From Heartbreak to a Second Chance at LoveChapter 1
Elara's POV
After we got married, my husband was stationed in the northwest.
He told me the border was plagued by sandstorms year-round, the conditions were harsh, and danger was everywhere. He said he didn’t feel safe bringing me along and didn’t want me to suffer.
And I believed him. I stayed home, took care of his parents, and helped raise his younger siblings.
Later, he said he was sending all his money to the widow of a comrade who had died shielding him from a bullet, asking me to understand and endure a bit more.
In that case, I worked day and night at a steel factory to support the family, holding on to the hope that one day he’d come home.
It wasn’t until the eighth year that one of his comrades returned to our hometown to visit family.
When I asked him about my husband, the man froze. “Him? He was transferred to Washington ages ago. He’s a battalion officer now.”
I stood there, stunned.
“And he got married seven years ago. We all attended the wedding,” he added, then pulled a photo from his pocket.
The woman leaning on my husband’s arm was the same widow he’d told me he was helping.
The next day, I went straight to the town’s military office and signed my name on the list for the National Rural Service Program.
He’d trapped me in a fake marriage for seven years. From this moment on, I would never wait for him again.
——
I had just gotten home and hadn’t even started packing when the door suddenly swung open. A well-dressed woman stormed in and slapped me hard across the face.
“Looking like that and still trying to be someone’s mistress? Disgusting!”
I fell to the ground along with the table, and shards of a broken bottle cut deep into my hands. Only then did I see clearly that the woman was Briar Alden, the widow who had married Callum Vance in Washington.
She was about to kick me when I scrambled to my feet and shoved her away.
Just as the door swung open behind me, a familiar figure rushed in, quickly wrapping an arm around Briar before she could fall.
“Briar, are you okay?” he asked her worriedly.
Then he frowned at me and snapped, “Why would you hit her? Hurry and apologize to her!”