He Never Chose Me

It was Valentine's Day, and Arthur had reserved the most exclusive restaurant in the city for our dinner.The table was laden with an elaborate seafood spread and three place settings.He sat across from me, carefully peeling each shrimp and arranging it in a small bowl.But I was allergic to seafood.He slid the bowl toward the empty seat beside him, then wiped his fingers with a damp towel.I watched him, crumpling the ultrasound printout in my fist. "I need to tell you something.""What is it?"He glanced at his phone."I..." Before I could finish, he shot to his feet and hurried toward the entrance.My gaze followed him instinctively.The instant I saw who was beside him, a dull ache spread through my chest, slow and relentless.His ex-girlfriend and current business partner, Lora Smith, stood at his side with her hand wrapped around his.They spoke and laughed softly, and Arthur wore a warmth and tenderness I had never once seen directed at me.Lora settled into the seat beside hi

I fell for Arthur the first time I saw him.I was sixteen, struggling with a spin in the dance studio, when I turned my head and saw him standing by the window with a faint smile.In that instant, my heart felt like it had been struck by a bullet.I thought I would never cross paths with him again.But when my father showed me his photograph and asked if I was willing to marry him, I nodded without a moment's hesitation.I gave up the dancing I loved most, put on an apron, and learned to be a proper housewife.For a while after the wedding, we were genuinely happy.Then my father was assassinated.I wept and told Arthur he was the only family I had left in the world. The pain in his eyes was impossible to miss.I believed that was how it would be for the rest of our lives.Then Lora's name reappeared among his business partners, and I caught the excitement he couldn't quite hide.I knew our marriage was already ending.And I was right.It was nearly eleven when the front door finally o

The next moment, one arm slid beneath my knees and another around my back, lifting me off the floor.A voice I knew down to my bones trembled against my ear. "Catherine, look at me."I forced my eyes open. Through the blur, I found a pair of eyes filled with naked anguish.He wore a long black coat. Behind him, dozens of heavily armed guards formed a wall against the debris raining down around us.Reid Thorne.He was my childhood friend, and my father had once wanted us to marry.That ended when I fell for Arthur at first sight and cut Reid out of my life entirely.He had gone overseas and built his own empire. We had barely seen each other in all these years. The rumors that trickled back said he had all but monopolized the arms trade, his influence stretching across continents.I had imagined countless versions of our reunion. Not one of them looked like this.His eyes blazed with a fury I had never seen in him before, raw and savage. "When you insisted on marrying Arthur, I thought

Reid Thorne.The name hit him like a gunshot.Of course he remembered Reid, the boy who had once followed Catherine around like a shadow."Impossible..." Arthur's throat closed, and his voice came out as a hoarse rasp he barely recognized. "She's carrying my child... She wouldn't leave...""The child?" Lora laughed as though she'd heard the funniest joke in the world. Tears still streaked her face, but her mouth split into a grotesque grin. "You think she still has that child? She bled so much... While you were holding me, she was right behind you, bleeding out! Arthur, your child is long gone!"Each word drove deeper into Arthur's heart.The footage flashed behind his eyes again: that dark red stain spreading from beneath Catherine's dress.He had erased the last thread connecting them with his own hands."Shut up!" Arthur lunged and closed a hand around Lora's throat, eyes bloodshot, veins standing out along his arm. "It was you! You did this to her! You lured her there and planted t

Lora had come completely undone. She smashed everything within reach."Ma'am, our people have found Catherine's location. It's the estate outside the city."Her informant reported my whereabouts in a low voice."Good. Since Arthur can't make up his mind, I'll finish her off myself."She thought her plan was seamless. She didn't know that the moment she set foot on the grounds, she had walked straight into the trap Reid had laid.The estate was silent. Only the wind stirred the leaves.Lora crept along the outer wall until she reached the bedroom window. Through a gap in the curtain, she saw me sitting at the vanity with my back to her.Now!Venom blazed in Lora's eyes as she raised the gun and aimed through the window.BANG!The shot rang out, but it wasn't me who fell.Lora looked down in shock at the bloom of red spreading across her chest.She spun around in disbelief and saw, in the shadows, one of Reid's men lowering a silenced pistol, his expression utterly impassive."You..." Lo