Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
He knew Lily had few friends, and he was happy she had someone. But the gaze Adeline gave her-what kind of woman looked at another woman with such tender longing?
The more he thought about it, the heavier the ache in his heart grew. He longed to seize Lily and kiss her senseless. But he held back, afraid she’d accuse him of being jealous again, and with Ashton present, it wasn’t the time. So he only gripped her hand tightly as he helped her into the backseat.
Lily, oblivious to his jealous imaginings, waved warmly to Adeline in farewell.
Even after James’s car disappeared around the corner, Adeline stood rooted, eyes rimmed red, before finally turning and walking away alone.
Memories stirred, and tears shimmered in her eyes.
The truth was-her first meeting with Lily hadn’t been in the imperial city. It had been in the tiny village where she was born.
Back then, she wasn’t called Adeline. She was Jaime.
Lily had come to the countryside with her adoptive parents and brothers for charity work, and stumbled upon Jaime being sold off by her father, who valued only sons.
She had thought Lily, like the other villagers, would turn a blind eye. After all, her entire life had been drilled into her as nothing more than a trade for gifts, her existence meant to serve her younger brother.
At ten years old, her father took six thousand yuan from a middle-aged bachelor in the village and sold her away.
For now, she would scrub floors, cook, and serve as a maid. Later, she would be forced into his bed, made to bear him children.
When Lily discovered this, her fury blazed.
With her three towering brothers at her side, she stormed into that man’s house and dragged Jaime out.
She told her that girls existed not to be sold, not to be shackled as tools for childbirth, but to live their own lives and chase their own dreams.
She had hung a handmade necklace around Jaime’s neck, promising that if she wanted to leave, she would help her escape.
She encouraged her to study, to dream, to build her own future.
And when Jaime pleaded to go, Lily cut her ties with her family and brought her out of that village, even finding her a school.
By fortune, one of her teachers-a woman who had longed for a child and never conceived-took a liking to her and eventually adopted her.
That teacher’s husband happened to be a Zach as well, so she kept her surname but was given a new name: Adeline.
Her foster father explained the name came from a word meaning the return of stars to their place, the ending of at year, the herald of new beginnings.
At ten years old, her life truly began.
On the road out of the village, Lily had sung opera to cheer her up. From then on, Adeline loved opera, because it was tied to the warmth of Lily’s voice.
Step by step, she had grown strong enough to stand beside her savior, to sing as her partner.
Looking at a great tree in the distance, Adeline pulled out a small wooden charm, the one Lily had given her all those years ago, and rubbed her thumb across the tiny carved words.
Peace, happiness, wishes fulfilled.
She and Lily-both of them would be safe, happy, and see their wishes come true.
…
“Lily!”
Zoey had been eager for this meal together.
By the time Lily and James arrived at the Bale family estate, Zoey, Dennis, Jamie, and Mary were already waiting at the main entrance.
The moment she saw Lily, Zoey’s face bloomed with a tender smile as she hurried over to take her hand warmly.
But when her eyes traced Lily’s still-slim frame, her smile faltered. She frowned, shooting James a scolding glare.
“James, didn’t I tell you to take good care of her? What on earth are you doing? Why is she still losing weight?”
“Grandma, I haven’t lost weight. I actually gained almost two pounds.” Lily rushed to speak up-James treated her so well, she didn’t want him blamed by the elders.
“Only two pounds?”
Dennis glared at James in open disapproval. “What’s going through your head all day? How can you not even take proper care of your wife? When your grandmother was pregnant, I looked after her in every possible way!”
She had only been living with James for a few days. In just those few days she had already gained two pounds- wasn’t that enough? He wasn’t raising pigs, yet still her grandfather wanted her heavier?
James, however, accepted the criticism with humility. “I’ll take better care of Lily from now on and make sure she gains more weight.”
Hearing this, Dennis and Zoey finally broke into wide smiles.
“Lily, look at what prepared for you.”
Mary slipped a flawless bracelet onto Lily’s wrist. She took her hand, admiring her with every glance. “It looks perfect on you.”
Mary’s eyes also glowed with affection. “Lily’s skin is so fair-she looks good in everything.”
As she spoke, she placed another brilliant red bracelet on Lily’s other wrist.
The pieces were clearly priceless, and Lily felt too embarrassed to accept them, trying to decline. But Zoey and Mary insisted, even pouting and pretending to cry when she refused. Unable to resist, Lily had no choice. but to accept.
Of course, she hadn’t come empty-handed. She had prepared gifts as well-purple diamond earrings like the ones she’d given Ginger Jinhuan for Mary, and a seven- figure piece of jewelry for Zoey.
Her gifts were valuable in their own right, but compared to the treasures she had just been given, they seemed modest. Still, Zoey and Mary were delighted, urging her to put the earrings on them immediately.
“I used to worry James would bring home a grandson-in- law instead of a granddaughter-in-law,” Zoey said with a laugh.
Thinking of James’s old joke about liking men, she still felt uneasy. Pressing a hand to her chest, she beamed at Lily. “Luckily, you were willing to bother with this brat. Otherwise, I might never have had a great- granddaughter!”
Zoey’s eyes twinkled with mischief as she leaned closer. “Last night James set off fireworks and used drones to confess to you. I saw the video online. The whole internet says you two are a perfect match and should remarry on the spot.”
“James confessed-did you accept? Lily, when are you two planning to remarry?”
“James might look cold on the outside, but he’s warmhearted. If he loves a girl, he’ll give her everything.”
“Lily, for the sake of my great-granddaughter, why not give him another chance?”
“What great-granddaughter?”
Lily was, of course, going to remarry James. She had been ready to reassure Zoey when the doors to the hall suddenly swung open-and in walked Simon with Elsa at his side.
These days Elsa had been consumed with despair. John Augus refused to care for her at the hospital, so Simon had been forced to stay, juggling both her constant threats of self- harm and his work. Exhausted, he knew nothing of James’s grand public confession the night before. All he knew was that James and Lily had divorced, and he assumed his elder cousin still intended to arrange a match between himself and Lily.
So when he heard his grandmother mention a “great- granddaughter,” his nerves tensed immediately.
That child could only belong to James or one of the younger cousins.
Taylor was married to his work, Ivan was clueless and indifferent-neither of them would father a child.
Could it be James had gotten some woman outside pregnant?
The thought struck him hard. His face cooled, his voice sharp. “James, you’ve already divorced Lily, and now you’ve gotten another woman pregnant? How can you still bring Lily here for dinner?”
Was James fulfilling his old promise, bringing Lily here to set her up with him?
The idea brightened Simon’s eyes instantly. The frost in his gaze melted, and joy he could barely contain surged. inside him.
He was just about to say that for his cousin’s sake, he could reluctantly agree to meet Lily as a match-when his grandfather’s furious voice cut him down.
“Foolish boy! What nonsense are you spouting?”
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