He Chose Her, The Desert Chose Me - Chapter 14: Chapter 14
You are reading He Chose Her, The Desert Chose Me, Chapter 14: Chapter 14. Read more chapters of He Chose Her, The Desert Chose Me.
Arthur's hand shook as he jabbed the doorbell, his usual arrogance stripped away, leaving only raw desperation. When the housekeeper answered, he barged in, dragging Bella behind him like a broken doll.
The thud of her hitting the floor jolted me, but what came next froze me in place. Arthur dropped to his knees, his bloodshot eyes wild with despair.
"Stop lying to me," he choked out, voice cracking. "I know you're Lilly. Not Sheren. I know everything now. Just tell me—how do I make this right? How do you want me to punish Bella? Name it, and it's done!"
For a heartbeat, his words cut deep. I'd told myself I was past this—that their betrayals couldn't touch me anymore. But standing there, staring down at the wreckage of the people who'd destroyed me, a sharp ache flared in my chest. Old wounds, never fully healed.
The Findley Empire was crumbling. Arthur was a hollow shell of the man he'd once been, and Bella had become a social leper, despised by everyone. My revenge had worked—too well. Yet as I surveyed the devastation, triumph tasted like ash.
I steadied my breath, forcing my voice cold and even. "I don't want your apologies, Arthur. You've already gotten what you deserved. As for Bella?" A glance at her cowering form. "She's a murderer. Let the law handle her. I'm done with both of you. Get out."
But Arthur lunged forward, clutching my legs like a drowning man. "No, Lilly—please! I was an idiot, a blind fool letting that witch manipulate me! But you loved me once—didn't you? I never stopped loving you. Come home. We can start over—"
I wrenched free, ice in my tone. "The second you chose to believe her over me, whatever I felt for you died. It's over. And I've moved on. My fiancé isn't you anymore. Leave."
Before he could protest, Daniel materialized beside me, his arm sliding possessively around my waist as he leveled Arthur with a look of pure contempt.
"Mr. Findley," he drawled, "shouldn't you be worrying about that five-billion-dollar debt? Payment's due today. Unless you've magically pulled the cash together, you'll be auctioning off your family's empire by sundown. Seems like a better use of your time than harassing my future wife."
Arthur's face twisted in fury and dawning horror. "You—Daniel—this was you all along, wasn't it? And that's not even your real name. Who the hell are you? What grudge do you have against my family?"
Daniel—Mike—let out a low chuckle, smirking. "Took you long enough, nephew. But yes, let's play the guessing game. Who disappeared fifteen years ago after being betrayed by his own blood?"
Arthur went bone-white. "M-Mike? My uncle—Dad's younger brother? But you—you died!"
"Oops." Mike's grin turned razor-sharp. "Guess the rumors were… exaggerated."
The silence that followed was deafening.
That night, Mike finally told me the truth.
Fifteen years ago, the Findley patriarch had been torn between two heirs: his eldest son, Michael—steady, predictable—and his youngest, Mike, a prodigy with a mind like a steel trap.
At just fifteen, Mike outshone his brother in every way. The old man fought the family elders for hours, arguing to name Mike heir instead. But by dawn?
Mike was gone.
A ransom call. A payoff. Then—a fisherman's claim of a body dumped at sea. The patriarch mourned. The family moved on.
Except Mike hadn't died.
He'd bided his time. And now? Now he'd torn the Findleys apart from the inside—with me as his perfect weapon.
For the first time, I understood the fury that had brought him into my life.
And the storm wasn't over yet.
The thud of her hitting the floor jolted me, but what came next froze me in place. Arthur dropped to his knees, his bloodshot eyes wild with despair.
"Stop lying to me," he choked out, voice cracking. "I know you're Lilly. Not Sheren. I know everything now. Just tell me—how do I make this right? How do you want me to punish Bella? Name it, and it's done!"
For a heartbeat, his words cut deep. I'd told myself I was past this—that their betrayals couldn't touch me anymore. But standing there, staring down at the wreckage of the people who'd destroyed me, a sharp ache flared in my chest. Old wounds, never fully healed.
The Findley Empire was crumbling. Arthur was a hollow shell of the man he'd once been, and Bella had become a social leper, despised by everyone. My revenge had worked—too well. Yet as I surveyed the devastation, triumph tasted like ash.
I steadied my breath, forcing my voice cold and even. "I don't want your apologies, Arthur. You've already gotten what you deserved. As for Bella?" A glance at her cowering form. "She's a murderer. Let the law handle her. I'm done with both of you. Get out."
But Arthur lunged forward, clutching my legs like a drowning man. "No, Lilly—please! I was an idiot, a blind fool letting that witch manipulate me! But you loved me once—didn't you? I never stopped loving you. Come home. We can start over—"
I wrenched free, ice in my tone. "The second you chose to believe her over me, whatever I felt for you died. It's over. And I've moved on. My fiancé isn't you anymore. Leave."
Before he could protest, Daniel materialized beside me, his arm sliding possessively around my waist as he leveled Arthur with a look of pure contempt.
"Mr. Findley," he drawled, "shouldn't you be worrying about that five-billion-dollar debt? Payment's due today. Unless you've magically pulled the cash together, you'll be auctioning off your family's empire by sundown. Seems like a better use of your time than harassing my future wife."
Arthur's face twisted in fury and dawning horror. "You—Daniel—this was you all along, wasn't it? And that's not even your real name. Who the hell are you? What grudge do you have against my family?"
Daniel—Mike—let out a low chuckle, smirking. "Took you long enough, nephew. But yes, let's play the guessing game. Who disappeared fifteen years ago after being betrayed by his own blood?"
Arthur went bone-white. "M-Mike? My uncle—Dad's younger brother? But you—you died!"
"Oops." Mike's grin turned razor-sharp. "Guess the rumors were… exaggerated."
The silence that followed was deafening.
That night, Mike finally told me the truth.
Fifteen years ago, the Findley patriarch had been torn between two heirs: his eldest son, Michael—steady, predictable—and his youngest, Mike, a prodigy with a mind like a steel trap.
At just fifteen, Mike outshone his brother in every way. The old man fought the family elders for hours, arguing to name Mike heir instead. But by dawn?
Mike was gone.
A ransom call. A payoff. Then—a fisherman's claim of a body dumped at sea. The patriarch mourned. The family moved on.
Except Mike hadn't died.
He'd bided his time. And now? Now he'd torn the Findleys apart from the inside—with me as his perfect weapon.
For the first time, I understood the fury that had brought him into my life.
And the storm wasn't over yet.
End of He Chose Her, The Desert Chose Me Chapter 14. Continue reading Chapter 15 or return to He Chose Her, The Desert Chose Me book page.