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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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2024-11-18 22:39:07Related chapters
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Racheal's POVThe phone call I had been dreading finally came. My mother. "Rachael, I just called Karen to wish her a happy birthday. Do you know what she said?" Her tone sharp, already accusatory. "She asked me why I was calling her, considering we weren’t family anymore! Do you know how humiliating that was for me?" I roll my eyes, letting out a long sigh. Of course, she was going to make this about her."I’m sorry, Mother," I said flatly, trying to get this over with. "What do you want to know?""What happened with Jack?" she snaps, her voice rising. "What did you do this time?"“Wow, so we’re just assuming this was my fault?” I shake my head, bitterness creeping into my tone.“I’m not assuming anything,” her words laced with that familiar venom. “This is so typical of you. You got bored, didn’t you? Drove him away, just like you do with everything good in your life.” I lean back in my chair and yawn loudly, more out of frustration than fatigue. Her accusations were so predicta
Last Updated : 2024-11-19SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER NINETEEN
As I finish folding the last of my clothes into the suitcase, Amy hands me a pair of her sleek leather boots, pouting dramatically. "I am so jealous! How could you be going to Paris without me?" she whines, flopping onto the bed with a theatrical sigh. I let out a soft laugh, zipping up the suitcase. "I wish you were coming with me, Amy, really. I will probably spend most of the time alone while Jake’s tied up with his business meetings. I’ll be stuck in my hotel room the whole time," I console Amy hoping to ease her envy.Amy sits up, narrowing her eyes at me. “No, no, no! This is Paris we’re talking about, Rachael. You cannot afford to waste a single minute stuck in some boring hotel room. I want you to explore every inch of that city and have fun. You deserve this break more than anyone I know. And who knows,” she adds with a mischievous grin, “maybe you’ll kiss a French boy while you’re at it.”I laugh, shaking my head. “Amy, you know I’m not ready for that yet. But I promise I’l
Last Updated : 2024-11-19SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER TWENTY
JAKE’S POVI was officially out of control. First, propose marriage, and now a trip to Paris? What the hell was happening to me?When Racheal walked into the conference room earlier, I noticed the sadness on her face. She carried it well, but I knew it was there—the same look I’d seen the night we met at the club. For a moment, I doubted whether she could pull off the presentation.But then she started.From the moment she began speaking, she was unstoppable. The confidence in her voice, the way she commanded attention with every word, and how she engaged with everyone in the room was like she’d been doing this for decades.I was mesmerized.I found myself following her every move. The way she swayed her hair when she turned her head, the subtle movement of her hands as she emphasized her points, the way her eyes lit up when she nailed a tough question. I wasn’t just impressed; I was drawn to her in a way I couldn’t explain. By the time the meeting ended, I was ready to cut through t
Last Updated : 2024-11-20SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER TWENTYONE
"Wake up, Racheal.”Jake's voice pulls me from my sleep, accompanied by a gentle tap on my shoulder. "Hm?” I mumble, sitting up and blinking a few times to shake off sleep.“We’ll be landing in ten minutes,” Jake says, closing his laptop and placing it on a small table beside him. I rub my eyes and stretch my movements sluggishly. "Did I sleep through the whole flight?" I ask, trying to sit up. Jake nods, his lips curving into a teasing grin. "You were out cold. I tried waking you a few times to eat, but you were completely knocked out.""Wow," my eyes widen slightly "This is what I get for staying up with Amy the entire night." "And you snore, too," Jake leans back to his chair, and is grin turns mischievous. "No, I don’t!" I exclaim, feeling slightly embarrassed and defensive. "If you say so," he chuckles, his eyes gleaming with amusement.I glance out the window, and my breath catches in my throat. Paris.The Eiffel Tower glimmers in the distance, the Arc de Triomphe stands ta
Last Updated : 2024-11-21SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER TWENTY~TWO
The steady hum of the plane had faded into the background as I watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful, her chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. The faint sound of her soft snores was oddly comforting, a sound I could listen to all day. Occasionally, she’d mumble something unintelligible, or a faint smile would tug at her lips. I wondered what she was dreaming about. Paris, maybe?I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. How had I known her for such a short time, yet it felt like she had already occupied some corner of my soul? It was unnerving, this pull she had on me. It wasn’t just attraction, it was something deeper, something that left me feeling vulnerable in ways I hadn’t felt in years. Vulnerable... and terrified.The truth was, she could hurt me. And I knew that if she did, it would cut deeper than anything I’d ever felt before. I was trying so damn hard to fight it, to keep my feelings in check, but it was a losing battle. The more I tried to suppress it, the stronge
Last Updated : 2024-11-21SHATTERED VOWS TWENTY~THREE
After that awkward encounter with Jake, I finally mustered up the courage to step out of the bathroom. I couldn't believe I had left the door open—honestly, it was a complete accident. But when our gazes locked, I didn’t feel uncomfortable or violated, not in the least. It was as if the moment was fleeting, almost forgotten the second it happened. I quickly closed the door and went back to my bath, making sure not to think too much about it. I didn’t want Jake to think I’d done it on purpose.The suite is empty. Jake was nowhere to be seen. I feel a pang of uncertainty. Had I made him uncomfortable? I thought to myself. I look around and I notice his suitcase is still lying on the floor, unpacked, and a sigh of relief escapes me. On the table, I see a note hastily written: Meet me downstairs once you’re done. “oh!” I mutter to myself. First things first, this was the first time in hours that I was finally alone. I grab my phone and call Amy, needing to talk to her more than ever.
Last Updated : 2024-11-22SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER TWENTY~FOUR
The ride to the restaurant is thick with tension, the silence stretching between us like an unspoken conversation neither of us dared to start. I could feel Jake stealing glances at me from the corner of his eye, but I keep my gaze firm out the window, pretending not to notice. The streets of Paris, aglow with warm golden lights and bustling with life, were a welcome distraction.But his words, "I’m not sorry," play in a loop in my head, each repetition stirring something I wasn’t ready to name. That moment between us back at the bar had undeniably been intense. My skin still tingled at the memory of his gaze, burning through every defense I had put up. I couldn’t lie to myself; I felt something when he looked at me. Something deep, raw, and terrifying.I couldn’t let that in. This wasn’t about feelings or connections. Jake and I had a plan, a calculated, mutual agreement for revenge. Anything else would sabotage everything, and I refuse to let that happen."We’re here," the driver an
Last Updated : 2024-11-24SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
The universe, I thought bitterly, truly had a wicked sense of humor. Out of all the restaurants in the world, Jack Crawford had to walk into this one. My hand trembles so violently I almost spill the wine I was holding. Jake notices. He quickly reaches over and steads my hand, his grip firm and reassuring as he helps me place the glass back on the table."Rachael," he says softly, "calm down. Everything’s fine. You’re with me."I nod faintly, trying to focus on his words, but my gaze betrays me. My eyes dart back to Jack, who was staring directly at us. My heart races as he walks toward our table, his every step making my chest tighter. “Not now. Please, not now.” I whisper to myself.Before I could process it, Jack was standing next to our table, his mistress Hannah, right beside him. Their gazes bore into me, Hannah’s dripping with condescension, Jack’s with something far worse.“Rachael,” Jack began, his voice sharp and accusatory, “don’t tell me it’s come to this. Are you stalking
Last Updated : 2024-11-24
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SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER SIXTY~FIVE
RACHAEL'S POVI couldn’t believe Jake had just come and gone without saying a word to me. He rushed out like he was late for something important, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I sat there on the couch, staring at the ceiling, trying to process the whirlwind of the past few days. The sun was already up, and boredom crept in like an unwelcome guest.I grab my phone and begin mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. As I flip through the posts, a photo of Amy and Ethan catches my eye. They look radiant, clearly on vacation somewhere beautiful. My chest tightens. The last time I’d spoken to Amy was at the Crawford luncheon. Since then, I have avoided her. She’d tried to reach out, but I hadn’t responded. I’d been a terrible friend.Taking a deep breath, I shot her a text: "Hey, how are you?"I bury my phone under a couch cushion, resisting the urge to stare at the screen, waiting for her reply. I needed a distraction, so I grab my laptop. To my surprise, an inquiry about my marketing
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER SIXTY~FOUR
JAKE'S POVWilliam’s silence surprises me as well. I expected him to fight back, deny everything or storm out. Instead, he sits there in silence, his face completely unreadable. Karen, on the other hand, is far less composed. She shoves the letter in his face, her voice trembling with a mix of disbelief and rage.“Did you know about this?”William exhales slowly and leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Elizabeth and I agreed she was going to… take care of it. I’m not surprised she didn’t that’s all.”His words hang in the air, each one more infuriating than the last. The calm demeanor I’d been holding onto begins to crumble. My temper is rising, threatening to spill over.“Wait,” my voice low and dangerous. “You knew she was pregnant?”William doesn’t flinch, his tone is detached. “Of course, I knew but like I said, I thought she got rid of it.”That confession hits me harder than I expect, a knot tightens in my chest. For a moment, I can’t speak.“I think she kept you bec
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER SIXTY~THREE
JAKE'S POVSleep eluded me. No matter how much I tossed and turned, my thoughts kept circling back to Rachael, all alone in that big house. No matter how angry I was at her, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling gnawing at my chest.I had also grown accustomed to not being entirely alone. Even though we slept in separate rooms, I always knew she was there. Her presence had become an unspoken comfort.I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 2:00 a.m. There was no way I could go back to the house at this time without startling her. I sigh, staring at the ceiling, waiting for morning, waiting for a reasonable hour to check on her.Two restless hours later, I was up again, standing under the cold spray of the shower, hoping to wash away my tangled emotions. It didn’t help. The image of her face when I walked out on her lingered, tugging at something deep inside me.Sipping my coffee, I stared at the whiteboard from yesterday and I review my notes, fine tuning my plan to keep my mind occup
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER SIXTY~TWO
RACHAEL’S POVI spend the entire day trying to reach Jake. Call after call, voicemail after voicemail, but it is no use. He wasn’t picking up. He was sulking somewhere, letting his anger simmer, and left me to drown in the silence he left behind.I paced the living room, my nerves fraying with each passing minute. Where could he be? What is he doing? My mind began to spin with the possibilities.Had he gone to the police? Was he confronting the Crawfords?The unknown gnawed at me, clawing at my insides. If Jake had gone to the police, it would be over for me. I would be arrested for tampering with evidence, and no explanation I gave would matter. I was terrified of what he might do in his anger. Jake was impulsive, and I had learned the hard way that his anger was blinding.But it was already night, and he’d been gone for hours. If the police were going to come for me, they would have done so by now. That thought offers me a sliver of comfort, but it doesn’t ease my anxiety entirely.
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER SIXTY~ONE
JAKE’S POVAs I speed past the estate gates, my hands grip the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turn white. My blood is boiling, and no amount of deep breaths can calm me down. Rachael had betrayed me. The one person I thought I could trust. The one person I let in.I thought we were partners. I thought she had my back. “Damn it!” I slam my palm against the wheel in frustration. How could she keep something like that from me? There is only one explanation: she still loves Jack.My chest burns with a mixture of anger and pain, my head pounding not just from the betrayal but from the lingering hangover of last night. Why today, of all days, did she decide to drop this bomb on me? She couldn't have picked a worse moment.I had to leave the house before I did or said something I couldn’t take back. The anger was too raw, too consuming. The walls of that place felt suffocating. At least I still had my penthouse in the city—a sanctuary I could retreat to at a time like this.As I
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER SIXTY
RACHAEL'S POVJack’s deflection had said it all. He’d danced around the question with that smug indifference that only made him look guiltier than ever. It was time to involve Jake, even though I knew how this would go. He will be furious that I hadn’t shared this with him earlier. But what choice do I have now? Better late than never, I tell myself as I pull into the driveway, already bracing for the fallout.When I step inside, the house is quiet, except for the low hum of the fridge in the kitchen. Jake is sitting on one of the bar stools, pressing an icepack against his head. He looks like hell—disheveled, pale, and haunted, like the aftermath of whatever had driven him to drink is still clinging to him.“You good?” I ask, setting my purse down on the counter, trying to ease into the conversation.Jake nods silently, not even glancing my way. He looks like the angel of death had brushed past him and left him worse for wear.“Want to talk about what made you drink like that?” I ask
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER FIFTY ~NINE
RACHAEL'S POVI hadn’t spoken to Jake in days. Not because there wasn’t anything to say, but because I was avoiding him. Avoiding the guilt that gnawed at me every time I thought about the evidence I’d hidden. That jerrycan with the old Crawford Oil Industries logo felt like a bomb in my purse, waiting to explode. I’d been going in circles, debating what to do with it.The logical part of me knew I had to confront Jack. But the idea of calling him, of hearing his voice, twisted my stomach into knots. How would he react? Would he deny it outright? Laugh in my face? I wasn’t sure I was ready for the confrontation.When Jake’s name lit up on my phone, my heart skipped a beat. He never called me, ever. If he needed something, it was always a text or a face-to-face conversation. I hesitated for a while, but I finally answered.“Hello?”His voice was slurred, almost incomprehensible. “Rachael... I’m... I’m at the bar. Pick me up. I’m at...” he trailed off, mumbling the name of the bar befor
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER FIFTY~EIGHT
JAKE’S POVInside, the lobby gleams with marble floors and crystal chandeliers, its elegance only adding to the sour taste in my mouth. At the reception desk, a woman with a practiced smile informs me Mrs. Raymond had already left instructions. I was to be sent directly to her suite.As I ride the elevator up, my stomach churns. I feel like a cheap escort being summoned to perform a duty. The thought makes me sick, but I bury the emotion deep, locking it away where it can’t touch me. I remind myself why I am here. This is business. Nothing more.The elevator chimes softly, and the doors slide open. I walk down the plush-carpeted hallway, my footsteps muffling as if the hotel itself is trying to silence my guilt. Room 912. My hand hesitates on the door handle for a brief second before I swipe the keycard and step inside.The room is dimly lit; Mrs. Raymond is already waiting for me. She is sprawled across the bed in a silk robe and red lingerie that leaves little to the imagination. He
SHATTERED VOWS CHAPTER FIFTY~SEVEN
JAKE’S POVThe past few days had been a blur of chaos. Between insurance meetings, ongoing investigations, and trying to salvage what I could from the restaurant fire, I barely had time to breathe, let alone see Rachael. I would leave the house before she woke up and return long after she was asleep. It wasn’t ideal, but it had to be done.At least I was making progress.I’d managed to acquire a significant number of shares in Crawford Oil Industries (COI), and now, I was one signature away from becoming the majority shareholder. It was a risky game, but one I couldn’t afford to lose. I just hoped the Crawfords wouldn’t catch wind of what I was doing before it was too late.Tonight is crucial. I had arranged a dinner with the last shareholder, Mrs. Raymond, a shrewd businesswoman with a reputation for playing hardball. I picked one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city—an attempt to “butter her up” before dropping the offer. If I could convince her, my plan would finally fall
