Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
John didn’t move. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at her, pained and pleading. “Didn’t you say you liked cookies? I made some myself. Won’t you try one?”
Only then did she notice the carved wooden box in his hands.
His fingers were covered in blisters from the stove. He’d made sure she could see them. And seeing those burns dragged her back to a memory she would’ve preferred to bury.
It was just a few days before they broke up. She’d been sick with a high fever. The medicine hadn’t helped, and she’d been too weak to move, starving because she hadn’t eaten all day.
By coincidence, Mandy had taken leave at the time.
All she wanted in her fevered haze was the cookies she’d eaten as a child-simple ones, egg mixed with salt and fried into thin, crisp rounds.
She had called John that night, her voice weak, asking if he could come home and make her some.
What had he said?
He’d said Elsa wasn’t feeling well and needed him more. He told her if she wanted cookies, she could make them herself, or order delivery. And then he accused her of calling just to stir up trouble.
That night, she hadn’t ordered delivery. She hadn’t eaten at all.
Her fever had only worsened, and after he hung up on her, she eventually lost consciousness.
The next morning, Mandy returned to find her rambling deliriously with fever and immediately called an ambulance,
That night, she had desperately wanted both the cookies and to see him.
And now, for him to bring cookies after everything-it was like forcing medicine on someone who wasn’t sick. Bitter, useless, and nothing but annoying.
As the memory faded, his voice dragged her back. “I burned my hand while making them. It really hurt. Lily, won’t you just taste one?”
“John, I don’t want them anymore.”
Just like she no longer wanted him.
His face stiffened, pain flooding his eyes until it looked like he might shatter
But Lily’s gaze held no pity, no hesitation. Her voice was cool and sharp. “When I said I hated you, that you disgusted me, I wasn’t joking. I meant every word. If you had a shred of dignity left, you’d stop showing up to torment me.”
“Lily…”
John’s fingers trembled violently, the wooden box almost slipping from his grasp.
Like a broken record, he mumbled, “You said you wanted them…”
Yes, she had said that-monthy ago.
Back then she had been sick, starving, and craving those cookies from her childhood.
But tonight she was full, content. She didn’t even want water, let alone his belated offering.
She had no patience left for him. “Get out of my sight. You’ll only make me sick, and I don’t want to throw up again.”
“Out!”
James knew exactly how miserable her morning sickness had been-retching until it seemed like she’d cough up her insides. He’d never allow John to be the cause of that suffering again.
John stood there as if his feet were nailed to the ground, refusing to move. James didn’t waste words-he stepped out of the car and kicked him hard, sending him sprawling to the side of the road.
With the path clear, James slid back behind the wheel and slammed his foot on the gas.
“Lily…”
The wooden food box tumbled from John’s hands, thudding against him as he lay on the pavement, face ashen, body limp.
Lily didn’t tell James to stop.
She simply watched as the car carried them farther away. John didn’t chase after them this time.
The pain in his eyes deepened, sharp as stars in a cold sky. Then, that pain twisted into something darker, something vicious.
She still wouldn’t come back to him.
But that was fine.
He already had reliable word-the true power behind the Midsummer Night organization was about to make a move against James.
That man wanted James destroyed, crippled if not killed, and he was willing to pay any price to make it happen.
There was no way James would be as lucky as last time.
“Lily,” John muttered through clenched teeth, “I’ll wait for you to beg me to marry you. You’re mine. In this life, in every life, you can only belong to me. Anyone who dares try to take you away from me… they’ll end up dead.”
“Lily…”
Lily felt cursed.
First Simon, then John-and just when she thought she was finally done for the night, James’s car reached the gates of his villa and she saw them: Bodger, Taylor, and Mergan.
They’d been waiting.
James didn’t stop. The gates were open, and he drove straight through. But the three Ginger brothers had the gall to follow them inside.
The moment he parked, they rushed forward and blocked the car again.
Their eyes were rimmed red with grief and regret. James knew what they wanted. They’d seen the footage today. They wanted to beg Lily’s forgiveness.
But apologies that came too late were meaningless.
He hadn’t shown them those videos for Lily’s sake, or to prompt their remorse. He had only wanted Mathilda to finally live in the misery she deserved.
“Get out!”
James gripped Lily’s hand tightly, his voice sharp and merciless as he ordered them gone.
But the Ginger brothers stood their ground, their eyes fixed on Lily, their voices stumbling over each other in their desperation.
“Lily, I always thought you were ungrateful and cruel to Mathilda-that you bullied her until everyone turned against you. But I saw the truth today. It was Mathilda who led others to torment you. We were wrong. I was wrong.”
“I know I messed up. I regret it so much. I never should’ve doubted you.”
Taylor pressed his face into his hands, voice breaking. “You were willing to risk your life. for me. When I was hanging by a thread, my so-called blood sister only thought of saving herself. She tossed me aside without hesitation. What good is blood when we grew up together? We were closer than real siblings, and yet, when Mathilda came back, I turned my back on you like I was possessed. I said we’d always be the closest of brothers and sisters. I broke that promise. I betrayed you. I’m sorry….”
Mergan stayed silent for a long moment, his eyes locked on her stomach-still flat, but carrying James’s child.
He couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t stomach the idea of that child being born.
But tonight, remorse outweighed the hatred. He kept his thoughts buried. All he wanted was for her to return with him to the Ginger family. Once she was back, he could take care of the problem quietly. His medical skills would make it easy.
Dragging his eyes away from her belly, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice. “I shouldn’t have trusted only Mathilda’s side of the story. Thinking of how we treated you, how we hurt you-it tears me apart. From now on, I’ll protect you. You won’t suffer again. Come home with me, Lily. Please.”
“Yes, come home.”
Bodger and Taylor jumped in quickly. “We’ll never believe Mathilda’s lies again. We’ll make it right. You’ll always be our sister. We can live as a family again, and-“
“Are you three out of your minds?”
Lily had once longed for warmth from them.
She had wanted them to see Matilda’s true face. She had wanted them to regret.
The first time they slapped her and led others to bully her, she had gone to sleep praying that the brothers she thought of as family would one day say they were sorry, that they were wrong.
The second time. The third time.
I never came. Not once. hu, 28 Aug
And after that, she stopped hoping altogether.
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