Chapter 1
I spent ten years of my life chasing the Prince of Birmingham‘ s elite circle, pouring every ounce of love and devotion into him. After a decade of unrequited loyalty, he finally agreed to marry me.
But just days before our wedding, he disappeared without warning–off to Dungeness with the woman he once called his “first love,” the one who had come back into his life out of nowhere.
When I heard the news, fury burned. through me. I didn’t stop to think I just acted. Fueled by anger and heartbreak, I chased after him, storming into the barren wilderness of Dungeness.
The so–called first love fell while we were there and injured her face. But instead of accepting responsibility, she twisted the truth and accused me of pushing her. And the man I’d loved for a decade, the one I had dreamed of building a life with? He
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didn’t even question her lies.
“You better pray nothing happens to Bella,” he snarled at me, his voice like ice,
“or I won’t spare you.”
As if his words weren’t enough, he added,
“Stay here and reflect on your actions. We’ll talk about marriage later.”
Then, without hesitation, he drove away with her, leaving me behind in the unforgiving desert.
A month later, I emerged from Dungeness. But the person who came out wasn‘ t the same Lilly who had gone in.
When I finally reached the rescue station, I was little more than a shadow of my former self–gaunt, broken and near death. I collapsed the moment I saw the
makeshift aid station, unable to take
another step.
When I regained consciousness, Arthur
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Findley and Bella stood in front of me. Hist gaze was cold, devoid of even a shred of
concern.
“You actually made it out alive,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. “Why didn’t you call for a rescue team? Did you think surviving like this would make me pity you?”
His words cut like knives. Once upon a time, I might have thrown myself into his arms, sobbing and pleading for comfort. But now? After what I had endured in that
desolate wasteland, I felt nothing but emptiness.
No one–least of all Arthur–knew the
horrors I had faced during that month. The days were blisteringly hot, scorching my feet as I trudged through the sand. The nights were freezing, my body trembling as I sought shelter among the thorny bushes. and jagged rocks.
I had no food, no water, no protection. I survived by eating insects, chewing on
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cactus roots and drinking the bitter juice. from poisonous plants. My body was riddled with cuts and wounds and I came close to death more times than I can count.
Wild boars with tusks nearly gored me. A pack of wolves saved me by chance, scaring the boars away before they could finish me off. Scorpions and venomous cacti nearly killed me, leaving me vomiting and delirious.
And yet, through it all, I refused to give up. Not because I still loved Arthur–but because I refused to let myself die for him.
Now, as I stood before him, his cold words and Bella‘ s fake concern barely registered. She reached out, her fingers. brushing against my cracked skin, her red lips curling into a mockery of kindness.
“Oh, Lilly, why couldn’t you just admit your mistake back then? You‘ re so stubborn. I’ve already forgiven you for scarring my face–why can’t you move
on?”
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Her words were laced with venom, but I felt nothing, I stared at her blankly, refusing to give her the reaction she wanted. She pouted, her arm slipping through Arthur’s as if to claim him in
front of me.
