Elias. Oh my god, you’re alive. They told me you were killed in action a year ago. Julian showed me the military casualty report himself. I am not marrying him by choice. He has my father’s life in his hands. He will ruin my family if I don’t say I do. Please, forgive me. And please, leave the city before he sees you. He is dangerous.
I read the words again. And again. And then a third time.
They told me you were killed in action.
The world around me stopped spinning. The air grew perfectly still. She didn't abandon me. She hadn't stopped writing because she fell out of love. She stopped writing because she was mourning a ghost. This immaculate, wealthy, handsome groom—Julian Vance—had fabricated a military death report. He had preyed on her shattered heart, manipulated her grief, and cornered her into a marriage of survival.