The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 267

Chapter 134-1

I trace a line down Locke’s huge forearm, feeling the rigid muscle underneath his warm skin.

Cindy

“And then I got sick,” I say. At first, I thought it was just the extreme dieting and the stress, but then came the overwhelming fatigue, the sharp, constant pain, and a weakness so deep I could barely drag myself out of bed.”

“Shit, Zara. I’m sorry.”

“When the doctors finally gave me the diagnosis – stomach cancer – I didn’t even bother telling Knox. By then, he had checked out completely. He was firmly with Becca, living his life as if I didn’t exist, leaving me alone in that cold house for weeks on end.”

Locke’s jaw shifts, his breathing turning shallow and tight as he listens to the dark turn my life took.

“The breaking point came on our third wedding anniversary,” I say. “I was sitting at home when Becca showed up at the front door. She didn’t just come to mock me that I had hope Knox would show up for our anniversary… she waved a positive pregnancy test right in my face. She told me Knox was leaving me, that she was having his baby, and that I was officially obsolete.”

I pause, taking a deep breath of the warm, cedar-scented air of the penthouse.

“Becca and I decided to go talk with Knox right then and there. I got into the car with her…” I shudder slightly, feeling the ghost of shattered glass and twisted metal. “We never made it. We were in a horrific car accident.”

“Ohhh.” Locke blinks. “So that’s when that happened.”

“Yes. It was so bad that the surgeons opened me up to fix the internal trauma from the wreck. Since I was scheduled for surgery the next week anyway, and they were already operating, they removed the tumours.”

Locke’s hand slides up my back, pressing me closer to his chest, his large body shielding me as if he could rewrite the crash himself.

“That accident, as brutal as it was, is the only reason I’m alive today. As you can guess, it’s the accident that I was still recovering from when you and I first met.”

“I remember, baby.” He runs his hands gently over the scars on my stomach. “I remember everything you told me.”

“While I was recovering, the fog finally cleared,” I say. “I realized that almost every single word out of Knox’s mouth had been a complete lie. For years, he kept me terrified, insisting the Skulls were completely dependent on him, and that Dad’s club would crumble financially if our marriage unraveled.”

I reach up, laying my palm flat against his warm chest, feeling his steady, powerful heartbeat beneath my hand.

“I spent so long worried about disappointing Dad, carrying the crushing weight of keeping the peace, but when I finally left, Dad never made me feel guilty. Him, my brother, and the whole club backed me without hesitation. You guys didn’t suffer at all from severing ties with Knox and the Howlers. If anything, you’re stronger than ever as a club.”

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