I Woke Up From a Coma and Found Out My Fiancé Was Protecting My Killer Chapter 07
Spring came and went. Then fall. Four seasons blurred into nothing. Time wasn’t anything to me anymore—just days and nights, one bleeding into the next. Five years. Gone.
From my lawyer, I learned what happened after the wedding.
Willa got five years. Aggravated assault. Hit-and-run. She’d only just been released a few days ago.
Landon got three years for tampering with evidence. Probation. He served no time behind bars as long as he stayed clean during those three years. His sentence ended too.
Two days ago, the moment Willa walked back in, she trapped Landon in a corner and made him sign the marriage license.
They ended up brawling right outside the clerk’s office. Someone filmed it. By the next morning, the whole city of Westbrook was laughing at them.
I listened quietly. The coldness inside me was so deep it scared even me. Like I hadn’t been the one who put them in that room.
I stepped out onto the balcony. Sunlight fell warm across my shoulders.
My lawyer added, “Ms. Bennett, I should tell you—Landon Cole’s been looking for you. Might be looking to settle a score.”
My chest stayed flat. Empty. “OK.”
Searching for me? Knowing Landon, he wanted to demand why I’d been so ruthless. So merciless.
—
I’d changed my number five years ago. But my email—couldn’t change that.
Once he realized my phone was dead, he started flooding my inbox.
Accusations turned to confessions. Pain turned to pleas to see me one more time. I never replied. I sent every single one to spam.
The bedroom door creaked behind me. Footsteps. Then I fell backward into a solid, warm hug.
“Something on your mind?” Gavin Hayes’s arms tightened. “Is he still bothering you?”
I turned, buried my face against his chest. Frustration simmered. “Yeah. Like a leech. Just won’t let go.”
His jaw tightened. “I’ve got you. No one’s going to hurt you.”
I nodded. That restless feeling settled, same as it always did.
Five years ago, I arrived in Paris broken. Even after I got my revenge, even after they faced the consequences, I was still a wreck. Hollow. Drifting. Then one day, I got into a car wreck. The guy who hit me? Gavin.
Funny how fate works. One person runs, leaves someone else to clean up the mess. Another stays, owns up to it, and never walks away.
A stranger became a friend. A friend became love. We had Lily. Five years. That was all it took.
A little body crashed into my legs. I felt my whole chest soften. Gavin and our daughter—they were the reason I made it through.
—
“Oh, right. My parents’ death anniversary is coming up. I want to go back and visit them.”
Gavin nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
The next day, our plane touched down in Westbrook. The city felt foreign to me. Even the deepest ties can fade with enough time.
We went to Westbrook Memorial Cemetery. I placed my mother’s favorite flowers at the grave. My father’s favorite whiskey. My voice was soft. “Mom, Dad. I’m here. I know I haven’t come in five years. I hope you can forgive me.”
I pulled Gavin and Lily close. “This is Gavin—my husband. And this little one is Lily, your granddaughter. I just want you to know—I’m really okay now. Finally.”
The words had barely left my lips. Footsteps rushed up behind me. Then a choked, broken voice.
“Paige…”