn white overnight. My mother nearly cried herself blind. And now, Wade was threatening to make my father kneel and beg for forgiveness, all to force me to reveal where his little bird was hidden. “Annabelle, I spoiled you too much,” he snarled, his voice a low growl. “It’s made you forget your place.” “Since you’re the one who made the mistake, I’ll be the one to teach you a lesson.” As the words left his mouth, his bodyguards seized my father, forcing his head down and slamming it against the cold, hard floor. In that moment, my heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles. … “Wade, that’s my father! He’s your elder! You can’t do this!” I screamed, a pain that gnawed at my soul tearing through me. My voice was hoarse, laced with a despair so deep it felt like the end of the world. We had dated for four years and been married for eight. Twelve years of our lives were tangled together. I never imagined it would end like this, with our hearts grown so distant, our bond irrevocably severed. Wade seized my chin, forcing my head up to meet his gaze. His face was a thunderous mask of fury. “Where did you hide Leah?” I wanted to fight back, but his men were everywhere. I choked back a sob and squeezed my eyes shut. My foolish pride had already cost my parents their life’s work; I couldn’t let them lose their dignity, too. I bit my lip until I tasted blood and met his cold stare. “Let my parents go. Promise me you’ll never bother them again, and I’ll tell you.” Wade waved a dismissive hand, and the bodyguards released my father. Just as a wave of relief washed over me, his hand shot out and clamped around my throat, slowly lifting me until my feet dangled in the air. The air vanished from my lungs. I clawed at his hand instinctively, but his voice was a blade of ice in my ear. “Annabelle, have I given you too much face?” “Did you really think I was that easy to negotiate with?” “Finding Leah is a matter of minutes for me. What gives someone like you the right to bargain?” “Crushing you,” he whispered, “would be as easy as stepping on an ant. Do you understand?” A suffocating blanket of terror and hopelessness enveloped me. I stared at him, tears streaming silently from the corners of my eyes. But even through the fear, I forced the words out. “Even so… you can’t hurt my parents! They’re my family!” At that, something in him snapped. His face darkened, and his grip tightened, as if he meant to end my life right then and there. Just as my vision began to blacken, he released me. I collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, my body shaking violently with a fear that was bone-deep. In that single, terrifying moment, our entire past flashed before my eyes. All the tender moments, the stolen kisses, the whispered promises—they all twisted together into a single, sharp dagger that plunged straight into my heart. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I broke down, sobbing. For the sudden, violent death of our love. For the hopeless abyss our marriage had become. And for the pathetic, desperate woman I had become, sacrificing my own dignity to try and save it all. Wade just stood there, watching me with cold, detached eyes, an aura of brutal power radiating from him. He strode forward and roughly tilted my chin up, forcing me to look at him. “Tell me. Where did you hide Leah?” His tone was so vicious, I knew that if I didn't answer, something far worse was waiting for me. “The countryside,” I choked out. “She’s in the countryside.” In an instant, his fury melted into triumph. He turned on his heel and left, his men following in his wake. I knew. From that moment on, he was no longer my husband. And no matter how much I still loved him, I had to rip him out of my heart. Even if it tore out half my soul, I would do it without hesitation. 2 “Anna, honey, are you okay?” My mother pulled me into a tight embrace, her voice thick with tears. I shook my head, my own sobs choking me as I apologized over and over. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Mom, Dad. If it weren’t for me, this never would have happened, you wouldn’t have to…” My father wrapped his arms around both of us, his voice aged and trembling. “It’s not your fault. Our Anna has suffered, too.” I wiped my tears away, my voice filled with a newfound resolve. “Mom, Dad… I’m divorcing Wade.” “Good,” my father said, his voice firm. “Nothing is more important than your happiness.” … I fell for Wade in college. It was love at first sight, for me at least. I chased him relentlessly, and after a long time, he finally gave in. We got married the day after graduation. It was only after we’d impulsively signed the papers that I learned who he really was. The heir to the Thorne fortune. He had never mentioned it. I’d always thought he was just a handsome, ordinary guy. After all, what kind of billionaire’s son wears faded jeans and threadbare t-shirts? He explained it to me later. “I was afraid people were after my money, not me.” I was so naive, I actually felt lucky that I’d fallen for his looks, not his wallet. I never thought to ask him what he saw in me. I also never imagined that the day I discovered his affair, he would point a finger at me and say: “Annabelle, why are you making such a scene?” “What does a thirty-year-old woman like you have that a girl in her early twenties doesn’t?” “You’re not as young as them, not as pretty, and your body isn’t as good.” “If I’m not going to play with them, am I supposed to play with you?” His words plunged me into an icy abyss. He seemed to have forgotten. He was the one who had begged me, with red-rimmed eyes, to love him just a little bit more. He was the one who had said: “Annabelle, my parents never taught me how to love someone.” “I don’t know how. Please, teach me.” “I want to love you right.” And he had also said: “Annabelle, my parents destroyed my perception of the world.” “You’re the only one who’s ever shown me what real love is.” Because of his parents, Wade was deeply insecure. So I whispered “I love you” in his ear, over and over, a constant reassurance. But he still needed to test my love, again and again. I was patient, I was tolerant. I would hold him in my arms, my heart aching for him, until he finally fell into a peaceful sleep. I thought we would grow old together like that, inseparable. Then he got his little canary, and it caught me completely off guard. Leah was twenty, a junior in college. I first saw her about six months ago. Wade had gotten into a brawl and was being held at the local police precinct. I went to bail him out. He was radiating a dark, violent energy, but the moment he saw me, it all dissipated. He followed me meekly as I took care of everything. Just as we were leaving, a young woman in a cocktail waitress uniform rushed up to him. “Sir, thank you so much,” she gushed. “If it weren’t for you tonight, I don’t know what would have happened. Thank you. If there’s ever a chance, I’ll do anything to repay you.” I froze, looking at Wade with confusion in my eyes. He waved her off with an impatient scowl. “Just find a different job.” The girl looked troubled. “I… I can’t. This one pays too well…” Wade looked her up and down, a predatory smile playing on his lips. “Is that so?” That girl was Leah. At the time, I couldn’t understand why Wade would suddenly help a stranger. He explained, “Seeing her… she reminded me of you when you were twenty. So I helped.” I didn’t think much of it. Not until he started bringing her to galas and charity events, brazenly holding her, kissing her in public for everyone to see. That’s when I finally understood the meaning of that predatory smile. He had wanted her from the very beginning. I cried. I screamed. I threw things. All I got in return was his cold reply: “Annabelle, what’s the big deal? When you were twenty, didn’t I love you just the same?” In that moment, I understood Wade’s love. He only loved women in their twenties. And I was no longer in that phase of my life. I wanted to file for divorce immediately. But life has a cruel sense of irony. After years of trying to get pregnant with no success, I found out I was pregnant right after I discovered his affair. For the sake of the baby, for the sake of our twelve years together, I decided to give him one last chance. If he would just come back to me, I would forgive him. So, I hired a few people to take Leah to a remote house in the countryside and keep her there. The result was crystal clear. For her, Wade destroyed my father’s life’s work. For her, he humiliated my parents. He showed no mercy, no consideration for our twelve years of history. I had lost. Utterly and completely.
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