I Woke Up From a Coma and Found Out My Fiancé Was Protecting My Killer Chapter 08
“Where have you been all these years?” Landon thought he was dreaming.
For the first three years, his probation had caged him inside Westbrook. He couldn’t leave. Couldn’t chase her. Then two years ago, when the restrictions were lifted, he started hunting. Every corner of the world.
He stopped sleeping. Every night, insomnia. The moment he shut his eyes, he saw Paige in that hospital bed covered in blood. He saw the disappointment in her stare. Each image was a blade twisting in his chest.
Three days ago, Willa walked out of prison. He never imagined she’d blackmail him into marriage. But he was powerless—terrified that lunatic would go after his family. So he gave in. His life had become a broken, rotting mess.
But now. Standing here. Seeing the woman he’d been aching for—he finally felt alive again.
I froze. The man in front of me looked like a stranger.
Disheveled. Dark circles sat heavy under his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot. Completely wrecked.
The moment our eyes met, something in his face cracked. One of us was hollow from everything we’d lost. The other? Cold. Completely.
Five years. Our positions had flipped. He was the one drowning in misery now. I was the one who had let go.
—
I let out a cold laugh. “What are you doing at my parents’ graves,
Landon? Do I really need to list the things you did?”
My words cut through him. He actually swayed on his feet. He winced
in agony. “It’s my fault. I know I have no right to stand here. But I—”
He stopped. His eyes finally registered Gavin and Lily beside me.
When he saw our daughter’s face—clearly mine, clearly Gavin’s—his
pupils shook violently. “Is she… your child?”
I hummed. Turned to leave.
Then a wild, thrashing figure came charging at us. I blinked. Willa?
The woman looked like a scarecrow. Brittle, straw-like hair. Sunken
eyes. Was this really the girl who used to walk into a room like it
belonged to her?
Her eyes were venomous. She shrieked. “Paige Bennett! You bitch!
Why aren’t you dead? Why did you come back? Are you here to fight
me for Landon?”
I laughed—a short, flat sound. “I have a husband. I have a child. Why
would I fight you over trash?”
Willa faltered. She looked at Gavin standing next to me, and the envy
in her eyes curdled into something ugly.
Why? Why did every good man fall for Paige Bennett? It wasn’t fair. It
had never been fair.
“You ruined my life! All of this is your fault!”
I felt nothing but the sheer absurdity of it all. “You’re blaming me for
your hit-and-run? Don’t even go there, Willa. If I could go back—to that
—
high school bathroom? I wouldn’t have looked at you. I’d have let them have you.”
Her eyes went wild. Her pride shattered on the spot. “Bitch!”
A crack split the air. Landon’s palm slammed across Willa’s face. His roar shook with fury. “Enough! You’re insane!”
Regret was devouring him. How had he ever gotten tangled up with Willa? He was sick with it.
Willa hit the ground. She froze for a split second. Then she wailed like a woman possessed. “You hit me! Landon—you hit me for her? For that bitch! I’m your wife!”
Landon’s eyes were red. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be standing here like this. I wouldn’t have lost her!”
If it weren’t for Willa—the man standing next to Paige, the one raising a family with her—that would’ve been him. That should have been him. Landon’s breath came ragged. Regret so deep it drowned him.
And Willa—she stared, wild-eyed. Then she laughed. Tears streaming down her face. “Too bad. You’re stuck with me. I’ll have you for life. You’ll never get away from me.”
I shook my head. That was it—I couldn’t take another second of it. I turned, and behind me Landon was yelling my name, Willa shrieking like she’d lost her mind. Gavin’s hand found mine. I didn’t look back.
I didn’t look back. Not once.