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Chapter 6
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Wed or Dead Chapter 8
With a deafening crash, Rosie shot straight to her feet, tipping the mug over on her desk."Who the hell are you calling an outsider?"Rosie lunged forward, grabbing Matt firmly by the wrist with an ice-cold glare.Matt stumbled back half a step, but his mouth kept on running. "Fine, Rosie, just you wait! Without my connections, you wouldn't even be able to make a single belt. What is the Department of Commerce even going to find? I kept every transaction clean."Except he hadn't kept it clean at all.I had looked up the legal representative information for those three inflated-price suppliers. Two of them were registered under Matt's wife's relatives, and the third belonged to his cousin. They were shell companies, just moving money from one account to another.The corporate investigation stretched out over a full month. In the meantime, Rosie secured a short-term loan to keep the factory running. For thirty grueling days, the Department of Commerce kept digging.During that wi
Wed or Dead Chapter 7
"Matt wants us to buy out his stake."Rosie came back late at night, her voice raspy.I brought her a bowl of soup I'd kept warm on the stove."What are his terms?" I asked, sitting down across from her.Rosie offered a bitter smile. "He wants thirty percent of the factory, cashed out at three million dollars. If I refuse, he'll make sure I can't land a single order in the industry."I didn't say anything right away. Instead, I asked, "How much did he actually put in when he first came on board?" "One hundred fifty thousand dollars," Rosie muttered, staring down at the floor.He wasn't pulling out his shares; it was outright theft."What are you thinking?" I watched her closely."After all, he's helped me out for years..." Rosie rubbed her face with her hands.I knew exactly what that word "helped" meant.Rosie still couldn't fully bring herself to believe Matt was sabotaging her. Two decades of friendship couldn't be overthrown by a few spreadsheets alone.I stayed silent
Wed or Dead Chapter 6
Day 20 of our marriage.Matt reached out to Rosie, inviting her out for a late dinner."There's an overseas trade guy who wants to meet you. He can help expand your distribution network all the way down into Southeast Asia," Matt pitched over the phone.Rosie agreed without hesitation."I'm coming too," I chimed in immediately.Matt frowned. "Bro, we're talking shop here. Wouldn't it be a bit awkward if you tagged along?""I'll pour him drinks and keep my mouth shut, I promise," I replied, hooking my arm through Rosie's.Rosie gave my hand a reassuring pat. "Alright, come with us."At the restaurant, I quietly took a seat on the side, observing Matt and his supposed trade contact.They did chat briefly about international distribution channels, but toward the end of the evening, Matt smoothly steered the conversation off course."Why don't we head out and unwind a bit? You've been too stressed lately, Rosie," Matt said, raising his wine glass.I knew that code word "unwind"
Wed or Dead Chapter 5
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Rosie's face. She was lying sideways next to me, her phone still glowing brightly in her hand.On the screen was a supplier price quote time-stamped at two-thirty in the morning. Her brow was lightly furrowed, as if she was still crunching numbers even in her sleep.I didn't move an inch. Lying there in bed on the very first morning of our marriage, I stared up at the ceiling, my heart pounding wildly against my chest.I had chosen Rosie, not because I forgave her or thought she was the best of the bunch, and certainly not because I believed a gambling addiction could magically be cured. Rather, it was a difference I noticed as those three flashbacks replayed in my head.When Rosie first sat down at a poker table, what crossed her mind was scraping together the vacation money for our trip to the Maldives.When Mandy first struck me, what crossed her mind was that I shouldn't be looking at anyone else.When Olivia first put her phone
Wed or Dead Chapter 4
I sat there in Hell in a heavy, prolonged silence.For once, Lucifer didn't try to rush me. He simply kept turning the pages of someone else's Book of Life.Inside my head, all three flashbacks were playing on an endless loop.Rosie had started out gambling out of love, only to end up gambling purely for the sake of the addiction.Mandy had been executing deep-seated control programming hard-wired into her bones from day one.And Olivia was broken inside. She could cry all she wanted, but she could never quite manage to grow a spine.There were three choices on the table.Rosie had her addiction. Once a gambling habit takes root, it clings to you like a venomous snake biting its own tail. Even if the initial motive was pure, it still leads to the same abyss.Mandy had her mental illness. Her obsessive need for control was a core personality defect that was not correctable. And the worst part was that she genuinely didn't believe anything was wrong with her.Olivia had her brok
Wed or Dead Chapter 3
I sat there on the cold stone bench down in Hell, nervously twisting the hem of my shirt between my fingers.Lucifer's words kept spinning on an endless loop inside my head. "She was making sure you were still hers."Mandy didn't beat me out of pure malice. She did it just to confirm I still belonged to her.And Rosie? Well, Rosie's gambling sprees at least started as a desperate bid to give us a comfortable life.So what about Olivia? The very same woman who had broken down crying while carrying that untouched bowl of soup back into the kitchen.Out of the three of them, she was the only one who had ever truly made my heart soften. More importantly, she was the only one who shed actual tears the day I died.What if she could finally stand up for herself? What if I forced her to grow a spine this time around?"Let me see the third one." I looked up to meet Lucifer's gaze."Last one on the list," Lucifer said, closing the Book of Life and tapping his fingernail against the cov
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