When Love Turns to Ash

My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend.

From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down."

That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny.

But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded.

I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said."

Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off."

My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers.

I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal.

Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing.

As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury.

In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho."

How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me?

Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault?

Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred?

I would not be his victim.

Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done.

I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties.

This was not an escape; this was my rebirth.

Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.