Share

Chapter 2

Author: Sunecho
"This is a major event for both our families. Making a scene only hurts you. People will just see a shrew."

"Charlotte. However jealous you are of your sister, have some dignity."

Connor's voice carried a faint threat.

His family stood behind him, frowning at me. Their disapproval was obvious.

All he wanted was to protect Sophia. He wanted everyone in this room to believe I was a jealous, unhinged woman.

I opened my mouth. Sophia's wounded eyes swept across the crowd, soft and pitiful.

The next second, her knees gave out. She dropped to the floor in front of me.

"Charlotte, it's all my fault. Hit me. Scream at me. Do whatever you want. Just don't say you don't want me anymore."

She was sobbing so hard her whole body shook.

Her hand was clamped tight around the hem of my dress. I couldn't step back. I couldn't pull away.

Connor tried to lift her up. She just kept shaking her head.

My mother walked toward Sophia, disbelief on her face.

"Sophia. Did you really do this to Charlotte?"

"I wasn't trying to take anything from her, Aunt Eleanor. You know I wouldn't dare. But things have gone this far now. And no one is more torn up about it than I am."

Sophia's eyes were red and swollen. Tears still streaked her face. She looked like a frightened doe.

My mother couldn't take it. She grabbed Sophia's shoulders.

"Why, Sophia?"

"Haven't we been good to you?"

Sophia's mother was my mother's sister. She'd married badly, lived miserably, and died young.

Sophia came to live with us when she was eight. From that day on, she had everything I had.

When she was thirteen, she got sick. My mother donated her own bone marrow.

Watching my mother's face, I couldn't hold it in.

"You weren't trying to take anything? Name one thing you haven't taken from me over the years."

Her private school tuition. Her allowance. Her summer in Paris. The rent on her Cambridge apartment.

"Enough!"

Connor half-pulled Sophia behind him, glaring at us both.

"How can you do this to her in front of all these people."

He'd dropped any pretense of respect. He looked my mother in the eye, cold.

"Mrs. Ashford. I understand you favor your own daughter. But don't take it this far."

"If I hadn't felt sorry for her, none of this would have—"

My mother stood there, trembling, her finger swinging back and forth between them.

"You... you two." She couldn't finish.

She swayed and crumpled to the floor.

"Mom? Mom. Someone call an ambulance."

I dropped to my knees beside her. My hands shook as I grabbed her wrist.

The crowd erupted into noise. Someone was calling 911.

Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Her mouth was shaping the words I'm sorry.

Tears blurred my vision.

I'd been so wrong about everyone. How could she be the one apologizing.

I wiped my eyes and looked toward the door.

Please. Please hurry.

But there was no stretcher. There was Connor, holding Sophia in his arms, his face soft with concern as he whispered to her. "It's okay. None of this is your fault."
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • At My Engagement Party, My Fiancé Told Me He'd Been Cheating   Chapter 11

    Two months later, in the middle of the night, I got a call from Boston PD."Is this Charlotte Ashford?""Yes.""This is Detective McCormick with the Boston Police Department. Is Connor Harris listed as your emergency contact?"My fingers paused on the keyboard."Has something happened?"Connor had never changed his emergency contact."There's been a traffic accident. We need you to confirm some details for the record."I closed my laptop."What kind of accident?"There was a pause. The detective's voice softened. "Multi-vehicle. Around two AM this morning, Mr. Harris's vehicle was hit from behind on the Charles River Bridge. The car broke through the guardrail and went into the river."My grip on the phone tightened."The driver of the other vehicle was a woman. DUI. Full-speed rear-end collision. She was the primary cause of the accident. She died at the scene. We're still working on a positive ID.""What do you need from me?""We need to confirm Mr. Harris's insurance information. Th

  • At My Engagement Party, My Fiancé Told Me He'd Been Cheating   Chapter 10

    I was used to working until two in the morning now. Coming home, showering, falling into bed. Up at seven, in the office by eight. Coworkers said I was overdoing it. I didn't explain.It wasn't ambition.It was that the second I stopped, I'd start thinking.About what? About the people I shouldn't think about. About the things that shouldn't have happened.So I stayed busy. Busy enough I couldn't think.I did this for nearly six months.In six months, hundreds of unread emails piled up in my inbox. Not work emails. From Connor.He couldn't find my phone number. I'd changed it three times.The first time was when I landed in San Francisco. The second was when he somehow got the new number. After the third, I had my lawyer file a restraining order.He didn't try to call after that. He knew if he did, I'd actually press charges.So he started emailing.One a day. Sometimes three. The first few were long. He had a lot to say. I'm sorry. I didn't know Aunt Eleanor would. I regret everything

  • At My Engagement Party, My Fiancé Told Me He'd Been Cheating   Chapter 9

    Later, our old housekeeper told me. Connor had been to every property the Ashfords owned.The Back Bay townhouse. The summer house on Cape Cod. The estate in Newport.One by one. House by house.The housekeeper said he'd come to the Back Bay townhouse.I'd changed the lock code after my mother died. He didn't have the new one.He'd stood outside for a long time. In the end, the housekeeper let him in.He went straight to the closet. He saw the black trash bag.Before I left, I'd thrown every gift Connor had ever given me into that bag.He crouched down. He took them out one at a time. He wiped them clean with his sleeve.The last place he went was my mother's grave.The wind that day was brutal. He knelt there for over an hour without moving.The groundskeeper came over to tell him to go home. Closing time. Come back tomorrow.He didn't move.He was thinking, the housekeeper said. They used to be so happy.Every time he came over to Charlotte's parents' house, her mother cooked for him

  • At My Engagement Party, My Fiancé Told Me He'd Been Cheating   Chapter 8

    Every night, I dreamed about that day.I'd sat alone in my mother's hospital room for an hour.A nurse had packed her things into a white plastic bag. A few changes of clothes. A pair of slippers. A book she hadn't finished.I held the bag in my lap and sat in the chair beside the bed. The sheets had been changed. White. No wrinkles. No warmth. The pillow still smelled like her hair. Faint, mixed with shampoo and medication.I pressed my face into the pillow and breathed in deep.When I lifted my head, my mother was sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling at me. I blinked, and she was gone.*****Connor didn't know how long he'd been on the floor when he heard Sophia's voice."What happened? Are you okay?" She walked over, quiet.She crouched in front of him and reached for his arm.Connor pulled away.Sophia's hand froze in midair."Connor. What's wrong? You're scaring me.""Did you know her mother died."Sophia's pupils shrank."Connor, I didn't know.""You didn't know?"Connor stood

  • At My Engagement Party, My Fiancé Told Me He'd Been Cheating   Chapter 7

    Charlotte had been off the grid for a full week.At first, Connor didn't think much of it.She'd done this before. After a fight, she'd retreat to the Ashford estate and refuse to talk for a day or two. He'd go pick her up. He'd smooth things over. She'd come back with red eyes and let him take her home.This time would be the same, he thought.Besides, he had Sophia to take care of.Sophia had been through a lot that day. He'd moved her into his apartment on Beacon Hill.The day she moved in, she'd brought one small suitcase. She'd said she didn't want anything else from the Ashford house. Not one thing.Something in him had softened when he heard that.That first night she cooked him an entire spread.He sat down at the table. He cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth. He chewed twice. He couldn't taste a thing."Is it good?" Sophia rested her chin in her hand and watched him."It's good."It wasn't as good as Charlotte's. The thought drifted in out of nowhere. Charlotte had lo

  • At My Engagement Party, My Fiancé Told Me He'd Been Cheating   Chapter 6

    After I sent the email, I started walking back to my mother's room. Then I realized I'd left my phone in the car.It took me about fifteen minutes. By the time I got back to her door, I could hear sobbing from inside.I shoved the door open. Sophia was kneeling at my mother's bedside.Her shoulders were shaking. She was crying like she couldn't breathe."I'm so sorry, Aunt Eleanor. It's all my fault.""Charlotte won't speak to me anymore. Please, can you talk to her for me? She loves you most.""If she forgives me, I swear I'll leave Connor. Everything can go back to the way it was."Every word was a knife in my mother's chest.She'd only just started to recover. And Sophia was doing this to her.My mother was propped up against the pillows. Her face had changed. Her lips were turning blue. Her fingers clawed at the sheets. Her whole body was shaking.I rushed in and shoved Sophia away. I rubbed my mother's chest, gentle."It's okay. It's okay. I'm getting rid of her."She pointed at S

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status