[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-2603226F4B86-345":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},345,6,"Chapter 6: \"Go Ahead, Freeze to Death.\"","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Bradley Lawrence tightened his grip on my wrist, his knuckles turning white, as if I were the last lifeline he had left.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Honey, I'm begging you.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His voice was raw, unrecognizable. \"I know I messed up. It was just a moment of madness—you’re the only one I’ve ever truly loved!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I paused, cutting him off.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Enough.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I pulled up that voice memo and cranked the volume to the max, holding the phone to his ear.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">*\"She’s not the other woman. She’s the person I love most.\"*\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Bradley turned ashen. He ripped off his apron, the high-priced attorney now kneeling at my feet in his tailored suit, looking utterly pathetic.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Honey, I can explain. That was just...\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Just what?\" I interrupted, my patience wearing thin. \"Just holding her while you kissed? Just rubbing your hands all over her legs? Just declaring to the world that she’s the person you love most?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"If she’s not the other woman, then what does that make me?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He opened his mouth, his eyes bloodshot, and finally, the tears spilled over. The same Bradley Lawrence who never bowed his head for anyone, the man who would have jumped off a building without a second thought, was now kneeling before me, sobbing.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Hit me. Curse me out,\" he said, letting go of my wrist to cup my face with both hands. \"Do anything you want, just don’t leave. Honey, I can’t live without you.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I let him hold me, a hollow, frozen feeling spreading through my chest. I looked into his weeping eyes, watched his trembling lips, and saw every inch of the man I used to adore.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Then, I shoved him away with everything I had.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Let go, Bradley. You’re just not used to living without me.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He froze, tears still hanging on his cheeks, his hands hovering in mid-air.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">My mother stood to the side, wiping her eyes. \"Madeline, maybe you should give him one more chance? You loved him so much, you were ready to risk your life for him. Can’t you find it in your heart to forgive him just this once?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I turned to her. \"Mom, do you know what my biggest regret is in this life?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She blinked, stunned. I offered a bitter smile.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"It’s that when I first found out he was cheating, I didn't walk away immediately.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I pulled the door open. Bradley scrambled to follow me, but stopped short of the threshold.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Honey!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">This time, I didn't look back.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Don’t bother fixing that watch. Just let it rot.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">When I reached the ground floor, a heavy coat was draped over my shoulders. Bradley stood there, gasping for air, his eyes still rimmed with red.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Put it on. It’s cold out.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The coat was warm, but it was suffocatingly saturated with the scent of Lacey Rose’s perfume. I ripped it off and shoved it back into his arms.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"No. It’s filthy.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Fine.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Bradley suddenly turned and bolted toward the riverbank. \"Then I’ll wash it off! I’ll scrub myself clean!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The river ahead was a jagged mess of slush. It was 14 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and a thin, treacherous layer of ice had formed over the water. He glanced back at me, a desperate, pathetic spark of hope in his eyes.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He was waiting for me to call him back.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I said nothing.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He gritted his teeth, kicked off his shoes, and stepped into the water. The thin ice shattered instantly, shards of frozen slush biting into his ankles, his shins, his knees. He shivered violently, his lips turning a bruised shade of purple, but he pushed forward, constantly looking back to see if I was watching.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I stood on the bank, unmoved.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His teeth chattered, his voice a broken, rhythmic trembling. \"Honey, I’m clean now. Smell me... the scent is gone...\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The water climbed to his waist. He was shaking so hard he could barely stand, his face as pale as parchment, his lips a dark, sickly blue, but his eyes were still locked onto mine, red and pleading.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I watched him. I watched him plunge into the freezing river for my sake, watched him risk his life to prove his love.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">But all I could see in my head were the other images.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Him holding Lacey, kissing her, his hands kneading her waist.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">*“She’s the person I love most.”*\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">That Patek Philippe watch sliding against her leg.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">In the end, amidst all the chaos and the betrayal, I was the one crying, screaming his name, while he sat there feeding her cake.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I turned to leave.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Behind me, there was a splash—he had scrambled back onto the bank, stumbling as he chased after me, grabbing my sleeve.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Honey, don't go!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He was drenched, water streaming from his hair, his lips blue, snot dripping from his nose, too desperate to even wipe it away. He looked up at me, so wretched, so pitiful.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">How miserable. It was so pathetic that if I still had a shred of love left, my heart would have shattered.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Bradley Lawrence.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He looked up, his eyes filled with a desperate, feverish hope.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Even if you freeze to death in that river, I won't feel a thing.\"\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272924548]