My husband said he had suffered from severe PTSD since childhood and was terrified of intimate contact.
On the first night after our wedding, I merely touched his hand. He screamed, curled into the corner, and trembled all over.
For five years, we slept in separate rooms. I never dared cross a single boundary. Even a hug had to be asked for in advance.
My father and stepmother called me useless. My sisters laughed at me for living like a widow for a Mafia heir. I endured all of it.
That day, I was working a part-time shift as a moon-clown mascot at Luna Park in Coney Island, New York. A three-year-old girl splashed hot chocolate all over me.
I bent down to wipe the mascot suit clean, but the child’s bodyguard shoved me to the ground.
“Keep your filthy clown costume away from my daughter!”
Through the mesh eyes of the moon-clown head, I saw my husband, Adrian Blackwood, holding a woman’s arm and tenderly kissing the ends of her hair.
The woman wrapped her arms around him from behind. He did not tremble or scream. Instead, he smiled and kissed her back.
PTSD? Fear of intimacy?
What he feared had never been intimacy. He only feared being intimate with me.
The temp worker beside me hurried over and pulled me away.
“I know that woman. She’s Veronica De Luca, the De Luca family’s chief lawyer. Last month she buried a ten-million-dollar reputation blackmail case. If you make a sound, she can ruin you.”
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 10 Two years later, Veronica’s case reached its conclusion. She was sentenced for embezzlement and forging evidence. Adrian’s forged authorization case also received a ruling. He paid me compensation. It was not much. But the sentence in the judgment that said “violation of Ava’s reputational rights” mattered more than […]
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 09 Lucia Bennett once asked me, “Do you still hate him?” I thought for a long time. “No.” Hating someone also takes strength. And I wanted to keep my strength for myself. I began learning how to live again. On weekends, I went to the hospital with my father
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 08 Half a year later, I resigned from my old job. Lucia Bennett introduced me to a security intelligence company, where I worked in evidence preservation operations. She said that because I had been hurt, I understood better than anyone how helpless ordinary people could be when facing power.
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 07 On the day of the divorce hearing, the entrance to the federal courthouse was packed with tabloid reporters. Adrian wore a mask and looked so haggard he was almost unrecognizable. Veronica did not come. She had a family lawyer appear on her behalf. I heard she was busy
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 06 The next morning, Lucia Bennett held an online press conference with me. When the camera opened, I sat before a white wall. I looked terrible, but my voice was steady. “My name is Ava. I am Adrian’s legal wife.” I held our city hall marriage certificate up to
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 05 Early the next morning, my company inbox received a lawyer’s letter. Veronica accused me of reputation blackmail and malicious harassment, demanding that the company suspend me immediately for investigation. In less than half an hour, HR called me into a meeting room. My department manager could not even
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 04 Veronica gripped my collar, the veins on the back of her hand standing out. Everyone in the cafe turned to look. Adrian rushed to pull her back. “Veronica, not here.” She did not let go. She stared at me, and the warmth in her eyes cracked completely. “Ava,
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 03 That night, when I returned to my cheap apartment, a strange woman stood outside my door. She wore a business suit and carried a document bag. The way she looked at me was like looking at trash. “Ava?” I took out my keys. “Move.” She blocked the door.
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 02 The manager at Luna Park called me into the office and fired me on the spot. “You damaged the park’s image. Today’s pay is gone. Cleaning and repairing the moon-clown suit will cost five hundred dollars. You’ll cover it yourself.” I stared at the compensation form, my hands
Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 01 My husband said he had suffered from severe PTSD since childhood and was terrified of intimate contact. On the first night after our wedding, I merely touched his hand. He screamed, curled into the corner, and trembled all over. For five years, we slept in separate rooms. I