17
Athena
The Funeral
Santiago had become my world, the unshakable center of my universe. Every time I looked at him, my heart faltered, caught between longing and loathing. He had taken so much from me, yet somehow, he had given me so much in return. The conflict churned inside me, a storm I couldn't quiet.
The rain pounded relentlessly against the umbrella, its rhythm matching the turmoil that swirled within me. From a distance, I watched my family-each of their faces etched with grief, with loss. The ache in my chest was unbearable, but I couldn't bring myself to meet their eyes. The weight of their pain was too much. Knowing that my fake death had torn their world apart left a hollow emptiness in me that I didn't know how to fill.
"Satisfied?" His voice cut through the rain and my thoughts, sharp and cold. But this wasn't about satisfaction. It was about survival. About accepting the irreversible path I'd chosen. I had mourned-my family, my old life-and now I had to move forward. A new chapter awaited me, one where I was his wife and the mother of his child.
But acceptance didn't mean understanding. The future loomed ahead, an uncertain landscape of hope and dread intertwined. Could I survive it? Could I live with the choices I'd made?
Only time would tell. But the weight of it all-the love, the loss, the impossible choices-felt like more than any one person should bear. Yet here I was, standing in the rain, on the precipice of a life I couldn't escape, bound to a man I couldn't quit.
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Devil's Desire {A BWLM Novella}
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