All Chapters of I Stopped Loving Him: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Christian's voice turned sharp. "If this has nothing to do with us, then get out. We are not going the same way from here."Jessica handed me an umbrella at just the right moment with a faint smile.I said nothing. I opened the door and stepped out.By the time I grabbed my luggage, the car was already gone. It sped off, splashing roadside water all over me. Meanwhile, the umbrella was broken. I struggled with it for a long time, but it would not open. Within minutes, I was soaked through.The rain fell too hard to catch a cab. I finally found a spot with a little cover, then called my best friend, Rachel Tanner, and asked her to pick me up.While I waited, I checked my phone and saw a voice message from my husband, Virgil Carrington. He had sent it an hour earlier.I tapped it open, and my daughter's voice came through at once."Mommy, Daddy said my visa should be ready soon. Just 10 more days, and I can come back to Imperius with Daddy to find Mommy!"Her soft voice brought a

Christian moved quickly and yanked Jessica out of the way. The heavy metal stand slammed into my head instead. Heat spread across my forehead at once, and the smell of blood filled my nose.I hit the ground and shoved the light stand off me with both hands. Pain flared through my body.I had not even caught my breath when Jessica's voice echoed, already thick with tears. "Julie, why did you push the light stand? If Chris hadn't reacted in time, it would have hit me in the face. If I got disfigured, we would have to postpone the wedding."Christian's expression hardened with cold understanding. He turned to me, his face chilly. "Juliana. No wonder you looked so calm watching Jessie and me take wedding photos. You had already planned how to ruin them."He stared down at me, his voice hard. "You think if you stop our shoot, you'll get another chance with me? Keep dreaming."He did not wait for a response. He turned and walked away with Jessica in his arms.Through my blurred vision,

"Please." I looked up at Jessica. "Give me the pendant."Her smile only brightened. She reached into the brocade box and took out the pendant. For a moment, it seemed she would hand it to me.Then she released it. The pendant struck the floor and shattered with a sharp crack."Oh no, Julie. Why didn't you catch it?" She spread her hands and adopted an innocent expression. "I guess there's nothing we can do now."I stared at the broken pendant. Pain punched through my chest so hard I could barely breathe."Jessica!" I surged to my feet and grabbed her by the collar.A second earlier, her face had been full of provocation. Now it shifted instantly, turning fragile and frightened."Juliana, what are you doing?" Christian's furious voice cut through the air.He rushed over and shoved me hard enough to knock me to the floor. Then he looked Jessica over from head to toe and asked, his voice tight with concern, "Are you hurt?"Jessica nodded, then quickly shook her head. "Chris, don'

Jason's voice came through the phone. "Chris, why have you been going after Pigliana so hard lately? You care this much... Don't tell me you actually fell for her. Weren't those five years in the church supposed to convince your family to let you marry Jessica?""Fall for her? Impossible." Christian's tone dripped with mockery. "Juliana turned down my proposal and left without a word. Then she comes back whenever she feels like it and says she regrets it. What does she take me for? If I don't do something, how does that make up for the whole year I forced myself to date her through sheer disgust..."I almost laughed. "So that's the truth behind his five years in the church. How ridiculous."Everyone had assumed he had shut himself away because I had broken his heart. Everyone believed I had come back to steal the groom and win him back. Even Christian believed it so completely that he kept punishing me for it.But I had already told him the truth. I was married and had a child.Th

Someone quickly stepped in, eager to smooth things over and curry favor with Virgil. "Mr. Carrington, this is all a misunderstanding. A complete misunderstanding. We had no idea Juliana was your woman. If we had known—"He never finished.Virgil's expression darkened by the second. He lifted a hand, and a bodyguard in black stepped forward at once. "Mr. Carrington.""Smash the screen," Virgil said coldly.He then turned to my father and Christian's father, both poised to intervene. "Any losses will be covered by the Carrington family."The giant screen collapsed in a crash of shattered panels and twisted metal. Only then did Christian seem to come back to himself.He looked at the three of us standing together, close and unmistakably a family, and finally understood that Anna was not his daughter. His gaze dropped to where Virgil held my hand.A second later, he let out a sharp, contemptuous laugh. "Juliana, you spent years looking down on Jessie because her mother was a mistres