The Monster I Once Loved
img img The Monster I Once Loved img Chapter 4
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Chapter 10 img
Chapter 11 img
Chapter 12 img
Chapter 13 img
Chapter 14 img
Chapter 15 img
Chapter 16 img
Chapter 17 img
Chapter 18 img
Chapter 19 img
Chapter 20 img
Chapter 21 img
Chapter 22 img
Chapter 23 img
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Chapter 4

Maya didn't argue.

Her flight to Paris was booked for Monday morning.

This was Friday.

One last weekend of this charade.

She just had to get through it.

She nodded, her face carefully blank.

She noticed her slight limp from the ill-fitting shoes the night before, but Alex didn't.

The Sterling estate in the Hamptons was predictably ostentatious.

Manicured lawns, a house that looked more like a luxury hotel.

Tori was already there, of course, practically part of the family.

Eleanor Sterling greeted Alex with a warm embrace, then turned to Tori with an equally affectionate smile.

"Victoria, darling, you look radiant."

Eleanor's eyes flickered over Maya, a cool dismissal.

She didn't even offer a perfunctory greeting.

Maya was invisible.

Alex watched Maya for a moment.

He seemed surprised by her composure, her lack of visible distress.

Perhaps he expected tears, or a sullen silence.

She offered neither. Just a quiet, unreadable calm.

Tori, ever the gracious hostess-in-training, glided over.

"Maya, there you are! Come, let me find you a comfortable seat by the pool."

Her smile was bright, her eyes cold.

Eleanor Sterling's voice cut through the air, sharp and clear.

"Maya. Do try to behave yourself this weekend. We wouldn't want any... unpleasantness."

The warning was unmistakable.

Dinner was a blur of polite conversation, business talk, and veiled references to Maya's "unsuitability."

The other guests, all part of Alex and Tori's elite circle, spoke of polo matches and European ski trips, of stock portfolios and family dynasties.

Maya ate in silence, feeling like an exhibit in a zoo.

Eleanor made a few cutting remarks about "certain people" not understanding their world, her gaze flicking pointedly at Maya.

Alex used to jump to her defense, his voice sharp, protective.

Now, he said nothing. He just continued his conversation with the man beside him, a faint frown his only reaction.

The betrayal was a dull, constant ache.

The next day, Alex insisted she accompany him and Tori to a daytime party at a neighboring estate.

"It's important for appearances," he'd said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

On the way, Alex drove, Tori in the passenger seat, Maya alone in the back.

The vast leather expanse of the backseat felt like a lonely island.

She watched the back of Alex's head, the way his hair curled slightly at his nape.

She remembered him promising, in their tiny Brooklyn apartment, "One day, Maya, I'll buy you a little cottage by the sea. Just you and me."

A foolish, forgotten dream.

The collision was sudden, a jarring impact from the side.

The screech of tires, the shattering of glass.

Maya was thrown forward, then sideways.

She saw Alex, in that split second of chaos, instinctively turn and shield Tori with his own body.

His arm went around Tori, pulling her close, protecting her.

Maya hit her head hard against the window.

A searing pain shot through her wrist as she tried to brace herself.

Then, darkness.

In that moment, before she lost consciousness, one thought seared through her mind: he chose.

In a life-or-death moment, he chose Tori.

Not her.

Her heart didn't just break. It shattered into a million irreparable pieces.

She woke up in a plush guest room, not a hospital.

A doctor was examining her wrist.

"A nasty sprain, possibly a hairline fracture. And a concussion. You were lucky."

Lucky. She didn't feel lucky.

Eleanor Sterling swept into the room, her face a mask of cool concern.

"Maya. I trust you're feeling better."

It wasn't a question.

"Alex is fine, of course. Tori is a little shaken, but unharmed, thanks to Alex's quick thinking."

The implication was clear. Maya was an afterthought.

"I've arranged for a car to take you back to the city tomorrow. It's best you rest."

Eleanor's eyes were hard. "And then, as we discussed, you'll be leaving the country."

Maya nodded, her voice weak.

"Yes. I'll be leaving." Far away from all of them.

The door opened and Alex walked in, his expression unreadable.

"Mother? What are you talking about? Leaving where?"

            
            

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