Lahat ng Kabanata ng My Husband and Cousin Stole My Design: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 8

I clenched my fists. My nails dug into my palms. “I was planning to email the design competition organizers and tell them we made a mistake with the name on the submission. It wasn’t Joyce who sent it in. It was Mindy. “Anyway, the organizers are in Central City. They won’t come to our small town to check who actually sent the design,” Julien added. His tone of voice was calculating. After we got married, Julien would massage my temples while I worked on my design sketches. He would gently say, “You’re working and taking care of the child. It must be so tough. All you need to do is design. I’ll handle the submissions and responses for you.” At that time, I trusted him completely and gave him all my design sketches. He would send them from his email and take care of the responses. Even though he told me over the years that my designs were rejected, I never doubted him. But I never imagined he would heartlessly send all my designs to Mindy Stanley to copy and publish as h

My chest hurt like it was being torn apart. Julien hugged me tightly as I trembled. Then, his phone rang. He answered in annoyance, but the moment he heard the voice on the other side, he let go of me right away. “Julien, Samuel and I just reached the hospital,” Mindy said sweetly through the phone. “Mindy, wait a minute. I’m coming now!” He rushed off without even saying goodbye to me. My aunt came out of the stairwell. She looked embarrassed. “Joyce, Mindy’s kid is really sick. So she came back to get him treated.” She rubbed her hands and tried to find the right words. “She called Julien earlier for help. That’s why he left so fast.” I looked down to hide the mockery I felt and said softly, “It’s okay, Auntie. I understand.” “Jay Lawson’s family, please come to the front desk to pay the hospital bill,” a nurse said. I held the bill tightly and walked slowly to the counter. It was next to the admissions office, and I saw Julien there. He was running around help

I spent a week alone taking care of Jay’s funeral at the funeral home. I chose a spot for Jay’s grave. It was sunny there. I hoped he was finally free from pain. My phone buzzed. It was a call from Julien. “Why isn’t Jay in his hospital room? Where are you? Why aren’t you at the hospital?” He sounded worried and angry. My voice was hoarse as I said, “Julien, come to the funeral home. Say goodbye to Jay… for the last time.” “The funeral home? Joyce, what are you talking about?!” Julien snapped. “Jay is sick, and you took him out of the hospital?! Is that what a mother should do?!” “Julien, don’t be so mean to Joyce.” Mindy’s soft voice came through the other end. She pretended to care for me. “Joyce, I know you’re upset that Julien’s been spending time with Samuel, but you can’t lie about such things.” Julien believed her and yelled, “You’re making this up just to get me to come back?! You’re sick, Joyce! I’m disgusted!” Then, he hung up. The dial tone buzzed in my e

I laughed, but tears streamed down my face. “Julien, you’re a fool! You believe everything Mindy says? “If you had just asked at the hospital’s front desk, you would’ve known that Jay died the same day you refused to give him your kidney!” Julien swayed. His face turned even paler as he remembered the moment I was on my knees and begging him outside the operating room. He whispered, “So… he died because of me?” “That wasn’t the only reason he died.” I looked at him in hatred. “Jay was bleeding internally, too.” Julien held his head and dropped to the floor. He suddenly remembered how, on that day, he had thrown Jay to the floor. Then, annoyed that Jay was in the way, he had kicked him in the chest. He was eaten up with regret, like something sharp was tearing at his heart. He let out a low, pained growl, like a wounded animal. Mindy’s phone kept buzzing loudly. The sound felt like a curse. She looked at the screen and struggled to breathe as message after message po