Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
Mary’s lip curled in disgust. She slapped her again, even harder. “Not on purpose? Don’t tell me Lily forced you to sneak up behind her and shove her! Even that idiot
Simon wouldn’t believe such garbage. Elsa, you are truly sickening!”
The sight of Elsa’s swollen, pitiful face only fueled Mary’s fury. Thinking of that moment on the video, when Lily and the child she carried had nearly been in mortal danger, she longed to rip that face apart entirely.
She advanced on her, striking her left and right, each slap louder and more vicious than the last, Elsa’s face, already swollen like a steamed bun, grew redder and more grotesque.
Simon had been drifting in shock all night, ever since. learning of Lily’s pregnancy and then watching the damning video. His soul felt torn from his body, his thoughts scattered.
It was Elsa’s broken, pain-filled cries that snapped him back.
“Mom, stop! You can’t do this to Lizzy, she’s still-“
*Smack!*
Mary’s hand whipped across his face this time. “Shut your mouth, Simon! I can’t believe I gave birth to such an idiot! Tomorrow we’re doing a paternity test. Whether you’re my son or not, hear me well-if you dare keep clinging to this slut, you can get out of my house! My son may be imperfect, may be foolish, but he will *never* be a man too blind to tell right from wrong!”
Simon’s eyes widened, disbelief crashing into him harder. than the sting on his cheek. “Mom… how could I not be your son?”
Her doubt cut deeper than any slap. The despair only thickened when he saw her fisted hand still tangled in Elsa’s hair, striking her again and again. Despite everything Elsa had done, despite his own disappointment, he couldn’t help pleading, “Mom, please stop! Lizzy’s already so sick-three, maybe four months left at most. If you keep hitting her like this, you’ll kill her!”
“Then let her die in front of me!” Mary snarled, unrelenting. She had no patience for Elsa’s false apologies, no interest in empty words of regret. She preferred her own justice-fists, delivered without mercy.
Simon’s panic only grew. “Mom, killing has consequences! If Lizzy dies in our house tonight, you’ll face the law. I don’t want to see you in prison, please- stop!”
James’s cold voice sliced in, flat and merciless. “A few slaps won’t kill her.”
Simon shot him a furious look. For a healthy woman, maybe not. But Elsa was in the late stages of stomach cancer. Even with careful care, her condition could worsen at any time. How could she possibly endure this kind of brutal beating?
Terrified she really would collapse, he reached out, ready to seize Mary’s wrist.
But before his hand could fall, James’s voice came again -ice, sharp, and utterly devoid of warmth.
“I had Ashton send something to your phone. I suggest you look at it first.”
James’s tone was flat, sharp as steel. “If you don’t believe it, you can find another doctor and have Elsa examined again.”
Simon’s mind spun in confusion, but he still unlocked his phone and opened WhatsApp. As he scrolled through the files Ashton had sent him, his frown deepened, his eyes widening with every second.
The evidence was damning.
There were bank transfer records showing Elsa paying her attending physician. A video of her instructing the doctor to falsely diagnose her with late-stage stomach cancer. Screenshots of her purchasing medicine that would induce vomiting blood, along with capsules filled with stored blood to enhance the illusion,
Piece by piece, the truth laid itself bare: Elsa had never been terminally ill. Her so-called sickness had been a performance all along,
Simon froze where he stood, as if lightning had struck him. Words like “shattered worldview” or “devastated” weren’t enough to describe the storm inside him.
The moment he opened the videos, Zoey and the others had heard Elsa’s voice conversing with the doctor as well. Their faces turned colder, their disdain for Simon growing deeper.
Really-if this fool had even a tenth of James’s clarity and intelligence, he never would have been so easily fooled by a manipulative white lotus.
“How… how could this be?”
Simon’s voice was hollow, his face bloodless. He had wanted Lizzy-the Lizzy who once gave him warmth in their childhood-to live a long, blessed life. Because she told him she was dying, because he saw her vomit blood again and again, he had believed her time was short. Out of pity, he had done countless foolish things for her, crossed his own principles, all in her name.
Now, with the truth laid bare, there was no relief in finding she wasn’t sick-only crushing betrayal, humiliation, and despair.
Like a film in slow motion, he raised his head, the numbness and grief in his eyes settling on Elsa.
“Lizzy… you don’t have late-stage stomach cancer. You have plenty of time. Why? Why lie to me? Say it! Why deceive me? Was it fun, watching me dance in circles for you? Watching me humiliate myself, breaking my principles, just to make you smile? Did it make you feel proud? Accomplished? Say it!”
“I…”
Elsa’s face drained of color, like flour dusted across a palette. She had been so sure her ruse was flawless, and yet James had still unearthed the truth.
James was terrifying. If it weren’t for Lily-if it weren’t for that shameless woman seducing him-he should have been Elsa’s ally, her protector.
It was all Lily’s fault!
But she couldn’t let that hatred slip now. If she spat her venom at Lily, Simon would only despise her more.
Her body trembling, she lowered her proud head and whispered pitifully, “Simon, I didn’t mean to. I loved John too much, I couldn’t let go, and when he broke his promise, when he stopped loving me, I panicked. I thought if he believed I was dying, he’d come back. I didn’t want to trick you… I don’t even like John anymore. I only want you, Simon. Haven’t you forgotten the times we went through life and death together as children? I know I was wrong. Please, don’t hate me. Don’t abandon me.”
Sixteen years ago, under the ruins, that memory of clinging to each other for survival had been seared into Simon’s soul. Every word Lizzy whispered to him back then, every off-key song she sang to keep him alive, he still remembered.
But the woman before him was no longer the Lizzy of those days. Her shamelessness, her lies, her black-and- white reversals-all had gone far beyond what he could excuse.
He couldn’t guard her as he once had.
And yet… that memory, that song in the dark, bound him still.
After a long silence, his voice came hoarse and low. “Lizzy… I’ll have someone take you to the hospital first.”
“Simon, you hate me now, don’t you? You don’t want to see me anymore, do you? I didn’t mean to lie, I had no choice…”
Her body ached all over, but Simon was her only lifeline left. She staggered to her feet, trying to throw herself into his arms, hoping her tears and her touch would soften him again.
But Simon, though his heart ached for her, had always recoiled from physical closeness with Elsa.
In the past, if Elsa had stumbled toward him like this, Simon would have easily avoided her. But tonight, after one shocking blow to his beliefs after another, he felt as if his very soul had been torn away. He didn’t even register her sudden lunge until she was already in his arms.
The moment he realized it, instinct took over. His hands pushed her away with force, shoving her to the ground just to create distance.
“Simon, I’ll change, I promise. I’ll never hurt you or disappoint you again. Please don’t-ah…”
Elsa’s eyes widened in disbelief. Injured and weak as she was, she never imagined Simon would hurl her aside so ruthlessly.
“Lizzy, I-“
It was her own doing. Fate made the fall harsher: her temple struck the corner of the sink, and blood immediately spilled down her face.
Simon hadn’t meant it. He just couldn’t bear her touch, couldn’t stomach the closeness of her skin against his. But seeing her bleeding, his dark eyes filled with panic.
Still, even then, he refused to hold her himself and called for servants to lift her from the floor.
“I didn’t mean to push you. I just…”
Just couldn’t stand her scent, her embrace. The words hovered on his lips, but he swallowed them back-they were too cruel to say aloud.
“Lizzy, please, don’t do this again. Once, you were the girl I trusted most, the sister of my heart. I’ll never refuse to help you if you truly need me. But from now on… not see each other for a while.”
“Simon, you want to cut me off completely?”
Her tears overflowed, her pride collapsing into dust. “You swore you’d always be good to me. How can you break your word?”
He had sworn that once, long ago-when he still believed Lizzy was the warm, kind girl of his memories. But the sixteen years between then and now had twisted her beyond recognition.
He didn’t answer. His gaze lingered only on the blood trickling down her face. “Take her to the hospital,” he ordered flatly.
Her body screamed with pain, but she refused to go. What she wanted wasn’t treatment-it was for him to soften, to promise her something, anything. But his voice was colder than she had ever heard, and the elders were even less forgiving. At Zoey’s signal, the servants dragged Elsa away, ignoring her feeble struggles.
“Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt,” James said calmly, “I’ll take Lily home now.”
It was late. Lily had spent the day recording in the studio, then wasted her strength in the fight with Elsa. James knew she was exhausted and needed rest.
Zoey loved Lily dearly and wanted her to stay the night, but remembering her grandson’s long-awaited confession, she relented. Young couples wanted to be close, after all. She squeezed Lily’s hand, frowning when she noticed how red her palms were.
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