Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
“I did not!”
Elsa’s voice cracked, anger and panic twisting her face into something grotesque. She would never admit such a thing-especially not here.
Pride ran in her bones; she hated playing the pitiful victim. But she couldn’t let her future in-laws, her would- be grandparents, believe she was some vicious, selfish slut. So she forced out a choked denial, tears trembling in her lashes. “I really didn’t hurt Lily… You were all home. I’m not stupid. How could I possibly hurt her right under your noses?”
But Zoey and the others only looked at her with colder disdain. The very reasoning she offered was the flaw. Precisely because the elders were near, Elsa might think harming Lily in secret would free her from suspicion.
Elsa saw the distrust in their eyes. Desperation drove her to clutch Simon’s sleeve, her voice breaking. “Simon, please, you have to believe me. I didn’t try to hurt her tonight. I like you-I just want to be with you. And I want Lily to be with her cousin happily. She’ll be my sister-in- law then, family. How could I ever hurt her?”
Simon froze, his mind reeling
Lizzy… liked me?
Wasn’t she supposed to be devoted to John, ready to follow him for life? He had only ever treated her as a sister-how could this even be possible?
But now wasn’t the time to pick that apart. What mattered was convincing the others that Elsa hadn’t harmed Lily, that Lily had been the one to attack, and that Elsa deserved justice.
His brow furrowed tightly, and his glare sharpened on Lily like a blade. “Lily, stop twisting things. Apologize to Lizzy!”
“Idiot!”
At Elsa’s confession, Dennis and the others were stunned. To them, Simon had always been just a lovesick fool- clingy because Elsa once saved his life, while she and John were the real pair.
But now it seemed she had lost interest in John and was angling for their foolish grandson instead. That alone was enough to infuriate them.
Jamie shoved a broom at Simon with disgust. “Can’t you see who’s twisting things? Are you brain-dead? Apologize to Lily, now!”
“I will never apologize to Lily!”
Simon’s pride flared-he would never bow his head. Dodging Jamie’s broom, he snapped, “No matter what happened between Lily and my dear Lizzy, Lily had no right to hurt her so cruelly. She must apologize today!”
“Simon… it hurts…”
Elsa’s tears fell harder as she leaned into his protection, painting herself pure and blameless, while casting Lily as venomous and unforgivable.
As she cried, her fingers brushed lightly over the red cord at her neck. She was terrified Lily would notice the pendant hanging there-the very piece she had taken from her years ago at university. She tucked it quickly from view, praying it wouldn’t be discovered.
But Simon knew that pendant. Elsa had always tied it with that same red string. The moment he saw her fingers brush against it, his mind betrayed him, dragging him back to the ruins of his childhood-back to the warmth of clinging to Lizzy, to her light, to her sunshine. No matter her faults, in his heart she had always been the best girl in the world. He couldn’t bear to see her suffer.
Tearing his gaze from the string, his jaw tightened as though it might break. He ground out his command at Lily. “Apologize!”
“Sir…”
Before the weight of his order could settle, the butler stepped forward holding a tablet.
James didn’t even glance at it. His voice was calm, but edged with steel. “Show him. Let him see exactly what kind of filth his precious Elsa really is.”
“Yes, sir.”
The butler inclined his head respectfully, then walked directly to Simon and held the screen before him.
Simon frowned in confusion, his phoenix-like eyes mirroring James’s, clouded with suspicion.
“Please watch,” the butler said evenly.
Still uncertain, Simon cast a quick glance at James before lowering his eyes to the screen.
The footage was crystal clear. He saw Lily at the sink, quietly washing her hands.
Then Elsa appeared.
The high resolution left nothing to doubt-the flicker of malice in her gaze, the way she lightened her steps to avoid making noise, her careful angle to stay out of the mirror’s reflection. She crept closer, closer, until she stood directly behind Lily.
Her lips curved with poisonous triumph. Convinced Lily had no chance of escape, certain the child in her belly would be lost, she raised her hand and shoved with all her strength.
Simon’s heart jolted. Though Lily stood before him now, unharmed, watching that moment unfold on the screen still gripped him with icy dread.
But Lily had sensed danger. She sidestepped swiftly, escaping at the last instant.
Elsa, caught off balance by her own force, slammed into the sink herself, doubled over in agony. Lily had turned, seized her hair, and dealt her two perfectly even slaps.
The video cut out.
Simon stood frozen, as if his soul had been ripped from his body.
He had already seen Elsa disgrace herself once before, in the theater. It had devastated him then, overturning everything he thought he knew. But afterward she had shown remorse, again and again. She had even tried to kill herself, wrists slit open, because she claimed she couldn’t forgive herself for hurting Lily.
Yes-people rarely changed. But she was Lizzy. His Lizzy. The girl who had given him warmth when he needed it most. If she said she would change, he had wanted to believe her.
But all of it-her remorse, her vows, her tears-had been lies.
She had schemed again. She had tried to kill Lily’s child.
And he… he had been her fool. Again.
His chest heaved with shock and agony, disbelief burning through him like acid.
James’s voice cut across his thoughts like a blade. “Simon. Apologize to Lily.”
Mary’s words followed sharp and merciless. “Immediately. Apologize to Lily!”
Her fury trembled through her voice. “I should get a paternity test. How could I, Mary, have given birth to such an idiot?”
“Jamie, tomorrow you’re going with me. We’re testing him too!”
Simon’s resemblance to Jamie was undeniable, but Mary’s rage left no room for reason.
“He’s definitely your son, not mine,” she snapped. “I’ll do the test myself. I swear, I think you swapped my child for some bastard you had with another woman!”
“You-!”
Jamie nearly choked on his frustration. He had never touched another woman in his life-his body, his heart, all of it belonged to Mary.
But with his wife spitting venom at him, he could only glare harder at their idiot son. He lashed out with a kick. “You just love causing trouble for us, don’t you? Apologize to Lily!”
This time Simon didn’t dodge. The kick landed squarely, knocking the last of his defenses loose. His eyes half- lowered, his voice empty, as though in a waking nightmare.
“Lizzy… didn’t you say the theater incident was a mistake? That you regretted it? That you would make it right? You promised you’d never again frame or hurt anyone. So why? Why were you creeping up behind Lily, plotting to kill the child she’s carrying?!”
Elsa sat slumped against the wall, unable to see the screen but hearing every sound from the video. Her fingers twisted tightly in her clothes, her body trembling like a leaf in a storm. She couldn’t even tell whether it was fear or hatred consuming her.
But one thought burned in her mind: Simon had told her the Bale family valued privacy. There had never been cameras inside the main house. So how could her actions have been caught on film?
Zoey and the others were too sharp not to notice the doubt flickering across her face. In truth, there *hadn’t* been cameras before. But after Mary’s birthday banquet, when Wen Ying had tried to ruin Lily and then attempted to pin the blame back on her, they had decided precautions were necessary. With their foolish grandson still dragging Elsa into the house from time to time, they feared more schemes. And so, surveillance had been installed.
None of them felt the need to explain that to Elsa.
“I didn’t… I-“
*Smack!*
Mary’s palm cracked across her cheek before the words could finish.
“You didn’t? Elsa, you really won’t admit the truth until you’re staring at your own coffin, will you? The video showed it plainly-you tried to hurt Lily. What face do you have to deny it? Simon may be hopelessly stupid, but even his eyes work sometimes. Who do you think will believe your lies?”
“I wasn’t trying to-I didn’t mean to-
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.