Ex Cried as I Wed a Tycoon

Chapter 9

Effie glanced at her phone. The message was from Suzan.

A frown creased Effie's brow before she could stop herself.

She tapped open the chat. It was a photo.

The image showed a torn-up charm-shredded into jagged scraps.

Effie stared at the screen, her frown deepening. She knew this charm well. Two years ago, she'd made a pilgrimage to St. Mary's Abbey herself to get it. Back then, she'd bought into the monastery's legends, so determined to prove her devotion that she climbed all 999 steps to the summit, knelt at the altar, and prayed with fervor. She'd scraped her knees raw that day in the biting wind, but her heart had brimmed with hope.

She'd just wanted this charm to protect her beloved-to keep him healthy and safe.

Mitchell had found out and been moved almost to tears. He'd swung her around in a joyful hug: “Effie, I'm the luckiest man in the world."

Now the charm was nothing but a heap of torn paper, as ruined as their love.

Looking back, it felt like some sort of cruel joke.

message blinked on screen, thick

safe and healthy, so he gave me this charm. You remember it, right? The one you worked so

a little guilty... but Mitchell said it's just a cheap old charm. If it's ruined, who

gloating. So long as Effie was

moment, then typed back: "You're right- it's just a mass-produced trinket, a dollar each. If you like them, I can send you a whole box. But you know, for

instantly. Was Effie taking a jab at

Damn it!

Effie suffer. With Effie's parents gone, she was like an orphan; if Suzan managed to steal her fiancé too, Effie might not even find

made Suzan smile with

strangely unmoved. In fact, she was starting to look forward to her new

her finger, her mind wandering. What was Lyman

him, yet they were getting married. Was she reckless? Maybe. But

thinking, Effie opened

to see a photo of a cappuccino topped with intricate latte art. The delicate design

like coffee

oddly familiar, tugging at a distant memory, but she couldn't quite place

lost in thought,