Semua Bab The Rejected Omega: There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead : Bab 101 - Bab 110

ReedThree days.Three long, hellish days had passed since the courtroom, since the blood, since Eden.I’d spent them handcuffed to a hospital bed in the penitentiary wing, my body a mess of bruises, cuts, swelling, and agony. Bandages wrapped my ribs so tight I could barely breathe. My right eye wouldn’t open properly, and my left wrist had a hairline fracture. My mouth still throbbed from the tooth I lost, and every time I blinked, I could feel Eden’s punches echo through my skull.But the worst part?It wasn’t the pain.It was the silence.No visitors. No calls. No Rayne.He didn’t come.Not even once.Not to check on me. Not to scream at me. Not to see if I was still breathing.And yet, even with every cracked rib and splintered nerve, I clung to the same stubborn belief that had gotten me through seven years of lies and manipulation:He would come.Because he loved me.Because he had to.When the doctor finally cleared me for transfer, I was wheeled out like trash—barefoot, bruis

ReedFresh tears spilled from my eyes before I could even blink them back. They stung, hot and relentless, as they tracked down my cheeks and soaked the collar of my shirt. My breath hitched violently, uneven, like my lungs didn’t know how to work anymore.The paper in my hands trembled, the bold black print taunting me like it was laughing in my face. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the bottom of the page, from the name written in that familiar sharp, precise scrawl.Rayne Hunter.His signature. Final. Unflinching.Signed in that effortlessly elegant handwriting I’d memorized over the years—every curve, every stroke. And now it sat there like a coffin lid.A signature that used to adorn birthday cards, love notes, secret anniversary letters—now signed beneath the death sentence of our marriage.It was a punch to the gut. A nail through my spine. I stared at it like it might dissolve if I just blinked enough, cried enough, begged hard enough. But it didn’t.It stayed.Permanent.Lik

AmberIt had been three days since the final verdict was announced, and I was awarded primary custody of Evalie.Three whole days.And I hadn’t heard a single word from Rayne.Not a message. Not a call. Not even a glimpse of him.He’d walked out of that courtroom like a man who’d just watched his entire world burn to ash, and maybe he had. I didn’t know if his silence was a good thing or not. It should’ve felt like a relief—after everything he’d put me through—but somehow, it didn’t. I wasn’t sure what I felt. Guilt? Maybe. Pity? Possibly. But mostly… I just didn’t want to think about him.Too many other things had happened since then.Ina had pulled me into a long, tight hug right outside the courtroom, eyes misty with pride. “You did it,” she whispered in my ear, clutching my hand as if I might float away. “You fought and you won.”And then Ken had swept us all—me, Ichika, Evalie, and Ian—into his car and drove us to this upscale restaurant downtown to celebrate. The place looked to

AmberMy heels were laying haphazardly in one corner of the room, like they’d been kicked off in a hurry—or frustration. My phone sat lifeless on the nightstand, screen black, battery dead. I didn’t need to power it on to know I’d missed a hundred texts. My head throbbed like it was filled with cotton and broken glass, and my mouth was dry as sandpaper.The door creaked open slowly.And there he was.Ian stepped in with the kind of careful silence that made my chest tighten. He was holding a glass of water in one hand and two white pills in the other. His hair was disheveled, falling into his eyes in soft waves. There were shadows beneath them, faint bruises that looked like they’d been earned by worry, not sleep.“Morning,” he said gently, his voice low like he was afraid he might startle me.I bolted upright and immediately winced. Pain stabbed behind my eyes. I yanked the sheets up to my chin with trembling hands, realizing suddenly how bare my body felt under them. “Why am I here?

AmberWhen we broke from the kiss, Ian’s eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made the air around us vanish. His stare wasn’t playful. It wasn’t teasing. It was fierce, like I was the only thing in the world that mattered in that moment. My heart skipped three beats. Maybe four.I felt the heat bloom up my neck and surge into my cheeks.Crap.Ian’s lips curved. “You look really pretty when you blush.”I groaned and turned away, my face now fully on fire. “Stop teasing me,” I muttered, burying my face in my hands.But before I could recover, I felt his arms slide around my waist from behind, warm and sure. He pulled me gently back against him, and his nose brushed the side of my neck. His voice came low and tender, murmured straight into my skin.“I’m not teasing,” he said. “Just speaking the truth.”His lips barely ghosted over the curve of my neck and I shuddered—actually shuddered. A small, involuntary sound slipped from me, something between a gasp and a moan. I clamped a han