My Brother Stole My Crown, My Fiancé Stole My Heart Chapter 07

My Brother Stole My Crown, My Fiancé Stole My Heart Chapter 07

Ryker cried like a helpless child.

Growing up, I had almost never seen him cry. No matter how hard things got, he always carried them alone.

Ryker, I won’t make you angry anymore. I really did learn to behave. So why are you crying now?

There were only six hours left before I left this world for good.

Ryker refused to announce my death.

He kept what little was left of my vital signs hanging by IV nutrients and a ventilator.

Logan stayed at my side and never moved.

They watched over what was left of me with a devotion that had come far too late.

I watched them with emotions I could no longer name.

At least it would be over soon.

Soon, I would leave this world and have nothing tying me to it anymore.

Sadie came back after losing the protection she had always relied on.

She had grown used to comfort. She couldn’t stand the hardship of working for a living.

She was betting that Logan would soften, that Ryker would remember what they once had and take her back.

They had spoiled her for too long, and she mistook it for something permanent.

This time, she was wrong.

Logan placed every debt on her head.

“You faked depression. You framed Wren. You forced her to give blood.” His voice was ice. “You killed her.”

The next second, several enforcers seized Sadie.

Logan’s voice turned cruel.

“Everything Wren suffered, you’ll pay back tenfold.”

Sadie’s screams tore through the hall.

Ryker walked out, and Sadie thought she had found her last chance. She crawled toward him, sobbing.

“Ryker, please save me. I was just jealous of Wren. She had the bloodline, the face, the life. You and Logan loved her so much. I never meant to kill her.”

Ryker’s eyes were cold enough to make the air freeze.

He walked toward her step by step, his expression twisted with rage.

Then his hands closed around her throat.

“Do you understand what Wren was to me?” he said through clenched teeth. “She was my whole life. What are you? How dare you hurt my Wren?”

“You thought you could get away with it?”

He released her, and Sadie hit the floor hard, one hand locked around her bruising throat as she struggled to breathe.

But the thing that truly broke her came next.

Ryker’s sentence fell against her ear like a death warrant.

“Drive her out of the Northern Territory. Let her survive on her own.”

Sadie’s last hope shattered.

She bit down on her lip and threw herself at them with the last of her strength.

“The ones who killed Wren were you!” she screamed. “Your cruelty did it. Your cold hearts did it. You drove her to her death!”

Every word hit where it hurt.

Ryker’s face turned white.

Logan went rigid.

The two men who had looked so murderous moments ago now collapsed to the floor, desperate and utterly alone.

They stayed there all night, hollow-eyed and silent, afraid that looking away would mean accepting I was gone.

Ryker searched through the belongings I had left behind and found an old pink rabbit.

It was the one he had given me.

He held it in his arms, his voice breaking apart as he begged me for forgiveness.

“Wren, open your eyes and look at me. This is your favorite rabbit. I bought it with the first money I ever made. You carried it everywhere and said it was your lucky charm. Do you remember?”

Ryker’s palm trembled.

His brows drew tight, and suddenly, he tore the stuffed rabbit open.

An old phone slipped out.

Inside were three recordings I had left behind.

Ryker hesitated for a long time before carefully pressing play.

The first one was from the day Logan proposed.

[I’m the happiest girl alive today. Logan proposed to me. I’ve waited for this day for so long. My happiness is finally here.]

[He said he’d protect me for the rest of my life. I believe him.]

Logan listened to the joy in my voice, his face turning ashen.

On the happiest day of my life, he had been holding someone else.

However deeply I had once loved him, that love now turned into countless blades and drove straight into his chest.

Around his neck hung the protection charm I had gotten for him, the one meant to keep him safe and give him a smooth life.

Logan clutched it as the weight in his chest crashed down on him.

Guilt and regret tore him apart until he could barely breathe.