Not just your typical happy ending

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I still remember the way Nick looked at me when I walked down the aisle — like I was the only person in the universe.

The sun was warm, the breeze soft, and the world felt like it had paused just for us. He stood there in his charcoal suit, eyes glistening with emotion, smiling like I was his salvation. And maybe I was. He certainly was mine.

When I slipped the ring onto his finger, my heart whispered, finally.

Finally, peace.

Finally, home.

Finally… happiness that would last.

We danced under fairy lights, laughed like children, and kissed like time didn’t exist. That night, in his arms, I truly believed fate was finally kind to me. After all the storms, all the wounds, I had him — my safe place.

I didn’t know that happiness could be so brief.

I didn’t know that fate — cruel, unforgiving fate — would be waiting around the corner with blood on its hands.

Our honeymoon ended too soon. So did the laughter. So did the light in my eyes.

Nick was taken from me before I could even understand what forever really meant. No warnings. No goodbyes. Just one phone call… and my entire world collapsed.

I thought losing Nick was the end of my story.

But I was wrong.

That loss was only the beginning — of debts I didn’t know I owed, of secrets that refused to stay buried, and of a man I never wanted to see again.

A man who now holds the keys to the life I’m forced to live.

And no matter how hard I try, I can’t find a way out.

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