Chapter 375
Athena
“Athena?” Tristan said, concerned, propping himself up on his elbow to look at me better. “Are you okay?”
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. Because I knew exactly which message he was talking about. Exactly which day, which hour, which
moment that message had arrived.
I could still remember it like it was just yesterday.
It had been my wedding day to Daxon. I’d been sitting in the bridal suite, feeling trapped and suffocated, the walls closing in on me.
The dress he’d chosen hung off my frame after months of barely eating. The makeup caked thick to hide the bruises. The silver
necklace he’d given me that morning sitting heavy and cold against my throat like a collar.
I’d felt so weak. So powerless. So lost in a life that didn’t feel like mine anymore. Like I was walking to my own funeral instead of a
wedding.
Then my phone had buzzed with a text from an unknown number.
Thinking of you today. You deserve happiness. – A friend
And then another: You’re stronger than you know.
I’d read those words over and over, those few simple words becoming a lifeline in an ocean of despair.
A reminder that somewhere, someone thought I deserved better. That somewhere inside me, buried under all of Daxon’s manipulation
and control, was strength I’d forgotten I had.
I’d deleted the messages immediately, terrified of what Daxon would do if he found them. But the words had stayed with me. Through
the ceremony. Through saying vows I didn’t mean. Through binding myself to a man who’d killed our baby with his fists.
And at the end, when the officiant asked if I took Daxon to be my husband, those words had echoed in my mind.
You’re stronger than you know,
I’d opened my mouth to say “I do.”
And instead, I’d said “No.”
“Athena, talk to me,” Tristan said, sitting up fully now and pulling me with him, his hands on my shoulders. “What’s wrong? What did
I say?”
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Chapter 375
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The tears came then, hot and fast, streaming down my face in rivers I couldn’t control.
‘Hey, hey, Tristan said, alarmed, wiping at my tears with his thumbs. “Baby, what is it? What did I say? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to
upset you…”
“You saved me, I choked out, the words barely audible through my crying, my whole body shaking.
“What?”
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“That message,” I said, sobs coming from somewhere deep inside. “Your messages. They came on my wedding day, Tristan. The day I
was supposed to marry Daxon.”
He held me closer, his expression shifting from confusion to understanding, his own eyes getting wet. “Tell me. Tell me what
happened.”
“I was in the bridal suite, I continued, the words tumbling out between sobs, everything I’d been holding back finally breaking free.
“About to walk down the aisle and bind myself to him forever. And I felt so trapped. So lost. So unlike myself. He’d been controlling
everything, what I wore, who I saw, how I acted. He’d beaten me so badly two months before that I lost our baby on the bathroom floor.”
“Athena…. I know I’d told him before, but not like this. Reliving it felt painful but I needed to.
eyes.
‘I’d convinced myself that I was too weak to leave, I continued, looking up at him through my tears, seeing my pain reflected in his
“That I didn’t have a choice. That this was just what I deserved. And I was so tired, Tristan. So tired of fighting, of trying to survive.”
‘Oh baby,” he breathed, pulling me tighter against his chest.
‘But then I got your messages,” I said, my voice breaking. “From an unknown number. Telling me I deserved happiness. That I was
stronger than I knew.
And I read them over and over, probably a hundred times in those last few minutes before the ceremony. And I started to believe it.
Started to remember who I was before him. Started to feel that strength you saw in me.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
