The Ruined Bride of Velvet Nights by Brick Moving Ant

Chapter 9

A month later, they found me.

I’d sold all my shares, using the money to buy a small house in a city I loved. My days were peaceful – tending to my garden, brewing tea, living at my own pace.

Until Callum burst through my gate, a weary–looking Mila at his side. They rushed toward me as if nothing had changed, arms outstretched for an embrace I easily avoided.

“Aria, I finally found you,” Callum breathed, his practiced sincerity making my stomach turn.

“When you disappeared, the company was in chaos. I know you must have been forced to sell the

don’t blame you. We can still be a

But his need to paint me as a victim rather than acknowledge my agency was

sharply. “We never married. At best, we were dating, and now we’re

Mila – the daughter I’d carried for nine months, the child I’d poured all my love into. But her lies had poisoned even that.

But what was left except our biological

wet, insisting we weren’t finished.

stubborn as ever, shouted from beyond the gate: “You’re so heartless, Mom! You’re nothing like

much, let her

moment before spitting back: “Fine!