Bonds

Chapter One

~Four years ago~

~Maya’s POV~

It rained on the day I died.

People die in different ways, mine was one of the most painful kinds. My heart was ripped out and shredded into a million pieces right in front of me.

“Alex, please don’t do this to me,” I begged running after him, “Please I am begging you. I have nowhere to go.”

He turned to me, his blue eyes now as cold as ice stared at me. Gone was the warmth that made me feel safe whenever he held me to his chest, whispering just how much he loved me.

“Alex,” I whispered his name again.

“You are starting to irritate me. Do not make me throw you out, Maya.”

Maya.

The sound of my name on his lips was another painful stab to my heart. He hadn’t called me by my real name in the three years we had been married.

My begging was getting me nowhere I realized. Standing to my feet, I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

“You are really going to do this to me after everything we have been through together? After everything I gave up just to be with you?”

He didn’t say anything. He simply stared through me like I didn’t exist. Like I was nothing.

I stared at him. He looked the same. The same man I had fallen in love with. The same man I had turned my back on my entire pack for just to be with yet he was so different.

There had been so much whispers after the announcement of our engagement but the center of it all was that I was a gold digging stripper that had dug her claws into one of the most eligible billionaires in the city but neither Alex nor I had cared.

He kissed me two months after that and claimed me as his.

“You and I against the world silver.. Always and forever,” he had whispered just before he entered me for the first time.

We had both made sacrifices for love and I was not going to let him destroy it.

“You cannot just discard me like I am nothing to you,” I said finally, hoping to get a reaction from him but there was nothing.

“Do you have nothing else to say?”

Silence hung between us, almost suffocating me then finally he walked towards the table, grabbing a brown envelope and in that cold and detached voice, “My signature is already on it. Sign it and don’t let me see you ever again.”

“We can fix whatever is wrong. Tell me what happened. You can’t just leave then return only to tell me you are ending our marriage and then throw divorce papers in my face. Please let me fix it. Whatever it is.” I tried to step forward but halted in my step when I saw the flash of black in his eyes.

the most important detail of our relationship, “We

said that because the next words that came out from his mouth ripped my heart

from this moment,

knees gasping for air. I had heard stories of rejection but none of them prepared

recoiled howling in pain as I struggled to see through the

out of

felt two strong hands pick me

I gasped

words that echoed in my head and that was the last time I

That night… It rained.

night..

***************

you to come back home. I have

steady my breath when my father’s hard tone sounded through the phone again, “Amaya did you

father

have known immediately I saw Daniel Stones’ name on my phone. My father

place? Who is he?”

shouldn’t be your concern. I will send a car to fetch you before the week

Like a

Am

ending the

to fight. To say no. That I wouldn’t be part of an arranged marriage to a man that I

reason I opened my eyes everyday were Ivy and Nathan. I knew my father wouldn’t approve of me bringing them to his house. The bastard children to your bastard husband as he called

brain, I quickly scrolled through the limited number

you so, so much! Oh my goodness, are you at my doorstep right now? Please tell me you’re here! Wait, no,

my ever-excited best friend,

so sorry. You know how I am—I just can’t help it. I get all hyper when

I interjected again, gently teasing her, “You’re doing it

ears

It felt like she could fill an empty room with her energy, and I couldn’t help but smile

sigh, picturing Natalia’s face in my mind. I knew her eyes would have narrowed in

happened?” Her voice flowed through the phone, laced with worry

hesitating as I felt the weight of his demand settling over me, “he wants me… he wants me to

heavy, the space between her breaths seemingly long. Her silence spoke volumes before she finally broke it, her voice gentle but laced with concern, “What does

my eyes, the memories of my father’s call still echoing in my mind, the words sinking into my heart like heavy stones. “Make the same mistake again,” I whispered, feeling the sting of

she breathed my name like a soft

didn’t always need words. It felt like Natalia and I had honed this psychic connection

into the phone, almost feeling her understanding seep through the line. “After everything I did… I turned my

act of reconciliation,” Natalia retorted, her voice a mix of frustration and empathy. “Your parents

opened my mouth to protest, to defend their actions, but Natalia cut in, her words gentle yet

even have to say his name for a new wave of pain

weight of my decision heavy in my

a laugh but it sounded

laughed if

bother you if

over a year and I really want to hug you and you don’t even have to stress about Nate. You know how much he loves you. Sometimes, I’m convinced it’s even more than he