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SADIE

Back then…

I don’t hear from Ethan for weeks.

No calls.

No letters.

Nothing.

It’s like he vanished—like I meant nothing at all. And for a while, I let myself spiral. Let the silence rip through me until I was hollow. Until I started to believe that maybe I was the villain in his story. That I’d ruined everything.

Thrown away the one man who truly saw me. Loved me.

I felt stupid for destroying his perfect plan. For showing up at the estate and taking control in the worst possible way. And still, a twisted part of me tried to justify it. Tried to believe maybe this was karma.

I’d killed people before.

Just not those people.

Maybe the universe was keeping score.

And then, in the middle of my lowest point—in the thick of orange jumpsuits, cold concrete, and another dehumanizing rant from my lawyer about how “judges don’t like emotional women”—a package arrived.

A book.

The Count of Monte Cristo.

At first, I thought it was a joke. A cruel coincidence. But I opened it anyway, grateful for something anything to keep me sane. I sped through the first few chapters, escaping into Edmond Dantès’s world… until I noticed them.

Tiny, deliberate marks. Underlined letters that didn’t belong.

It took me hours. A day, maybe more. But eventually, in the silence of the pod, with nothing but the buzzing of the overhead light and the thrum of suppressed rage in my chest—I found him.

He wasn’t gone, and he hadn’t abandoned me.

He was speaking to me.

The message was buried across dozens of pages, tucked into the underlines and margins like a whispered vow:

O.L.I.F.

O.L.I.P.C.

Our Love Is Forever.

Our love is pretty cruel.

And I’ll do everything in my power to get you back into my arms, but you’ll have to keep playing your part because you’re the best actress I’ve ever met.

So regardless of how this goes, I’ll tell you exactly what to say to get the ‘insanity’ deal.

And if they’re stupid enough to convict you off that weak-ass circumstantial evidence?

I’ll hunt them down for you.

Just give me a chance. Hold on.

For us.

Your Cruel Love,

E.W.