Seven Years of Love Seven Minutes of Truth

Chapter 4

I barely touched my breakfast, and now my stomach churned violently on the way to the shoot.

By the time we arrived, nausea clawed at my throat. I stumbled out of the car, leaning against it, gulping in fresh air in an attempt to settle the sickness.

Meanwhile, Atlas was carefully lifting the hem of Ivy’s gown, his head slightly bowed as he guided her into the

studio with the utmost care.

I watched in silence.

The man who once promised to cherish me–who used to hold my hand so protectively–was now treating another woman as though she were the most precious thing in the world.

I pressed a hand to my stomach, swallowing back the bitter taste in my mouth.

“Celeste,” Atlas called out to me, his voice laced with frustration. “The shoot is about to start. Be nice–just do your job. This is important for both Ivy and Whitmore Industries.”

Without warning, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward. I stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

Pain flared up my arm, but Atlas had already turned away, his attention elsewhere, as if I were nothing more than a reluctant participant in his carefully orchestrated world.

It had been five years since I last held a camera. Now, as I raised it, my hands trembled.

Fear gripped me, a cold and suffocating weight pressing down on my chest. But I forced myself to push through it.

Click

With each shutter press, I fought against the flood of emotions threatening to drown me.

Grief.

Rage.

Betrayal.

snap of the camera a desperate attempt to

Ivy and me. She scrolled through the shots, a slow smirk curling on her lips.

me, her voice

just like your father, Celeste,” she said, her words laced with venom. “Pathetic. A failure. No matter

06:50

Seven Minutes of

68.1%

Chapter 4

you try, you’ll

nails dug into my

my lungs grew heavy, my body trembling as white hot rage urged

And then-

*Slap.*

my cheek, leaving a

wrist, shaking off the impact, before looking down

sneered. “I never expected you get married with Atlas after

stepped closer, her voice

ear. “Atlas belongs to me. Just like your

cheek throbbing, my ears ringing with

I could react, Ivy suddenly grabbed my wrist–and in one swift motion, she slammed

her own face.

herself crumple onto

eyes as she cradled her cheek, looking up at

her voice shaking with false innocence. “I just wanted to ask if you could try a different angle for me. If you don’t want to, that’s fine… there’s no need to get

slipped from Atlas’s

with shock, quickly darkening into fury. In two long strides, he

knelt beside