The Stars Wont Fall for LoveChapter 1
When the kidnappers demanded ten billion dollars, Adrian Vance strapped explosives to his chest and charged into that basement like a man with nothing left to lose.
All to save me.
The image of him carrying my naked, trembling body out of that hellhole went viral within the hour. The internet devoured it.
Rumors tore through the capital like wildfire: *Miss Henson was defiled by eighteen criminals. She's ruined. She's diseased.*
I was drowning—in grief, in shame, in the wreckage of my reputation—when Adrian Vance stepped forward.
He staged a proposal so grand, so public, that the entire city watched him drop to one knee and declare his absolute belief in my innocence.
"Hailey, you are the purest woman I know. Marry me. Let me take care of you for the rest of your life."
I wept. I believed every word.
Ten years of secret, unrequited love—finally, *finally* reaching a perfect ending.
That illusion shattered the day I gave birth to twins.
He took our daughter.
No warning. No explanation. Just... gone.
Panic clawed at my chest as I rushed home, still bleeding, still weak. I found the study door cracked open, and through it, voices.
My father-in-law's roar: "You ungrateful son! Just because I opposed you marrying that woman, you went to such lengths? You *orchestrated* Hailey's kidnapping to force her to bear your children?"
The crack of a leather whip split the air.
"And now you've lost your mind! Handing the Vance family's granddaughter to our enemy to raise? I'll beat the life out of you!"
Through the gap, I saw Adrian curled on the floor, shielding the baby girl in his arms, his jaw set like granite.
"This is Sara's child. Mine and Sara's." His voice was raw but steady. "She followed me for years without a title, without status. I've already treated her unfairly. I will *not* let our daughter grow up without her mother."
"Dad, I married a society heiress into the Vance family. I gave you what you wanted. Don't ask me about Sara again."
Ice flooded my veins.
My heart stopped beating.
Everything clicked into place—the cold, distant Adrian Vance who suddenly changed his temperament. Who suddenly wanted *me*.
It was never love.
It was a setup.
My teeth clenched until my jaw ached. I turned and walked away.
Today, I was going to teach them the true meaning of agony.
——