Just Another Broken Heart

Just Another Broken Heart Lizzie Lioness Trigger Warnings D ear courageous Reader, Good luck. This book will make you smile. It will make you laugh (hopefully) But it might make you cry (probably) Just Another Broken Heart contains violence though not fully descriptive, as well as grief. It was written with the intention of evoking all kinds of emotions. I hope you enjoy it. Lizzie Copyright Copyright © 2022 Lizzie Lioness Cover design: Books and Moods Edited by: Gennifer Ulmen All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be used, stored in a system retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means—by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever—without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. ISBN: 9798393916565 Contents Dedication 1. PROSE 2. PROLOGUE 3. CHAPTER ONE 4. CHAPTER TWO 5. CHAPTER THREE 6. CHAPTER FOUR 7. CHAPTER FIVE 8. CHAPTER SIX 9. CHAPTER SEVEN 10. CHAPTER EIGHT 11. CHAPTER NINE 12. CHAPTER TEN 13. CHAPTER ELEVEN 14. CHAPTER TWELVE 15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN 16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN 17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN 18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN 19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 21. CHAPTER NINETEEN 22. CHAPTER TWENTY 23. CHAPTER TWENTY ONE 24. CHAPTER TWENTY TWO 25. CHAPTER TWENTY THREE 26. CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR 27. CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE 28. CHAPTER TWENTY SIX 29. CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN 30. CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT 31. CHAPTER TWENTY NINE 32. CHAPTER THIRTY 33. CHAPTER THIRTY ONE 34. EPILOGUE Acknowledgments About the Author Social Media Dedication For you, the reader, who thrives on feeling the emotions, heartbreak and love in a story, while still hoping for a happy ending. For my husband: I love you more than words can express. To my babies, Sapphire and Sebastian: You mean more to me than anyone or anything. I love you both to the moon and back. PROSE There was once a girl who had fire in her eyes, the kindest soul, and dreams in her heart. She valued love, knowing that someday she would get to marry someone who meant more to her than anyone. Until one night, it all broke away from her, leaving her nothing but a shattered shell, fragments of her soul neither here nor there. She was lost. She was crushed. And she was broken. But perhaps… not entirely beyond repair. That girl was me. And this, my friends, this is my story. PROLOGUE ALICE 1 0:08 am. That was the moment the first drops of pattering rain hit the pavement. I had noticed the dark clouds above me when I glanced up at the sky. There was a hint of green amongst the gray horizon and I knew what that had meant; a severe storm was brewing. The rumbling in the distance was a sound I had adored since I was a kid. It brought fond memories of my childhood. My parents used to read to me to distract me from the flashing lights and thunder, and eventually, as I got older, I found storms to be quite soothing. As the rain pelted down, I closed my eyes with my arms stretched out beside me, feeling the water drip between my fingers. I should have run to shelter the moment I walked out of the station, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stand in the rain. I felt like a kid again. The smile on my face was going to be difficult to shift because I was already in a good mood. Nothing was going to change it. My dress was soaked, clinging to my body and my hair was drenched and messy. I didn’t care that I had only straightened it that morning. It was pure bliss. Feeling the rain pelt down harder, I decided it was time to walk home. Just as I spun around, a broad chest bumped into me, almost knocking me back. If it weren’t for his quick reflexes when he slid his arm around my waist, I would have surely fallen on my ass. “I’m so sorry,” he apologized quite breathily as though he were running. “Are you okay?” His velvet voice reached parts of me that hadn’t been touched in a long time. My eyes trekked up his damp gray Oxford button down shirt, the top loose enough that I could see some chest hairs peeking through the gap. I glanced up at the stranger, catching a whiff of his aftershave. His arm was still tucked around me and our bodies were pressed up against one another, my chest heaving with each breath. I was definitely okay. Nodding absentmindedly, I failed to speak out any words to the man who still held onto me for dear life. Feeling my heart race a little more, my nerves suddenly kicked into gear and I took a step back to try and steady myself. “I’m good,” I managed to croak out. He had an umbrella which was in the cusp of his hand, but he wasn’t using it for shelter like he could have been. It was pissing down on both of us now. I felt the water trickle down my neck into the valley of my breasts, disappearing into my bra, but he wasn’t focused on that. He was looking into my eyes, refusing to avert his gaze, and for some reason, I couldn’t shy away from him either. He cleared his throat, taking a quick look around before speaking again. “I was in a hurry and I knocked into you.” “It’s okay. I’m not hurt.” The stranger whipped up the umbrella over our heads when he realized we were both getting drenched just standing there. I suddenly felt a chill radiate through my body, leaving goosebumps across my raised