All Chapters of Shattered Vows : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

ElenaThe worst part wasn’t that he came back.It was that I knew he would.Long before the letter arrived. Before the flowers. Before the photo. Even before the knock on the glass at midnight that made my blood run cold—I knew. Daniel Hart was the kind of man who couldn’t accept endings he didn’t control. Love, to him, was possession. Divorce was never a clean break—it was an insult.And me? I was the wound he never stopped picking.It started with something small. A chill I couldn’t explain. A sense of being watched when I walked Noah to school. My name showing up in a targeted ad that didn’t belong in my region. A pair of eyes in the crowd during a conference. Familiar, but gone too quickly.Paranoia?I almost convinced myself it was.Until I came home one evening and found the front door unlocked. Nothing taken. Nothing broken. But on the hallway table—my wedding ring.The same ring I had thrown into the river over a year ago.I didn’t tel

ElenaI always thought the worst day of my life was the one where I found the blonde hair on Daniel’s scarf.But now I realize heartbreak was just the overture.This—what I’m living through now—is the symphony of a man who refuses to be forgotten.And this time, he’s not after me.He’s after our son.The School CallIt started with a phone call from Noah’s school.“Dr. Hart, I’m sorry to bother you, but… Daniel Hart came to pick up Noah today.”My blood ran cold. “What?”“He claimed he had permission. Said it was his weekend.”“It’s not,” I said sharply. “We have a legal agreement. He hasn’t had custody in over a year.”There was a pause.“I didn’t allow it,” the administrator rushed to add. “But Noah saw him. And… well… he wanted to go.”I couldn’t breathe for a moment.My son. The boy I had fought so hard to protect. Had looked his father in the eye—and wanted to follow him.That was Daniel’s power.Not charm. Not

ElenaThere’s a strange silence that comes after surviving someone’s obsession.It doesn’t feel like peace.It feels like a void.A hollowing out.The drama is gone, but so is the adrenaline.You find yourself staring at the quiet, wondering who you are without the fight.And worse—who you’ve become because of it.The ClinicReturning to my office felt surreal. The walls hadn’t changed. The books were still neatly arranged. My degrees still hung in the same polished frames.But I had changed.And they could feel it.The air around me was different now. More steel than silk.Some staff avoided my gaze, unsure if I blamed them for believing the rumors. Others welcomed me back with cautious warmth, like someone recovering from a long illness.Dr. Meera Patel, one of the younger psychiatrists, stood by my door one morning.“I just wanted to say… I’m glad you’re still here,” she said.“I almost wasn’t,” I replied honestly.

ElenaNew York didn’t care about who you were.It didn’t ask for your past.Didn’t pity your pain.It swallowed everyone whole—then watched to see who had the strength to crawl back out.I liked that.Because I wasn’t looking for comfort anymore.I was looking for control.A New LifeThe apartment was small—nothing like the glass-and-steel home Daniel and I once shared. The furniture was mismatched, the walls too thin, and the windows overlooked a fire escape covered in graffiti.But it was mine.And no one had ever yelled at me in this kitchen.No one had ever betrayed me in this bedroom.No one had ever gaslit me in these walls.It was a blank page.And I had a pen in my hand for the first time in years.Noah AdjustsNoah adapted faster than I expected. Kids are strange that way—resilient to things we’d think would scar them.He started school the following Monday. Made friends before lunch. Got detention befo

ElenaThere’s a moment, just before you spring a trap, when your heart beats so loud it drowns everything else out—Doubt. Guilt. Logic.But not fear.I wasn’t afraid anymore.I was done being prey.The SetupThe burner phone arrived within the hour. Lucas handed it to me in a brown envelope, unmarked and cold.“No GPS. No paper trail. Don’t call anyone else with it.”“I know the rules,” I said.We sat in my living room, the curtains drawn. Noah was at school. For now, the world outside was still.“I want to send him a message,” I said. “Something cryptic. Something that makes him come out of hiding.”Lucas arched an eyebrow. “You want him to want to find you?”“No,” I said, staring down at the phone. “I want him to think I want him to.”It had to be believable. Dangerous. Seductive enough to stir his delusions. To make him expose himself.I typed the message with shaking fingers:You said I was still yours. Prove it.