So that was the real reason he’d been showing my photos around, acting like the doting fiancé? It wasn’t love. It was strategy. I was just a shield—for Malissa.
The gang wasn’t playing games. One of them grabbed my hand and, without a word, sliced off one of my fingers. Blood gushed instantly, hot and blinding.
I went white from the pain, but I never looked away from Milford.
“Are you sure you won’t regret this?” I asked, voice low and shaking.
Milford flinched under my gaze. He looked away, unable to meet my eyes.
“Lori… Lisa has no one else. I promised her I’d protect her,” he said, like he was the noble one here. “Just hang on for a while, okay? I’ll make it up to you. I’ll get the money. I’ll come back.”
Without hesitation, he took Malissa’s hand and walked away with her—never looking back.
I watched them leave, numb. My hand throbbed with pain, blood soaking through my sleeve, but the agony inside me ran deeper. In that moment, our entire marriage—the years, the promises, the child we had together—felt like a cruel joke.
Two hours passed. Two more fingers gone.
The gang leader grew impatient. He sent one of his men to check in with the Wright Clan.
“Boss, we got played.” The guy came back, pissed. “I went to their house to find that bastard Milford and guess what the butler says? Mr. Wright is busy putting his wife to sleep. That’s what he said. His wife.”
He spat on the ground and jerked a thumb toward me.
“Turns out this one isn’t the fiancée. She’s a goddamn decoy. The real one’s that other chick he left with.”
The pain radiated from my hand straight to my chest and for a moment, I couldn’t tell which hurt more—my body or my heart.
The gang leader snapped.
“You lying bitch!” he roared, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back. “You think you can play me? Huh? I ought to slit your damn throat right now!”
The blade was already at my neck when, finally—finally—Milford showed up.
However, he didn’t bring the money. Instead, he brought an army of bodyguards, who stormed the place and beat the gang to the ground in minutes.
So that’s where he’d been. Not getting cash. Not negotiating. Just… putting Malissa to bed.
The ride back was quiet at first. Then, as he wrapped gauze clumsily around my mangled hand, he said with a sigh—like he was the one who’d been through something.