The Billionaire Who Faked My Love Story And Lost The Real One Chapter 04
Garrick looked back. I was gone. He lost it.
He shoved Wren away and dove under.
The water was ice. His arms around me burned.
He dragged me to shore, then went back for Wren.
But it was too late.
The water was too cold.
By the time Wren made it to shore, she was doubled over, clutching her stomach.
Blood ran down her white dress.
By the time they got her to the hospital, the baby was gone.
Wren screamed until her voice cracked, her nails cutting half-moons into Garrick’s hand.
“Garrick! I hate you!”
“You killed our baby! You and that psycho bitch! I want her dead, Garrick. She owes us. She owes our child!”
Something crossed Garrick’s face. A raw devastation. Something I’d never seen him give to me.
But when his eyes found mine, all of it was gone.
I smiled. “Were you crying?”
“That’s a first. I’ve never seen you cry before.”
“So why’d you bother saving me? You only let everyone down.”
Garrick’s eyes went red. For the first time, he raised his hand.
His chest was heaving. He could barely get the words out.
“Don’t push me!”
“Elara, don’t think you can keep pulling this shit just because I love you!”
That slap never landed.
His hand shook in the air for a long moment before he slammed his fist into the wall instead.
“Get out. I don’t want to look at you.”
After that, Garrick never came home.
He used to text me ten times a minute. Now my phone was a dead thing.
It was the day Wren was cleared by her doctors.
The baby’s gravestone was finished too.
Garrick’s assistant came to collect me. An “invitation.”
The second Wren saw me, her whole face twisted. She screamed.
“Get on your knees! Beg my baby for forgiveness!”
I looked at Garrick.
This time, he didn’t step in front of me.
He walked behind me, jaw clenched.
A kick hit the back of my knees before I could brace. I went down.
A hand pressed against the back of my skull and shoved it toward the ground.
My forehead hit the stone. Once. Twice. Three times.
My vision flashed with static.
Garrick’s voice came from above me, low and wrecked.
“Wren hasn’t eaten in three days. She said she wouldn’t until you came and apologized.”
“Elara, you killed that baby. You owe her this…”
I lay there, face against the ground, staring at the small name carved into the stone.
Rowan Ashford.
Garrick must have picked it.
He really did care that much.
Wren stood over me, smiling, and raised her hand.
Garrick flinched toward me.
Wren’s glare stopped him cold.
“What? You feel sorry for her?”
“Who felt sorry for my baby? Did she?”
Slap.
This one landed.
My cheek went numb. I tasted blood.
In my peripheral vision, Garrick’s fist was shaking at his side.
But that wasn’t enough.
Garrick brought us back to the house.
Wren kicked open my bedroom door like she was surveying conquered territory.
She’d taken scissors to my wedding gown. Shredded it.
Every one of my wedding rings was stacked on her fingers.
She waggled her fingers at me, grinning.
“Garrick and I are going on our honeymoon. He promised me another baby.”
“Who’s pathetic now?”
I never looked up. I never said a word.
The front door slammed.
Wren’s voice floated up from the stairwell.
“Call me Mrs. Ashford.”
Then the stammering voices of Garrick’s friends.
“H-Hello, Mrs. Ashford…”
By the time I made it to the balcony, the car was already pulling away.
Wren twisted around in her seat and flipped me off. The diamond on her finger caught the light.
That was when I finally smiled for real.
I leaned over the railing and waved goodbye, beaming.
Garrick was watching me in the rearview mirror.
When he saw me waving, he frowned. The car slowed without him meaning it to.
But Wren grabbed his hand and pressed it to her stomach.
He looked away. The car picked up speed and kept going.
They hit the interstate.
Wren screamed.
“Fuck! I left my phone!”
One of Garrick’s friends in the car looked up.
“Wait, is Wren’s account going live?”
“Hold on. Isn’t that Elara?”
On the screen, I was standing on the balcony.
Wind in my hair. Sunset spilling gold across my shoulders.
The view behind me gave away exactly where I was.
I was smiling like I’d never been happier.
Garrick had locked my phone down so tight nothing got through.
So why couldn’t I just use someone else’s?
The password was Garrick’s birthday. Too easy.
If it weren’t for this, I’d never have taken those hits lying down.
I cleared my throat and looked straight into the camera.
[I miss you.]
Laughter broke out in the car.
“Oh my God, she’s good. She’s totally playing him to come back.”
Garrick watched the screen. A smile crept across his face, warm and involuntary.
But he forced it down.
“I’m not going back. She needs to learn her lesson this time…”
His voice was still hanging in the air.
On the screen, tears were running down my face. But I was smiling. I tilted my head and spoke into the camera, slow and deliberate.
[I miss you, Silas.]
One clue. That was all he ever needed.
My Silas.
The scream of brakes tore across the interstate.
