Alex didn’t contact me after that-probably thought I was throwing some childish tantrum.


    Fine by me.


    I was too busy to care anyway.


    The gossip headlines kepting though.


    ‘hotos of him and Maya everywhere, looking like the perfect couple.


    hat cold face of his showed tenderness I’d never seen.


    lex wouldn’t confirm or deny anything about Maya.


    scrolled past the news, shut off my phone, and went back to liquidating my assets.


    verything I’d used to chase after Alex got converted to cash and donated to an anti-trafficking organization.


    he coordinator was so grateful he could barely speak.


    ut I found myself captivated by photos of rescued children.


    lex and I had escaped from traffickers once.


    We got lost in the mountains.


    ittle Alex gave me thest wild berries he’d found and filled his own stomach with mud.


    ut they caught us anyway.


    ‘hen that rusty iron bar came down, I screamed. Alex threw himself over me, taking every blow while barely making a sound.


    he smell of blood filled the air as he faded.


    hile the traffickers got drunk, I finally found my chance-crawled through a dog hole and called the police.


    ater, the Carter family came for Alex. I never even got to say goodbye.


    nd his promise to marry me before he passed out became my only obsession for years.


    fought my way to his side, became his wife,


    ut it was all just my one-woman show.


    lex had forgotten everything.


    ack at my short-term rental, Maya was sitting there casually.


    he even smiled when she saw me.


    Oh, you’re back?”


    The next second, sirens wailed outside.


    The door exploded inward. ck-d bodyguards stormed in and mmed me to the floor.


    ‘Don’t move!”


    Then Alex burst in, pulling Maya into his arms, voice shaking with relief: “Maya, it’s okay. This was my fault for not protecting you better.” <fndea5> ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? find?novel</fndea5>


    He held her like she was some precious treasure he’d almost lost. “I promised you’d never get hurt again.”


    That sounded familiar.


    The head bodyguard recognized me. “Mr. Carter, this is-”


    Alex finally bothered to look at me.


    Like I was his worst enemy.


    SLAP!


    My head snapped to the side, mouth flooding with the taste of blood.


    I didn’t cry. Hell, I almostughed.


    ‘I don’t give a damn who she is.” Alex’s voice was ice cold.


    Anyone who hurts Maya pays the price-even if she’s some billionaire’s daughter!”


    Show her what happens when you mess with Maya!”


    he bodyguard captain tried to say something, but Alex’s murderous re shut him up.


    hey dragged me into an empty room. Fists and bootsnded everywhere.


    My body screamed with pain, but all I could think about was how much it must have hurt when Alex took those beatings for me.


    lood filled my nose and mouth, but I wasn’t scared of dying.


    lex had given me this life in the first ce.


    Tow I was just returning it.


    he door opened eventually.


    Laya leaned against Alex’s chest. “She’s learned her lesson. Just get rid of her.”


    I never want to see her again.”


    lex didn’t hesitate. “Done.”


    le personally escorted me to his private airfield,


    is they shoved me up the ne steps, my ne chain snapped.


    he jade rose pendant hit the ground.


    lex had picked it out himself-the only birthday gift he’d ever given me, and only because his secretary reminded him.


    hadn’t been able to leave it behind at the house,


    Alex frowned and picked it up. “This thing… looks familiar.”


    My heart jumped despite everything.


    But Maya just coughed softly and tugged his sleeve. “Alex, it’s windy. I’m cold.”


    Then his moment of doubt vanished instantly.


    He dropped the pendant and crushed it under his heel.


    “Get her on that ne. Make sure she never sets foot in this country again!”


    The jet engines roared, pinning me to my seat.


    Fine.


    He’d sent me away himself. Ended everything himself.


    We’d never see each other again!


    This was Alex’s fiftieth visit to a therapist.


    The face blindness from his childhood trauma was seriously screwing up his life.


    Grace had been pissed for almost two weeks now-not a word from her.


    It was his fault for being too busy with Maya.


    But he’d already broken his childhood promise to Maya by marrying someone else.


    The least he could do was spend time with her when she asked.


    This therapy session involved hypnosis-drawing the face of that little girl from his memories.


    Step by step reconstruction of the kidnapping to heal the psychological wounds.


    Alex figured it would be easy. The drawing would obviously look like Maya.


    But when he handed over the sketch, the therapist gasped.


    How is this HER?!”