<Finding Forever After the Betrayal》 Chapter 29
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Aiden stared at his phone, his blood turning to ice as he scrolled through the
endless stream of news articles and social media posts documenting every
breathtaking detail of my wedding. There was no mistaking it; it had been
spectacular, a lavish celebration designed to showcase Charles’s power and
influence.
His eyes fixed on a photo of Charles, his face alight with triumph, and a
surge of pure, unadulterated rage coursed through Aiden.
It was Charles. He was behind it all.
The realization hit him with the force of a physical blow. Without a word, he
brushed past his mother, ignoring her pleas for him to stay put, and stormed out
of the hospital, his mind a chaotic mix of fury and despair.
Charles and I were still basking in the afterglow of our wedding night, the
remnants of passion clinging to the air like a tangible thing, when the insistent
ringing of the doorbell shattered the tranquility of our morning.
Charles frowned, his brow furrowing as he shrugged on his robe.“Who on
earth could that be at this hour?” he muttered, irritation lacing his voice.
He hadn’t even finished the sentence when the front door burst open,
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revealing a disheveled Aiden, his eyes blazing with fury. Before Charles could
react, Aiden lunged, his fist connecting with Charles’s jaw with a sickening thud.
“You bastard!” Aiden roared, his voice hoarse with rage.“You stole her, but
that wasn’t enough, was it? You had to go after Ethan, too! He’s in the hospital,
his leg might not even be salvageable. You’ll pay for what you did!”
Charles, caught off guard but recovering quickly, blocked Aiden’s next blow
with practiced ease, his grip on Aiden’s wrist like a vise.“Get ahold of yourself,”
he growled, his voice dangerously low.
“I wouldn’t stoop to such tactics,” Charles shot back, his voice laced with
disdain.“I simply arranged for your little stunt to be… diffused. The last thing
Violet needed was for you two to ruin our wedding day.”
The commotion had drawn me from the bedroom, my heart pounding in my
chest as I took in the scene before me – Charles, his jaw tight, holding Aiden at
bay, and Aiden, his face a mask of fury, every muscle in his body coiled tight
with tension.
“Stop it, both of you!” I cried, rushing between them. My gaze met Aiden’s,
and for a fleeting moment, I saw a flicker of the boy I’d once known, the one
who’d shared my childhood dreams and stolen my first kiss. But the look
vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a cold, hard glint that chilled me to
the bone.
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“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” I said, my voice shaking despite my best
efforts to sound calm.“Charles, tell him. Tell him what really happened.”
A tense silence filled the room as Charles, his gaze unwavering, addressed
Aiden.“Ethan’s accident was just that – an accident. A case of reckless driving on
his part, if you must know. I arranged for you both to be escorted back to Los
Angeles, yes, but only after you attempted to disrupt the wedding.”
He let the words hang in the air, his expression a mixture of anger and
something else, something darker and more unsettling. “Consider this a taste of
what you’re up against, Aiden. You want a fight? Fine. But don’t for a moment
think that I will hesitate to protect what’s mine.”
True to his word, Charles had launched his counterattack. The police
investigation into Ethan’s accident, suspiciously thorough and efficient,
concluded that the other driver, a young man with a history of DUI and a sudden
influx of cash, was solely to blame. Meanwhile, Aiden’s family businesses found
themselves facing a series of audits and investigations, their every move
scrutinized by Charles’s team of lawyers and accountants.
The message was clear: back down or face the
consequences.
Ethan awoke from surgery to find his leg encased in plaster, the reality of his
situation hitting him with the full force of a physical blow. Aiden, his own face
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etched with exhaustion, sat by his bedside, his expression grim.
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“It’s okay,” Aiden said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.“They saved your
leg. You’ll walk again, but… racing. That’s over.”
The words hung in the air, sharp–edged and final. Ethan could handle
losing to Charles, to me. But losing his dream, the one constant in his life,
because of a decision I’d made, that was unbearable.
He’d endured the agonizing weeks of physical therapy, the slow, frustrating
process of learning to walk again, fueled by the hope that one day, he’d be back
behind the wheel. But the first time he sat in his car, his heart hammering in his
chest, he was overwhelmed by a wave of nausea, a visceral terror he couldn’t
control.
The fear, once a fleeting shadow, now clung to him like a shroud, a constant
reminder of his mortality, of his own reckless choices. He loved me, yes, but not
enough to risk his life.
He stumbled out of the car, his body slick with a cold sweat, the world
around him swaying as if he were still caught in the grip of the crash. Aiden, ever
watchful, caught him before he could fall.
“What are you still doing here?” Ethan rasped, his voice bitter.“Shouldn’t you
be off planning your next move? Or have you finally accepted defeat?”
Aiden’s shoulders slumped, his gaze distant.“What’s the point?” he
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murmured, his voice hollow.
During Ethan’s recovery, Aiden had tried everything to reach me – phone
calls, letters, even showing up at our doorstep, only to be turned away by Charles‘
s ever–present security detail. I’d shut him out, erasing him from my life as
easily as deleting a contact from my phone.
He’d poured his heart out in those letters, recounting every cherished
memory, every inside joke, every moment of shared joy and laughter, hoping to
rekindle even a flicker of the connection we’d once shared. But each letter had
been returned unopened, a clear message that the past was the past, and I had
moved on.
And the worst part? Aiden knew, deep down, that Charles was right. He’d
seen it in my eyes, the way I looked at Charles – with a love, an adoration, that he
knew he could never inspire in me.
There was nothing left to say, no more moves to be made.
Defeated, they parted ways, each retreating into their own private hells. Our
once unbreakable bond, forged in childhood laughter and teenage dreams, had
shattered, leaving behind only shards of what might have been. And as the years
passed, those shards, too, would fade, until all that remained was a faint,
bittersweet ache in the deepest recesses of our hearts.
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Every turn of the page is a new beginning.
I look forward to meeting you again in the next story!
< «Let Me Go, My Alpha…
