After He Faked His Death, I Chose to Live

"I think Iceland would be perfect. Every aurora only appears once and never again. It symbolizes something truly one of a kind."

Anthony had smiled at that and said it was a wonderful idea.

But not long after, I found a lipstick in his car that didn't belong to me.

I followed the trail of clues until I uncovered its owner: Victoria Mason.

I insisted on calling off the engagement. He responded by standing on the ledge of an eighteen-story building.

"Nora, if you call off this engagement, I'll jump."

My heart caved instantly. I gave him a chance to end things with her cleanly.

He erased every trace. Fired Victoria. Went to every length to make it up to me.

He even died in an accident because of me.

Or so I'd believed. Because now he was standing right in front of me, alive and breathing, with a home built alongside the very woman he'd sworn was out of his life for good.

A bitter laugh scraped out of my throat. I grabbed the framed wedding photo and hurled it to the ground.

Glass exploded across the floor. Victoria shrieked, clutching her face where a shard had sliced her skin.

"Nora, could you stop acting like a lunatic?!"

Anthony's eyes went red. He was screaming at me.

I let out a hollow, self-mocking laugh. My voice was raw, scraping like sandpaper.

"I'm the lunatic? You're right. I am!"

"For six years after you died, I lived like one every single day!"

Anthony's chest heaved violently, his eyes bloodshot, his tone thick with accusation.

"Back then, I was ready to die. You're the one who wouldn't let me!"

"I did everything you asked! But you refused to let it go. You kept holding it over my head, tormenting me!"

"Do you have any idea how exhausting it was to live like that?"

My palm cracked across his face. The impact jolted through my wrist, and tears spilled before I could stop them.

"Anthony Henson, you were the one who cheated! You were the one who lied to me!"

"How dare you stand there and say I tormented you? That you had it hard?"

Victoria dropped to her knees in front of me, eyes glistening with tears.

"Nora, please stop fighting. This is all my fault."

"I'm the shameless one. I'm the disgusting one. I'm the one who seduced Anthony."

"He kept every promise he made to you. I was the one who wouldn't let go."

"I'll divorce him right away."

She pressed a hand to her lower belly, her voice trembling with pained reluctance.

"As for the baby... I'll get rid of it."

Joy lit up every corner of Anthony's face.

"Victoria, you're pregnant?"

My chest seized. It felt like a fist had closed around my heart and was crushing it, squeezing until my entire body went rigid.

Victoria pushed Anthony away as he moved toward her, shrinking back.

"The doctor said it's barely over a month. If I terminate now, it's nothing more than a clump of cells."

"I'll walk away with nothing. I'll give you the signed divorce papers."

"Just... make things right with Nora."

The moment the words left her mouth, she bolted for the door without a second's hesitation.

Anthony's face drained of color. He moved to chase after her.

I stepped in front of him on instinct, wanting an explanation, but he shoved me hard.

"Nora!"

His eyes were full of revulsion. His voice, ice.

"No matter how big a scene you make, this is between the two of us!"

"Ever since you threatened her six years ago, Victoria has suffered from severe depression. The slightest emotional trigger and she does something drastic."

"I spent years nursing her back to health. And now you want to destroy her out of pure spite?"

"If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you."

The shove threw me off balance. My body pitched backward, out of control, and the back of my neck dragged across a shard of broken glass. Warm blood seeped out, wet and spreading.

Right before everything went black, I heard John talking to Anthony.

"Anthony, Nora's bleeding badly!"

"Call an ambulance and dump her at the hospital. Clean this up. Victoria can't handle the sight of blood."