Gardenias And His Last Goodbye

At my own engagement party, my fiancé, Franco, abandoned me. He left me standing alone in a room full of guests to rush to the side of another woman, Katina, the one he truly loved. He called me a gold-digger, a parasite clinging to his family's name, and accused me of faking an illness just to get his attention. But he never knew the truth. He never knew about the secret I carried-a terminal leukemia diagnosis I received just two days before he humiliated me. He never knew that the night he called a drunken mistake, the night he spat on with disgust, had left me pregnant with his child. And he certainly never knew that while he was tending to Katina's fake anxiety attack, I was in a sterile hospital room, alone, terminating our baby to have a fighting chance at a life he made sure was a living hell. I thought my death would be the end of our story, a final, quiet release from his cruelty. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back at our engagement party, the scent of gardenias filling the air, just moments before he would walk out and shatter my life for the first time.

Chapters

Chapter 4

Elana Clements POV:

Franco looked up, his eyes momentarily meeting mine. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drum against bone. I instinctively ducked behind a potted palm, the rough leaves scratching my cheek. He hadn't recognized me, not really. Just a fleeting glance, then his attention was back on Katina. He wasn't heartless, I thought, just heartless towards me.

But the way he looked at her. That raw, unguarded concern. My stomach churned again, a mix of nausea and a deeper, more profound pain. I remembered his eyes on me at the party – distant, cold, dismissive. This was different. This was genuine. My fingers instinctively tightened around the crumpled report in my hand, the sharp edges digging into my palm.

He'd always praised Katina's artistic soul, her delicate nature, her "true depth." He'd called her his muse, his fragile artist. And me? "Elana, you're so… practical. So grounded. Sometimes, a little too much." His words had always been veiled criticisms, subtle jabs at my lack of perceived artistic flair.

I remembered the countless hours I' d spent in art classes, trying to find my own brushstrokes, my own voice. I' d dabbled in painting, taken calligraphy lessons, all because he once mentioned he admired "artistic sensitivity." I'd poured my soul into a landscape, a vibrant oil painting of the rolling hills near our childhood home, a place we' d both loved. I' d presented it to him, my heart pounding with hope. He' d barely glanced at it. "It's… nice, Elana," he'd said, a faint shrug. "But it's not quite… her."

Later, I saw Katina's abstract expressionist piece, all swirling blues and grays, hanging proudly in his private study. Not mine. Never mine. My painting, my effort, my soul poured onto canvas, ended up gathering dust in a forgotten corner of the attic, much like I felt.

My phone buzzed, snapping me back to the harsh reality of the hospital corridor. A message from Casey: Where are you? Come to the lab. Now. The urgency in his text jolted me.

I found him pacing outside the lab doors, his face pale and drawn. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Casey? What's wrong?" I asked, a fresh wave of dread washing over me.

He stopped, his eyes wide and unfocused. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Elana," he began, his voice a raspy whisper. "They called me back. They did extra tests on your blood."

My heart pounded. "Is it… worse?" My illness, that was the only thing that could make him look like this.

He shook his head, a single, bitter laugh escaping his lips. "No. Not worse. Different." He held out a piece of paper, his hand trembling. "Your HCG levels, Elana. They're through the roof. The doctor said… you're pregnant."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Pregnant. It was impossible. My mind raced, flashing back to that drunken night a few weeks ago, after Franco had humiliated me again. He' d come back, full of remorse, or so I' d thought. A moment of weakness, a desperate attempt to recapture something that was already lost. A desperate, foolish night.

My fingers trembled as I took the paper. Pregnant. A baby. Franco's baby. My world, already teetering on the edge, spun wildly.

The next few hours were a blur. Another blood test. An ultrasound. The doctor's calm, professional voice explaining that the embryo was too small to see clearly, just a tiny flicker of life.

Casey's voice was hoarse when he spoke again. "What are you going to do, Elana?" His eyes were full of a tenderness I didn't deserve.

We both knew. With my diagnosis, carrying a child to term would be a death sentence for me. Or for the baby. Maybe both. But as the ultrasound wand traced circles over my abdomen, a faint, rhythmic thump echoed through the room. A heartbeat. Tiny, fragile, but undeniably there. My baby. My child. A fierce, protective instinct I never knew I possessed surged through me.

A fresh gush of blood streamed from my nose, warm and metallic. Casey was instantly there, pressing a tissue to my face, his concern a palpable weight.

"Does… Franco know?" he asked, his voice strained.

I shook my head, looking down at my hands. "No. And he never will." My voice was firm, resolute. This secret, this burden, would be mine alone.

Continue to next part

I came to ruin my ex. I never meant to kneel for his father. I came back to ruin Caleb Vane. I had a plan that was cold, sharp, and merciless. But then I met Malric Vane. The man doesn't flirt. He commands. One glance and my legs trembled. One word and I was on my knees. He's the Lycan every wolf fears. The man no one touches. And now I wake up in his bed, spread wide, bite-marked, and dripping for more. He says I wasn't born...I was made. Made to obey. Made to please him. And the worst part? He's right. Because every time he calls me good girl, I forget my revenge. I just want to be ruined all over again.

Action Fantasy Werewolf

7.2

Burned by his lies

7.2

BLURB Zara Winterborn believed that marrying Adrian Leighhton was a dream come true and the best thing that had ever happened to her broken childhood. Instead, it tied her to a man whose love hid a dark truth that burned her to ashes. She overhears a phone call on their honeymoon that shatters her whole world. The love of her life is already married. Feeling betrayed and desperate after learning she's pregnant, she makes some unthinkable decisions. She fakes an abortion, fakes a miscarriage, and disappears from her old life. Five years later, she returns as a renowned architect. Not as Zara but Aria Sterling with a secret daughter. Adrian sees her at a gala and his regret transforms into obsession as he hires investigators to dig deeper. He will tear everything down, even his empire and his blood just to win her forgiveness again. But Adrian isn't the only one who becomes obsessed with her. Even Damien, the stranger who helped her disappear to punish her, has his own plans and wants to use Zara as a weapon for revenge. As secrets of stolen embryos, hidden mothers, children, unknown siblings, and bloodlines twisted by lies, come to light, Zara must choose. Does she stick with Damien and destroy Adrian forever or does she forgive Adrian and let him into their lives? She vanished before. Can she disappear again when things get tough?

Action Mystery Romance

7.7

From Pit to Palace: Charlie Emerged

7.7

"I want to end this relationship for good," Megan said coldly. Charlie's heart sank. "Why?" He stammered to ask, trying to disbelieve what he had just heard. "You want to know why?" Megan glared at him. "That's because you're a trash picker! My bright future can't shine with someone like you. So from now on, don't trouble me!" Despite everything Charlie had done for her, Megan felt that they weren't enough. She wanted more, but Charlie couldn't meet her high expectations. So she walked out of their three-year relationship to be with the rich, campus guy, calling Charlie a thorn in her flesh. But then.... Something happened. A mysterious call. Charlie's life changed. He's no longer the trash picker everyone knew on the campus. He now dines in the palace with dignitaries. To you, what do you think will be his next move? Revenge or what? Read to find out.

Action Mafia Young Adult

9.6

His Promise, My Shattered World

9.6

My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.

Action Modern Romance

9.0

Jilted Bride's Revenge: The Valkyrie Awakens

9.0

I had been a wife for exactly six hours when I woke up to the sound of my husband’s heavy breathing. In the dim moonlight of our bridal suite, I watched Hardin, the man I had adored for years, intertwined with my sister Carissa on the chaise lounge. The betrayal didn't come with an apology. Hardin stood up, unashamed, and sneered at me. "You're awake? Get out, you frumpy mute." Carissa huddled under a throw, her fake tears already welling up as she played the victim. They didn't just want me gone; they wanted me erased to protect their reputations. When I refused to move, my world collapsed. My father didn't offer a shoulder to cry on; he threatened to have me committed to a mental asylum to save his business merger. "You're a disgrace," he bellowed, while the guards stood ready to drag me away. They had spent my life treating me like a stuttering, submissive pawn, and now they were done with me. I felt a blinding pain in my skull, a fracture that should have broken me. But instead of tears, something dormant and lethal flickered to life. The terrified girl who walked down the aisle earlier that day simply ceased to exist. In her place, a clinical system—the Valkyrie Protocol—booted up. My racing heart plummeted to a steady sixty beats per minute. I didn't scream. I stood up, my spine straightening for the first time in twenty years, and looked at Hardin with the detachment of a surgeon looking at a tumor. "Correction," I said, my voice stripped of its stutter. "You're in my light." By dawn, I had drained my father's accounts, vanished into a storm, and found a bleeding Crown Prince in a hidden safehouse. They thought they had broken a mute girl. They didn't realize they had just activated their own destruction.

Action Modern Romance

8.4

Rise From The Ashes

8.4

When everything she built was reduced to ashes, she had only two choices surrender or rise. Left with nothing but scars and unanswered questions, a young woman must face a world that no longer waits for the broken. Betrayal, loss, and hardship try to bury her, but from the ruins, something stronger begins to form. This is not a story about luck. It is a story about resilience. About standing again when the fall should have ended everything. Rise From The Ashes is an inspiring journey of survival, growth, and quiet strength where every step forward is a victory earned.

Action Adventure Modern

Gardenias And His Last Goodbye

Chapter 4

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