Excommunicated From His Heart

Returning to the penthouse apartment we had once shared, I went straight to the liquor cabinet, grabbed a bottle of whiskey, and drank directly from it.

The whiskey burned a trail down my throat, a fire that couldn't touch the iceberg lodged in my chest.

Killian used to forbid me from drinking. He always said I had a weak stomach. But now, he remembered nothing.

In a daze, I saw a familiar figure standing at the door.

Thinking it was a hallucination, I threw myself at him, holding him tight. "Killian! You're back! You remember me, don't you?"

The man in my arms felt solid, real.

I snapped my head up, my eyes filled with hope.

The next second, a rough force shoved me to the floor.

Bianca stood beside Killian, looking down at me with undisguised mockery. "Have you no shame, Aria? Killian is mine now. And so is this place."

Killian’s stormy gray eyes were glacial.

"Why are you still here?" he snarled. "Pack your things and get out. Now!"

"This is my home, too!" I struggled to my feet, pointing around the room. "We chose everything in here together! You can't do this to me!"

"Home?" Killian sneered. "If I could forget you so completely, it means you were never important to me. Soldati! Throw all her things out!"

Two of his soldati stormed in and began to tear the room apart. They smashed our shared decorations, tossed the design sketches for our future home into the trash, and ripped to shreds the very tie I had designed for him.

"Stop!"

I tried to stop them, but the two men grabbed my arms. "You'll regret this when your memory returns, Killian!"

"Regret?" he repeated, looking down at me with an icy gaze. "I won't regret someone who doesn't matter."

I was thrown out along with my luggage. I curled up on the ground as a sharp cramp seized my stomach.

My old stomach condition was flaring up. The intense pain made me tremble uncontrollably.

It began to rain, and the cold drops soaked me, keeping me painfully awake.

Just then, something warm and furry nudged me. It was Brutus—my Doberman. He was soaked to the bone, nudging my hand with his head, his eyes worried.

I struggled to lift an arm to pet him when a black SUV screeched to a halt nearby.

Several imposing men got out and snapped a thick chain around Brutus’s neck. He growled and struggled, but he was no match for several grown men.

"Let him go!" Ignoring the pain, I scrambled toward them, only to be kicked to the ground by one of the men.

Through my blurry vision, I saw Killian and Bianca standing under an umbrella not far away. I crawled to them and grabbed Killian's leg. "Killian, please! Save Brutus! He's innocent!"

For a fleeting moment, a hint of hesitation flickered in his eyes, but it vanished in the next second.

He lifted his foot to shake me off, but Bianca caught his arm.

One of the men offered Bianca a thin smile and handed her an envelope.

Bianca looked at me triumphantly. "You really love this dog, don't you? Well, he belongs to someone else now."

"It was you! You planned all of this!" I sobbed. "Why are you so cruel?"

"Cruel?" Bianca leaned close to my ear, her voice chilling. "I've replaced you. I'm going to destroy everything you hold dear."

Killian traced the line of her nose with his finger, then pulled her into his arms. "It's raining hard. Let's go back inside."

They disappeared into the apartment, the door closing slowly behind them.

I lay face down in the rain, listening to Brutus's mournful cries fade into the distance. My strength gave out, and I plunged into darkness.