The Stars Wont Fall for LoveChapter 1
When the kidnappers demanded ten billion dollars, Adrian Vance strapped explosives to his chest and charged into that basement like a man with nothing left to lose.
All to save me.
The image of him carrying my naked, trembling body out of that hellhole went viral within the hour. The internet devoured it.
Rumors tore through the capital like wildfire: *Miss Henson was defiled by eighteen criminals. She's ruined. She's diseased.*
I was drowning—in grief, in shame, in the wreckage of my reputation—when Adrian Vance stepped forward.
He staged a proposal so grand, so public, that the entire city watched him drop to one knee and declare his absolute belief in my innocence.
"Hailey, you are the purest woman I know. Marry me. Let me take care of you for the rest of your life."
I wept. I believed every word.
Ten years of secret, unrequited love—finally, *finally* reaching a perfect ending.
That illusion shattered the day I gave birth to twins.
He took our daughter.
No warning. No explanation. Just... gone.
Panic clawed at my chest as I rushed home, still bleeding, still weak. I found the study door cracked open, and through it, voices.