Todos los capítulos de The Plus-Sized Bride No One Wanted: Too Fat to Love : Capítulo 121 - Capítulo 130

~ Ethan ~"Stay on your feet, Ivy! Keep your eyes on my back!" I shouted over the hiss of leaking pipes and the crackle of burning wires."I have you! I am right here!" Ivy gasped, her voice raw from the chemical rag they had used on her. Her hands gripped the tough canvas of my tactical vest with fierce strength. Her legs wobbled from days of starvation and thirst, but she pushed forward with every ounce of grit in her body.Gunfire ripped through the heavy darkness of the old shipping depot. Red sparks sprayed off the rusty steel walls like hot rain. "Move behind the forklift!" I barked, shoving her gently toward a thick yellow machine. "Keep your head down!""Ethan, your hands are bleeding!" she cried out, pointing at my torn knuckles where the sharp zip-ties had sliced my skin."Scratches! Do not look at my hands! Look at the exit door!"Fifty yards away, the heavy metal roll-up door hung open three feet from the wet concrete floor. Cold night air rushed in, mixing with the sharp

~ Ethan ~The steady beep of the heart monitor filled the quiet ICU room.Pain burned like hot iron under my right collarbone every time air entered my lungs. The bullet had ripped through muscle and bone forty-eight hours ago at the shipping depot. The heavy gauze taped across my chest felt thick and tight. I opened my eyes. The harsh white ceiling came into focus first. Then, my gaze shifted to the side of the hospital bed.Ivy sat upright in the vinyl chair, holding my left hand with both of hers. Her hazel eyes were wide and red from crying, but her back was straight. The dark circles under her eyes showed how long she had stayed awake, watching over me. Her wavy brown hair fell over the shoulders of her green cardigan, and her fingers gripped my palm with fierce strength."Ethan," she whispered. Her voice shook, thick with tears. I moved my lips beneath the clear plastic oxygen mask, but only a dry rasp came out.Ivy stood up immediately, leaning over the metal guardrail. She pre

~ Ivy ~ The heavy door banged against the wooden wall, and the plastic tray in my hands jumped. "Ethan, stop moving!" I yelled, rushing across the room. Ethan had both legs over the edge of the mattress. His bare feet hovered two inches above the braided rug. His face looked white as chalk. A tight white bandage wrapped around his right shoulder and upper ribs, pinning his right arm against his side. A thin red line seeped through the white gauze just below his collarbone. "I am only trying to reach the bathroom, Ivy," Ethan said. His voice sounded like dry gravel scraping together. He tried to push himself up with his left arm, but his elbow shook hard. I dropped the tray onto the bedside table. Two small white pills and a glass of water rattled against the wood. I planted both of my feet on the floor, slid my hands under his left arm, and shoved his chest straight back against the pillows. "You took a bullet six days ago," I said, leaning over him so he had to look right at me. "

~ Ivy ~The delivery crate sat on my new glass worktable like an unexploded bomb. A junior clerk from the county bankruptcy trustee had dropped it off ten minutes ago. Across the top was a red liquidation stamp: MONROE RESIDENTIAL ASSETS — UNCLAIMED LOT 4. "Do you want me to throw it straight into the incinerator chute?" Maya asked, crossing her arms over her paint-splattered denim apron. She stepped close, setting down a thick stack of artist portfolio folders. "You do not have to look inside that box, Ivy.""No," I answered, wiping a smear of raw umber from my wrist with a dry cotton rag. "Leave it on the table, Maya. If I run from a cardboard box, I am still letting them scare me.""Your call," Maya said, her pink hair bobbing as she pulled out the first blue folder. "We have twenty-two applications from the South District community center alone. Four painters, six sculptors, and a dozen girls who just need a clean room with natural light so their families will stop telling them th

~ Ethan ~A loud snap echoed from the dark trees near the water, and I stepped right in front of Ivy. My hand went to my coat pocket, my fingers wrapping around my heavy metal flashlight. I pushed the button, and a bright white beam cut through the dark bushes along the edge of the Knight Manor lake. Two brown deer froze in the light, their wide eyes shining back at us before they bounded away into the thick woods.I let out a long breath, and my shoulders dropped an inch. Behind me, Ivy gripped the back of my wool coat, her knuckles pressing firmly against my spine. "Just deer," I said, turning around to face her. "We are completely alone out here."Ivy slowly opened her fingers, letting go of my coat. She looked toward the dark trees, her chest rising and falling fast under her thick cream sweater. Even after weeks of peace, the warehouse at the Old Docks still followed us into the quiet. "My pulse jumped," she said, rubbing her palms together to warm them in the night air. "I he