The Scar He Left: Finding True Love

For three years, I was Colton’s hands and feet. I wiped the sweat from his brow and taught him to walk again after the accident that nearly killed him. He promised me a future. But the moment his ex-girlfriend, Charlie, returned from Paris, I became nothing. "She was just the crutch I needed to walk to you," I heard him tell her. At his recovery party, Charlie shattered his late father’s cherished wooden puzzle box and blamed me. She shrieked that I had poisoned her soup out of jealousy. Colton didn't hesitate. He didn't check the security footage. He didn't ask for the truth. He gripped my jaw, his fingers digging into my cheeks, and forced the scalding broth down my throat. "Eat it! Prove you're not crazy!" He roared while I choked on blood and blisters, the hot liquid searing my skin. He chose the woman who abandoned him over the woman who saved his life. I took the severance check, deleted every photo, and vanished into the night. Six months later, I was accepting an award for my new rehabilitation clinic in Australia, wearing a diamond ring given to me by a man who treats my scars like gold. Colton stood in the back of the auditorium, looking like a ghost. He had finally discovered that Charlie was a fraud who faked her "spiritual journey" to get illegal plastic surgery. He came to beg for forgiveness. But when our eyes met, I didn't feel anger. I didn't feel love. I turned my back on him and walked into the light.

Chapters

Chapter 5

Aminda POV

The sickening crack of bone meeting bone was the loudest thing I had ever heard.

Colton stumbled back, his shoulder crashing into the wall. He looked at Jayden with a mask of pure disbelief, touching his bleeding lip.

"Jayden! Have you lost your mind?"

"I'm not the one who's insane!" Jayden roared. He didn't stop. He grabbed Colton by the lapels of his tuxedo and slammed him against the doorframe so hard the wood groaned.

"Look at her! Just look at what you did!"

Isaias rushed to my side, snatching a towel to dab the scalding soup from my neck. His hands were trembling, though his touch remained gentle.

"Amy, are you okay? God, Amy..."

I couldn't speak. My mouth felt like it was filled with broken glass and fire. I just nodded, tears streaming down my face in hot, silent tracks.

"She broke Dad's box!" Colton yelled, shoving at Jayden's chest in a desperate attempt to free himself. "She accused Charlie of poisoning her!"

"You idiot," Jayden spat, his face inches from Colton's. "Charlie has been playing you since she got off the plane! Aminda spent three months restoring that box with a toothbrush and oil! Why the hell would she break it?"

"Because she's jealous!" Colton shouted back, his eyes wild. "She's obsessed with me!"

"She's not obsessed with you," Isaias said, his voice cutting through the noise like a blade of ice. "She loved you. And you just beat that love right out of her."

Colton froze. For a second, the words seemed to penetrate his rage. He looked at me-really looked at me-huddled in the bed, covered in broth and blood.

Then Charlie stepped between them.

"Don't let them bully you, Colty," she cried, her voice pitching up into a perfect, wounded whine. "They've always hated me. They want you to be with the help because she's easy to control."

Colton's eyes hardened again. The wall went back up, impenetrable and cold.

"Get off me, Jayden."

Jayden let go, shoving him away with visceral disgust. "We're done, Colt. You and me. Done."

"Fine." Colton straightened his tie, regaining his composure with terrifying speed. "Choose the help over your brother. See if I care. But if any of you come near Charlie again, I'll have you arrested."

He looked at me one last time.

"You heard me, Aminda. You're dead to me. Disappear."

"I will," I rasped. My voice was a ruined wreck.

Colton grabbed Charlie's hand and stormed out of the room.

The silence they left in their wake was suffocating.

"I'm going to kill him," Jayden whispered, pacing the room like a caged animal. "I'm going to destroy his company."

"No," I said. It hurt to talk, but I forced the words past my swollen lips. "Jayden, stop."

"How can you protect him?" Isaias asked, looking at me with pained eyes.

"I'm not protecting him," I said. I sat up, wincing as my head throbbed in time with my heartbeat. "I'm protecting you. He's powerful. He's vindictive. And right now, he's blind."

I reached for my suitcase.

"I need to go. Now. Before he changes his mind and calls the police to stop me."

"We're coming with you," Jayden said instantly.

"No." I shook my head. "You have lives here. You have jobs. If you leave, he wins. He destroys everything."

I stood up. My legs were shaky, but I forced them to hold my weight.

"I need to do this alone," I said. "I need to find who I am when I'm not 'Colton's therapist'."

Jayden looked like he wanted to argue, but Isaias put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Let her go, Jay," Isaias said softly. "This place... it's poison to her now."

They drove me to the airport in silence.

At the terminal, Jayden hugged me so hard I thought my ribs would crack.

"Call us," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "Every day. If you need money, if you need anything."

"I have the check," I said, patting my bag. The severance. "I'm going to use it. I'm going to build something he can't touch."

I walked through security.

I didn't look back at the city skyline. I didn't look back at the friends I was leaving behind.

I found a trash can near the gate.

I pulled out my phone. I scrolled through my photos. Three years of memories. Colton learning to stand. Colton smiling at a joke I made. Colton sleeping.

Delete. Delete. Delete.

Then, I took out the SIM card.

I snapped it in half, the plastic crunching under my fingers-a sound eerily similar to the hair clip I had broken earlier.

I dropped the pieces into the trash.

My flight was called.

I boarded the plane, found my seat by the window, and closed my eyes.

A single tear escaped, sliding down my cheek to sting the burn on my lip.

That was the last tear Colton Carlton would ever wring out of me.

When I opened my eyes, they were dry. The plane taxied down the runway, gathering speed. We lifted off, leaving the gravity of my past behind.

I looked down at the shrinking lights of the city. Somewhere down there, Colton was celebrating his engagement, thinking he had won.

He had no idea. He hadn't won. He had just set me free.

Continue to next part

I spent forty hours hand-beading a gown for a woman who was currently sleeping with my husband. My fingers were raw, my vision blurred, and the needle had just driven deep into my index finger, leaving a drop of blood on the silk. Braxton walked into our penthouse, rain dripping from his suit, and didn't even look at me. But the scent hit me instantly—Bulgarian rose and white musk. It was the custom perfume Griselda, my own sister, commissioned in Paris. I had spent three years as a ghost in my own marriage, sewing costumes for the woman who had haunted my vows since day one. Braxton didn't bother to hide it anymore; there was a smudge of her coral lipstick on his collar. He didn't offer an explanation, only a command to finish the gown for the Met Gala so I wouldn't embarrass them. My mother called moments later, her voice sharp with the usual dismissal. She didn't care that I was bleeding or that my husband was cheating with my sister. She only cared that I was "falling behind" on Griselda's gown. I sat in the silence of that cold, marble cage, staring at the needle in my hand. For years, I had swallowed every insult and stitched every lie, believing I was the capable one who had to make them happy. But as the clock ticked, a door inside me finally clicked shut. I wasn't just tired; I was finished. I set the needle down, picked up my phone, and dialed my sister’s number to tell her she’d have to find someone else to bleed for her.

Horror Modern Romance

7.8

Bound by the Alpha's Curse

7.8

Nara has spent her whole life at the bottom of the pack. The weak wolf. The girl no one defends. The one everyone believes will never shift, never matter, and never belong. All she wants is to live quietly and survive another day without being beaten or humiliated. But the Moon Goddess has a different plan. During a rogue attack, Nara crosses paths with Alpha Kael Draven-a powerful, ruthless leader known for his strength... and his curse. The moment their eyes meet, the mate bond snaps into place with a force that shocks them both. Kael rejects her instantly. A weak mate is the last thing he wants. But as he walks away, the bond does not break. Instead, it burns. Soon, strange things begin happening around Nara-her wounds heal too fast, shadows move when she panics, and wolves who once mocked her now fear her. Whispers spread. Someone demands her capture. And Kael, the Alpha who tried to reject her, suddenly can't stay away. As an ancient prophecy resurfaces, Nara learns she is the last descendant of a lost bloodline-one powerful enough to break Kael's curse... or unleash a darkness even he cannot control. Now hunted by enemies, betrayed by those she trusted, and torn between the Alpha who wounded her and the destiny she never wanted, Nara must rise from weakness to strength. Because Kael's life is tied to hers. Her power is awakening. And the bond that was meant to be broken might be the one thing that saves them both- or destroys their entire world.

Fantasy Horror Werewolf

7.6

Breaking The Billionaire's Golden Cage

7.6

I spent three years as the hidden mistress of Wall Street tyrant Damon Vaughn. Our no-strings arrangement meant I was his to command, a secret he kept locked away in the dark. Then I saw the Instagram post. It was Damon, raising a champagne glass with his perfect high-society fiancée, the caption hinting that wedding bells were just around the corner. I ended it that night, leaving his black card on his nightstand and blocking his number for good. But a man like Damon doesn't accept being told no. He retaliated by buying the entire building my tech startup was in. He cornered me on the street, slamming his fist into my car's hood, his face a mask of terrifying rage. He was a possessive monster, planning his perfect marriage while refusing to release me from my cage. The humiliation of being his disposable secret burned hotter than my anger. To finally break him, I lied about having a blind date. But the lie became a terrifying reality when my mother forced me into that exact date. Now, Damon has kidnapped me, and as he shoves me out of his car in front of the restaurant, his voice is a low, dangerous whisper meant only for me. "Remember who you belong to."

Billionaire Horror Romance

8.3

Burned by Poison, Saved by the Devil

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.

Adventure Horror Modern

7.6

Delicious Reptilian Meat

7.6

Have you ever eaten "Reptilian" meat? My grandfather said he had. Creatures that looked exactly like us on the outside, but were fundamentally different on the inside. Extremely dangerous, yet incredibly delicious. Before he died, my grandfather left behind a notebook. The first page read: "Reptilian look exactly like humans, but human instinct can tell them apart." The moment my cousin Braden returned for my grandfather's funeral, my gut told me: he wasn't human!

Action Horror Modern Sci-Fi

9.3

His Political Lie, My Shattered Love

9.3

My husband, a rising political star, begged me to reconcile. I thought our love story was real. It was a lie, a public spectacle designed for his political gain and my systematic destruction. On our anniversary, I found a group chat on his tablet. He and his mistress were laughing about how predictable I was, calling me a "naive fool" for believing his promises. The cruelty escalated from there. He poisoned my food, publicly humiliated me at a charity auction that left me bankrupt, and even had me whipped in his family's basement as a twisted form of punishment. The final blow came when I overheard him plotting my murder. He planned a "tragic hiking accident" at a remote cliff during a storm, a perfect crime to make me disappear forever. But I turned his murder plot into my own escape. I faked my death and started over as a baker in a quiet town. A year later, he found me, haunted by regret, but his final act of redemption-and the true cost of my freedom-was something I never saw coming.

Horror Mystery Romance

The Scar He Left: Finding True Love

Chapter 5

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