Chapter 16
Calliope’s POV
He nodded and said, “Your parents took you home before I could wake up and before my family arrived. For years, we searched for you, and by chance, we found you through your grandmother. I’ve always longed to meet the brave girl who saved my life without hesitation. Over time, I think that feeling blossomed into love.”
“Oh, my gosh!” I exclaimed in shock.
Lucian smiled gently. “I didn’t tell you earlier because I didn’t want to overwhelm you, Calliope. But I get it if you don’t want to go on with the marriage.”
I was taken aback. “I was worried you
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wouldn’t want anything to do with me after all the chaos here, Lucian. Especially since I was married before and the whole situation’s
a mess.”
Lucian’s smile widened as he brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “I could never stop wanting you, Calliope,” he reassured me.
His words shattered my heart, echoing the doctor’s diagnosis in my mind. The tears I had been holding back for weeks came flooding down my cheeks like an unstoppable river.
“What did I say wrong?” Lucian asked, a hint of concern in his voice as he pulled me into his arms.
I sobbed uncontrollably, my body shaking. I wept because I knew once he heard what
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I had to say, he’d likely walk away. I cried because despite what I’d achieved today, it didn’t erase the pain Thaddeus and Zephyrine had inflicted upon me.
As Lucian held me, my heart throbbed with guilt. He was too perfect, and after everything I’d been through, I felt undeserving of him. I couldn’t drag him down
with my burdens.
“I’m sorry,” I whimpered.
“Talk to me, Calliope,” he coaxed, gently.
Pulling away, I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. “I’m sorry, I repeated.
I turned and ran, Lucian chasing after me. I dashed into the ballroom, my eyes red and swollen. My brother and parents saw me and immediately worried.
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Chapter 16
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“Calliope,” they all called, Lucian included, but I didn’t stop.
I fled from my own wedding party, longing to go home and curl up into a ball, sobbing. As I spotted my driver, I waved him down, and he quickly brought the car around.
Just as I was about to climb inside, Thaddeus stopped me. “Calliope, I swear I didn’t know. You have to believe me, I’m so sorry,” he pleaded, tears filling his eyes.
I noticed he was clutching the torn envelope, betraying the fact he had read its contents. I had packaged the doctor’s report so he could see what he and Zephyrine had done
to me.
I pushed him away. “Stay away from me.”
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Chapter 16
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I climbed into the car, and the driver sped off. Throughout the ride, I was inconsolable, crying without pause. My phone buzzed incessantly as my parents, Leander, and Lucian tried to reach me with calls and texts. It became too much, and I shut it off.
Arriving home, I went to my room and slammed the door behind me. I stripped off my dress and stared at my reflection in the mirror, my hands resting on my stomach as a sob escaped my lips.
All the pent–up emotions that I’d buried and transformed into anger surged forth as deep sorrow. Now that I’d had my revenge, nothing remained but the cold reality I would never have children.
Donning a robe, I curled up on my bed and cried until no more tears would come. I lay there, curled into a ball, resigned to fate.
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Chapter 16
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I don’t know how long I stayed like that, but I must have drifted off because when I felt a soft touch on my hair, I opened my eyes to see my mother. Dawn had broken outside.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, her voice tinged with worry.
I sighed and attempted to smile as I sat up, my head throbbing and my eyes sore from crying. “I’m alright, Mom. I’m sorry for making you worry,” I lied.
My mother shook her head. “No, Calliope. We’re your family, and we want the truth. What happened last night? Lucian is worried about you; he told us what happened, but none of us can understand why that would upset you so.”
I managed a bitter smile. “I don’t want to talk
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Chapter 16
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about it, Mom.”
“If you don’t want the marriage, we can call it off. We’ve already said you shouldn’t stress yourself,” my mother suggested with a sigh.
“Yes, Princess. If you want us to move, just say the word. And if you want that jerk in jail, let me know,” my father chimed in, standing in the doorway with my brother, both their faces etched with concern.
“All this won’t bring back what I lost,” I said and started crying again.
My family looked bewildered.
“What did you lose, Calliope? What aren’t you telling us?”
