ManyWriters

I sold my body to my husband, Cade Sterling.
One hundred thousand dollars. That was his price for a night with me. The only thing keeping our son, Leo, alive.
My stepmother whispered lies in his ear, and he believed them. He forced another woman into our bed while I was forced onto an operating table.
"You're pregnant," the nurse said, her voice a sterile blade. "Mr. Sterling has requested a termination."
Then, I was forced to watch my son Leo, my only reason for living, leap from a cliff to save me from further torment.
He was gone.
My husband had murdered our first child, and now our second. There was nothing left to live for.
In the cold, scarlet water of the bathtub, I finally let go.
But as darkness claimed me, I didn't know the truth was a far more cruel and twisted thing than I could have ever imagined.
And that Cade Sterling, my tormentor, was about to pay a price far greater than money could ever cover.

His Ruinous Price

“Aria, please, I’m begging you. Just look at me, will you?”


Her body was a ruin of mangled flesh and deep, nauseating wounds, but Cade saw none of it, pulling her closer into a desperate embrace without a hint of revulsion, only an all-consuming love.


He couldn't erase the memory of her eyes as he carried Kendra away from the hospital.


They had been utterly devoid of light, two hollow abysses of despair.


The doctors had warned him her depression was spiraling, that even if she recovered physically, she wouldn't stop trying to harm herself, so Cade had waited only for Kendra's condition to stabilize before planning his return to Aria, ready to devote himself entirely to her, to be her anchor until she found hope again.


He hadn’t understood then that deleting her voice recording had been the final, devastating blow.


He whimpered in pure anguish, the weight of his regret so crushing it threatened to suffocate him, but no amount of remorse could ever turn back the clock and bring her back to life.


“Aria, please, I’m begging you, please wake up, won’t you? Please?”


The reporters stood frozen, their cameras forgotten, too stunned to even press the shutter as they watched the titan of industry cradle the broken body of his love and openly weep.


It had never once occurred to them that they would witness the all-powerful Cade Sterling grieving so viscerally for a woman.


They had all bought into the narrative that Kendra was his one true love, but that illusion shattered the moment they saw him crying over his loss, and in that instant, they understood that Aria had always been the one who held his heart.


He clung to her lifeless form in desperation, and a young reporter, unable to bear the sight, cautiously whispered, “Mr. Sterling, I’m so sorry for your loss, but… Ms. Montgomery is dead.”


He flinched as if struck, his arms tightening protectively around her body, refusing to let anyone near. “She’s not dead!”


“She’ll live forever in my heart…”


Aria, I can still see you, your smile so bright it outshines the sun. I can picture us, building our life together. Aria, if I asked you to stay, would you please stay?


Cade’s raw confession struck a chord with the young reporter, who quickly turned to hide the tears she was wiping away. The rumors had painted Mr. Sterling as a heartless, fickle man, but what she was witnessing now proved how wrong they were.


Mr. Sterling was, without a doubt, the most devoted man she had ever seen.


“Mr. Sterling, you should let Ms. Montgomery go. The body is… unclean, and if you keep holding her…” another reporter interjected, concerned about the blood staining Cade’s expensive suit.


“She is not Ms. Montgomery,” Cade declared with sudden, fierce clarity, “She is my wife!”


She was his one and only wife, and he would never, ever think of her as filthy.


He loved her more than his own life. Nothing about her could ever fill him with disgust.


The reporters were rocked by another shockwave, never having realized that Aria and Cade were married.


And yet, the revelation of their marriage didn’t bring the thrill of a career-making scoop. For some reason, the weight of his grief was so palpable it resonated through the crowd, and they felt a strange reluctance to report on a love story that had met such a tragic, public end.


Chapter 25