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

Cade’s glance deepened into an intense gaze, the magnetism of his prolonged eye contact amplifying the love that poured from him.


His eyes lingered on her face for what he believed would be the last time. “I also want you to know that I love you, Aria, for all of eternity.”


Without another moment of hesitation, he brought the glass to his lips.


Although Aria’s mind had been reconditioned, she hadn’t lost her ability to think, and she was now certain that he knew about the pill in the water, and probably understood its fatal consequences as well.


However, she couldn’t fathom why he would insist on drinking the poisoned water, knowing it would utterly destroy his life.


Was he doing it out of guilt, to atone for the loss of her son?


From everything she’d heard, he didn’t seem like a man capable of such profound compassion.


Was he doing it out of love. Was it possible he loved her so much he would willingly sacrifice everything for her?


Chapter 33