Shattered Vows, Unspoken Love

For six years, I devoted my life to my wife, tech CEO Isabella Stone. After I saved her from a fire, I became the sole caregiver for her comatose mother, putting my own life on hold so she could build her empire.

Then she went on national television and told the world our marriage was just a debt of gratitude. She never loved me.

That same night, her mother died. I tried to call her, but her ex-fiancé-the man who abandoned her in that fire-answered the phone.

She was with him, pregnant with his child, while her mother died alone in a hospital.

At the funeral, she collapsed and lost the baby. Her lover screamed that it was my fault, and she stood by his side, letting him blame me.

I divorced her. I thought it was over.

But as we left the lawyer's office, her lover tried to run me over. Isabella pushed me out of the way, taking the hit herself. With her last breath, she confessed the truth.

"The baby... he was yours, Izzy. He was always yours."

Chapter 1

The headline glowed on Israel Clark' s phone screen. "The Tech Titan and the Six-Year Secret: Isabella Stone' s Journey Back to the Top."

He watched the video, his thumb hovering over the screen. Isabella, his wife, looked confident and poised in a sharp business suit, a world away from the broken woman he' d married.

A reporter smiled. "Isabella, your success is an inspiration. But our readers are curious about your husband, Israel Clark. He saved you from that terrible data center fire six years ago. Is this a great love story?"

Isabella' s laugh was light, but her eyes were cold. "Israel is a kind man. I was grateful, and he was there for me when I was at my lowest. I owed him a lot."

She paused, letting the words hang in the air. "But gratitude isn't love. I think we both understood that."

The words hit Israel with the force of a physical blow. Six years. Six years of devotion, of caring not just for her, but for her comatose mother, Harriet. All of it, reduced to a debt paid.

He felt a bitter, hollow laugh build in his chest. A fool. He was a fool.

The comments section under the video exploded.

"Wow, she just called her husband a charity case on national TV."

"Six years of gratitude? That's one long thank you card."

"Poor guy probably still thinks she loves him."

Israel' s hand tightened on the phone until his knuckles were white. He didn' t need to read any more. The public humiliation was just salt in a wound that had been festering for years.

He stood up, his movements stiff. The illusion was shattered. There was nothing left to pretend for. He walked to the window, the city lights blurring through the sudden moisture in his eyes.

It was over.

He pulled out his phone again, his fingers moving with a new, cold purpose. He didn't call her. He called his lawyer.

"David, it's Israel."

"Izzy, what's up? Did you see Isabella's interview? She's killing it."

"Yeah, I saw it," Israel said, his voice flat. "I need you to draw up divorce papers."

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the line. "Whoa, hold on. What happened?"

"Just do it, David. I want it done by tomorrow morning."

"Israel, are you sure? This is a big step."

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he said, and hung up.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before turning and walking down the hallway. He pushed open the door to the master bedroom, which had long been converted into a medical suite.

Harriet Stone lay still in the hospital bed, the only sounds in the room the quiet, rhythmic beeping of her life support machines. For six years, this room had been the center of Israel' s world. He had learned to change IV bags, to monitor vitals, to turn her every two hours to prevent bedsores.

He pulled a chair up to her bedside, his movements gentle and practiced. He took her frail, unmoving hand in his.

"Hey, Harriet," he whispered, his voice thick. "I guess you heard. Or maybe not. Your daughter... she' s a big star now."

He stared at the peaceful, vacant expression on his mother-in-law's face. She was the only one he could talk to, the only one who had been a silent witness to his one-sided marriage.

"She told the world today, Harriet. She told everyone that she never loved me. It was just... gratitude."

He let out a shaky breath. "And the stupid thing is, I think I always knew. I just didn't want to believe it. I thought if I just loved her enough for the both of us, maybe one day..."

He trailed off, shaking his head. What a pathetic thought.

"I' m leaving, Harriet. I have to. I can't do this anymore."

He squeezed her hand gently. "I'll make sure you're taken care of. I promise. But I can't be her husband anymore. It's killing me."

The only reply was the steady hum of the ventilator. For a moment, the silence felt like judgment. He had built his entire life around these two women, and now, he was walking away. But he wasn't really walking away from them. He was walking away from the lie he had been living.

The truth was, he had been alone in this marriage for a long time. The only difference was that now, the whole world knew it, too.

He looked back at Harriet, a flicker of memory crossing his mind. A memory of a different time, before the fire, before the gratitude. A time when he had first seen Isabella Stone and thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

A lifetime ago.