Shadows Of A Forgotten Spring

Chapter 163

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Emma didn’t stop. She’d been silenced for far too long, bullied for too many years, but not today. “You want to talk about being chosen? Let me remind you of something, Annie. He may have divorced me, but he didn’t make the mistake of placing a ring on your finger. Because you don’t deserve it. You’re not me; you can never be me.”

That was the final straw. Whatever mask of control Annie had, slipped completely off. Her hands shook as she fisted them at her sides. The humiliation, the anger, the bitter taste of defeat surged inside her, blinding her to everything but her need for retaliation.

She lurched forward, grabbing Emma’s wrist with surprising strength. Her nails dug into Emma’s skin as her voice trembled with an in unrestrained fury. “Say that again!”

Anger flashed in Emma’s eyes, she jerked her hand angrily to get her wrist from Annie’s grip and the force sent Annie stumbling. “Get your filthy hands off me!” she snapped years of suppressed anger and pain in her voice

The unexpected push sent Annie crashing to the floor. Gasps erupted all over the hall as the guests turned to witness the

commotion.

Annie clutched at her stomach, eyes wide with pain and shock, as a high–pitched scream tore from her mouth. “Ahh! My stomach! Oh my God!”

heaving, heart pounding, as a crowd began to form around them, and she just stood rooted there, trying to fathom what

screamed louder, her voice full of anguish and accusation. Tears streamed down her

mouth, her defenses ready, but words would not come. The weight of all the staring eyes, murmurs, and

through the crowd toward the two women. His eyes flickered between Annie on the floor and Emma standing

he said, his voice

say a word, Annie cried again this time louder, “Alexander! She… she pushed me! She has

onto Emma’s. The weight of the moment was unbearable, and Emma

in her denial. Her glanced darted between the crowd and Alexander’s piecing glare. Despite the haired that burned in her for Annie, she held no malice for her innocent unborn child. The very idea

from around her like wildfire filled with doubt and condemnation, guests pointed their fingers in accusing whispers, others in shock, their mouths ajar. She could feel the weight of all those gazes pressing

feet, hands supporting her stomach protectively as if she

Wed, Jan

Chapter 163

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rasped out, her voice trembling but sharp enough to

needed the victim card on

Emma’s gaze, her face twisted in a look of pure venom, streaked with

her voice echoing through the hall as she yanked her arm away his grasp. She was angry, her face red with the injustice of it all. His

her safe. But under her piercing glare, he relented and handed her the key. “Annie, you cannot drive on your own,” he muttered softly, yet urgently. “Let’s wait for the ambulance. You