His Regret Began When She Let Go
" I want to know," Marissa said, placing a hand on her belly, "If you'll still be here to watch me give Bryce the child you never could!"
Rachel's blood ran cold. Of course! She was right.
***
For three years, Rachel has lived as the perfect wife of Bryce Voss. Gentle, composed and endlessly loyal, she believed love could soften any cruelty, until the day her husband walked into their matrimonial doors with another woman at his side, claiming she carried his child.
Declared infertile and a cancer victim after countless hospital visits, Rachel endures shame and cold shoulders from the family she once adored. When Bryce demands a divorce, she asks for one last thing- fourteen days. Fourteen days to remain his wife before fate decides what she'll become... but surprisingly he's indifferent.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 5
Rachel's chest rose and fell, fury and heartbreak boiling together. "Why would you do that?" Her voice was shaky.
"Because," Marissa said calmly, "Bryce doesn't need your food. He needs me, the mother of his child." She rubbed her stomach, lip twisting. "You should get used to it."
Rachel took a step forward, "You have no right to destroy what I create in my own home."
Marissa scoffed, "Your home? Sweetheart, that title is slipping away. You heard Evangeline yesterday, you are stopping the progress of this family."
Rachel clenched her jaw so hard it hurt. "You can insult me, Marissa. But you don't get to ruin everything I do. What is your problem?"
Marissa laughed. "My problem? My problem is you." She snapped. "Why do you think Bryce stayed with me last night? Why do you think he kissed my stomach before he left this morning? Because he loves me...but you- you're a hindrance!"
Marissa tilted her head, voice soft but lethal. "Just get over this annoying love story. Bryce would not look at you... not anymore."
The kitchen door opened again, this time Bryce stood there. Rachel turned instantly, hope flickering but Bryce didn't even look at her first. He looked at Marissa.
Marissa walked towards him swiftly, her expression changing to a fragile innocence. "Bryce..." she whispered. "I'm sorry, Rachel got upset and-"
Rachel's eyes widened. "Bryce, she destroyed the food!"
Marissa gasped, clutching her belly with a wobble. "I just tried to help. I touched the plate and it fell. I didn't think she would yell at me."
Bryce stepped towards Marissa instinctively, supporting her arm. "Careful. You shouldn't strain yourself."
Marissa leaned into him, "I think the stress isn't good for the baby."
Bryce finally looked at Rachel, "Rachel...please. Don't shout in front of her, she's pregnant."
Those words burned like acid. "I wasn't shouting," she said, voice trembling. "She smashed the plate on purpose. As far as I know, pregnancy allergies do not reach the extent of destroying food."
Marissa sniffed. "I did not mean any harm. Bryce, you don't have to stay here; we can eat out, I suddenly don't feel comfortable in this kitchen. Let's go, baby."
Bryce hesitated...only for a second, then he nodded and led Marissa out. Rachel stood alone in the kitchen, staring at the meal she made, unwanted and wasted.
When she married Bryce, he was head over heels for her meals, but now... Rachel closed her eyes as a quiet wave of pain tightened her chest.
"Never thought a liability would be here," Evangeline stepped inside the kitchen. "Pained that my son chose an asset over her."
Rachel forced a small smile, "Good morning, mother."
Evangeline glanced around the room as if inspecting it for dust. "Marissa is feeling nauseous this morning. Bryce wants ginger tea brought to their room."
Rachel forced a small nod, "I can prepare it."
Evangeline raised a brow. "No. I've instructed the staff. Marissa prefers things done in a certain way for the baby's sake. Stay out of sight."
Rachel's hands clenched. "Of course," she said quietly and Evangeline left without another word.
Rachel's phone buzzed. She searched for it in her apron, when she found it she swiped the answer button.
"Hello?"
"Rachel!" Elara said from the other end, "Happy birthday! Guess what, I ordered an exclusive VIP booth for the both of us in Russell restaurant."
Rachel's eyes widened. Today was her birthday? She checked the date on the calendar that hung on the kitchen wall. July 17th...it was really her birthday. And she didn't remember...no one remembered, apart from Elara.
"Rachel?" Elara asked curiously.
"I'm here. Thank you so much Elara. I'm so grateful. Should I stop by your place?" Rachel asked as tears clouded her eyes.
"Yes. No need to put on some expensive or flashy clothes. I bought clothes and I'm sure they will suit you."
Rachel nodded. "Sure. Once more, thank you so much."
Elara hung up.
A few minutes later, Rachel was dressed in a casual outfit and adorned herself with some jewelries that fitted perfectly. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, she had lost a lot of weight and had become lean.
"Where are you going?" A voice said from the hallway. Rachel turned. It was Bryce, he was dressed in a tuxedo suit that fitted perfectly, his hair sleek and pulled back. He was still adjusting his tie.
Rachel smiled, "I think that question is meant for Marissa." She replied calmly and turned to keep going.
Bryce stopped on his track. "You are still my wife," Rachel paused. "I deserve to know your whereabouts."
Rachel's fist clenched at her sides, "My whereabouts would be the most insignificant thing in your life...so don't pretend like you care."
Bryce walked towards her, "if it was going to be an insignificant thing, I wouldn't bother asking."
Rachel turned back to him, "I'm going to a friend's place. What do you gain from my where-"
He cut her off, "I'll drop you."
You may also like
9.5
My boyfriend, Jefferson, convinced me to give up my Yale scholarship for him. He was my secret, my escape from the shame of my mother's past, and I threw away my future for our love.
Then, at a gala, he publicly announced his engagement to Aubrey Carroll-the girl who made my high school years a living hell.
He trapped me in his mansion, forcing me to become her personal servant. She tortured me daily, culminating in her brutally killing our dog, Charlie, with a garden trowel.
When her friends arrived, they joined in, stripping me half-naked and live-streaming my panic attack for the world to see.
The man who once promised to protect me watched as they destroyed me.
But as I lay bleeding out on the floor, it wasn't an ambulance that arrived. It was the private security of Alexzander Stevens-my estranged, billionaire grandfather.
He revealed I was his sole heiress, and now, we were going to make them pay for every last tear.
8.5
Shadows converge, and the stakes are set. Ivy Carter's ordinary life is about to get a whole lot deadlier.
Caught in the cross hairs of Alpha Damian Blackthorn, the city's most feared predator, and Lucien D'Amato, the vampire CEO with an unholy hunger, Ivy's fate is sealed.
As their fated mate, she's the prize in a game of power and passion, where the rules are brutal and the players are ruthless. Torn between desire and danger, Ivy must choose: surrender to the darkness or risk everything for a love that could be her salvation... or her demise.
In this city, the predators rule, and Ivy's just become the most coveted prey. Will she rise as their queen, or fall as their next victim?
7.9
Elena Crane wakes up in a hospital bed after barely surviving a resort fire, only to discover the devastating truth. The kidney she donated to her husband Leo three days ago wasn't for him. It was for his mistress, Lydia. Worse, she overhears Leo instructing a doctor to kill her within five days and make it look like surgical complications so he can collect two hundred million dollars in life insurance. Their entire five year marriage was an elaborate scheme to steal her organs and murder her for money.
What Leo and Lydia don't know is that Elena is actually Roberta Alfred, the legendary jewelry designer and billionaire heiress who abandoned her empire for love. After enduring multiple murder attempts, including being locked in a morgue and losing her uterus to forced hysterectomy, Elena escapes. She divorces Leo, claims the insurance money herself, and returns home to reclaim her identity and her family's billion dollar empire.
8.3
My cousin Hailey paid a dock worker to assault me just to ruin my engagement.
To survive the military-grade aphrodisiac she poisoned me with, I stumbled into a walk-in freezer and threw myself onto the only source of cold I could find-a man paralyzed by unnatural hypothermia.
It was a desperate, primal exchange of my heat for his ice just to keep my heart from stopping.
But when Hailey threw open the heavy iron door, leading my fiancé and the entire Bolton family to witness my "shame," her triumphant grin instantly vanished.
She hadn't caught me with a low-life thug.
She had caught me straddling Demetrius Maddox, the ruthless Iron King of Chicago.
The air in the room dropped to absolute zero. My grandmother screamed in horror, and my father turned the color of ash.
Hailey, blinded by jealousy, tried to double down. She pointed a manicured finger at the deadliest man in the city and called him a "nameless muscle" I picked up to defile the family name.
She didn't realize she had just signed her own death warrant.
I didn't cower. I realized this was the only chance to survive the family that wanted me dead.
I walked up to the Devil himself, my body still humming with the poison, and looked him in the eye.
"Kill me, and the cold inside you wins," I whispered, knowing he was dying from the inverse of my own poison. "I am the only doctor who knows how to cure you."
Demetrius tightened his hand around my throat, his dark eyes assessing my worth.
"Prove it," he growled.
I turned back to my trembling cousin and signaled the enforcer to hand me the whip.
7.2
"Still playing dirty, Huntress?" he taunted, pinning me with those piercing grey-blue eyes.
"Still hiding behind your daddy's money, Reaper?" I shot back, my blood boiling.
Lanaya Roux and Maverick Hayden are college hockey royalty-and bitter rivals. As the captains of competing university teams, their hatred on the ice is matched only by the legendary feud between their billionaire families' empires.
But when their ruthless fathers force them into a fake engagement to secure an $18 billion corporate merger, Lanaya and Maverick are thrown into the ultimate game of survival.
The rules are simple: Live together in the same penthouse. Smile for the cameras. Pretend to be madly in love for six months.
It was supposed to be strictly business. But behind closed doors, the venom they spit at each other quickly morphs into a scorching, undeniable addiction. Maverick is an arrogant, aggressively protective alpha who refuses to let her go, and Lanaya is the fiercely independent captain who refuses to submit.
Beneath their explosive chemistry lies a devastating secret: a shared tragedy from eight years ago that claimed the life of Lanaya's brother and shattered their innocent childhood bond.
With the national hockey championship on the line, scandalous secrets surfacing, and unseen enemies sabotaging their every move, the line between love and hate has never been so dangerous.
What happens when the fake engagement to your worst enemy becomes the only real thing in your life?
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.