All Chapters of Abandoned Billionaire Husband, Chose Bright Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Figures — nobody's kid. Can't even hold on to a husband."Sebastian had barely stepped out of the ballroom before the voices started up behind me.One of his friends lifted a glass and looked me up and down."Seven years clinging to him like a barnacle. You didn't deserve the seat. Of course you lost it.""Even his own kid rolled a six. You can't fight fate, sweetheart."I didn't do what I would have done a year ago. I didn't turn red-eyed. I didn't fight back.I just bent down, quiet, and lifted Logan into my arms, and walked for the doors.The night wind cut straight through the thin silk of my dress.I'd just reached the car when I heard quick footsteps behind me."Nora!"Sebastian had actually come back. He caught my wrist.He was breathing fast. The hem of his tailored jacket was pulled around by the wind."Why aren't you—" His brow tightened. His throat worked."Why aren't I what?" I pulled my wrist free and looked at him, cold. "Why aren't I threatening to kill myself to keep y

Chapter 2

"Ms. Holloway. You win."I was staring out at the dark. My voice came out flat."He never gave me his heart.""A bet's a bet. I'm leaving for graduate school overseas.""Go, then. Who's stopping you? Sebastian can't wait to see the back of you."Serena laughed into the receiver and cut the line.I set the phone down.A scene from years ago drifted up in my head.Serena had made a bet with me, once: Sebastian would never really love me, and the day I figured that out, I'd step aside.I'd never believed he'd married me out of spite. So I'd taken the bet.Life had slapped that confidence out of my mouth.He'd married me to get under Serena's skin.On our wedding night, I'd waited in the bridal suite in my dress. He'd waited at the arrivals gate at JFK.Two people. Each one up all night, waiting for somebody else.Six years of a marriage in name only had put me into severe depression.Then came the drunken night that produced a pregnancy, and the mood swings I couldn't control, and my gran

Chapter 3

"You—" His face closed over. My tone had thrown him."Think whatever you want."He dragged a hand through his hair, frustrated, and turned to leave.He'd just made it to the doorway when Serena, in my silk robe, drifted into the hall."Sebastian. We're going to be late."She hooked a hand through his arm and threw me a glance with a smug little curl at the corner of her mouth.The frustration on his face melted into something gentle."I'm coming." He slid an arm around her waist and turned back to me."No need to make lunch today."He cleared his throat and settled back into that clipped, done-this-a-hundred-times tone."Taking Serena to pick out a necklace this afternoon, and then she's got her welcome-back party. Full day. I probably won't make it home for dinner.""Wait."I stopped him. I opened the drawer beside the crib and pulled out a document."From the office. Update to the insurance beneficiary. Needs a spouse's signature."He took the pen with barely a glance. Serena was alr

Chapter 4

I was in the departure lounge when my phone started vibrating.Sebastian's name lit up on the screen.I stared at it until it went to voicemail.Then he called again. And again.I sighed and picked up."Where are you?"His voice had a thin edge of agitation to it."At home," I lied."I'm worried about you being alone, overthinking things. Come out. Come to Serena's welcome-back party."Welcome-back party.The words brought back the one — the only — time I'd gone to one of those.That year, I'd spent a whole month preparing.I'd hand-embroidered her a silk folding screen as a gift.And at the party, she'd sliced it open in front of the entire room."Oh, sweetie — what lovely needlework. Almost exactly like the maid we used to have."The whole room had laughed.Sebastian had been embarrassed by my gift. Embarrassed by me.He'd kept his face cold and hadn't said a word to me all night.His friends had gone to town on me. Doormat. Sad puppy. A woman with no self-respect who'd crawl on her

Chapter 5

When the plane touched down in Boston, a cold drizzle was coming down, pushed around by a damp, cutting wind.I wheeled my carry-on out of the terminal.I'd booked a small studio in grad-student housing through an agency before I flew.The room was tiny. A single bed, a desk. That was all.I'd never felt more at peace in my life.I swapped in a local SIM and texted Mrs. Linley to say I'd landed safe.My phone rang right away. She was crying before I could say hello."Ma'am — where are you? Where did you go?"I leaned back against the cold wall and listened.From her scattered, teary account, I pieced together what had happened the night I left.Sebastian had come home that night stinking of liquor.Mrs. Linley had met him at the door, practically wringing her hands."Mr. Forsythe. Logan's been crying all day. I couldn't get him to settle."He loosened his tie, irritated."Where's my wife? Get her to handle it.""Mrs. Forsythe said she was going out to clear her head. She hasn't come b

Chapter 6

Mrs. Linley told me Sebastian had finally understood that something was wrong.He'd realized my disappearance had everything to do with Serena.At first he still had it together. He tried to coax her into telling him where I'd gone."Serena. Enough. Tell me where Nora is."But Serena wouldn't give. She just kept crying, kept making scenes.His patience snapped.Right in front of her, he picked up the phone and called his assistant."Pull the plug on every partnership with Holloway Enterprises."He stared Serena down. Her face went gray. He didn't miss a syllable."If I don't have Nora back by morning, I'm taking Holloway apart for parts."She was stunned.She hadn't thought he'd go that far for me.Under pressure, the assistant dug up everything that had happened that day.Including the phone call he'd made.Sebastian learned that after he was done speaking to me, Serena hadn't hung up.She'd kept the line open.Every sound she'd made. Every word she'd said.I'd heard every bit of it.

Chapter 7

I stopped. I turned around.Sebastian was standing in the shadow of a gold-leafed ginkgo, a few yards off.He'd lost weight. His eyes were sunken, stubble shadowing his jaw.He looked like someone who'd been sleeping on park benches.And by his knee — a small boy in overalls."Mommy."The little one said it, uncertain.Something in my chest clenched hard.It was Logan.I started forward, smiling before I could stop myself, reaching for him.And then my eyes skipped up to the man standing behind him.The smile died. My face went cold.I stopped a step short. I didn't reach out."What are you doing here?"There was no warmth left in my voice.Sebastian's eyes went red instantly."Nora. I finally found you."He stepped forward with his hand out, trying to take mine.I pulled back like he was something diseased."Don't touch me. It makes me sick."His hand hung in the air. The look on his face was like it was actively breaking apart."Nora. I'm sorry. I know I was wrong."His voice had cra

Chapter 8

After that, he stopped camping outside my building.But he kept engineering chances to put me in the same room with Logan.The next time I saw Logan was six months later, on a weekend.He'd been flying a kite on the main lawn. The string had snapped and the kite had lodged in a tree.Logan could say "Mommy" clearly now.He ran over on short legs and looked up at me."Mommy, the kite flew away."I crouched down and touched his hair.Sebastian came up from a little further off with a bottle of water in his hand.He looked at me, and in his eyes was a suffocating amount of hope."Nora."His voice was scratchy."In another two years, Logan starts preschool."He crouched to match me. Tried to catch my eyes."If you never turn up to a single parent-child event—"He paused on purpose, and his voice took on a faintly moralizing edge."Are you really going to call yourself a mother?"I looked at him. I didn't answer for a while.The wind moved a few dry leaves around."I know I'm not a good mot

Chapter 9

I exposed the long, vicious scar that ran almost all the way across my throat.Then I pushed both sleeves up and laid my arms flat on the table.Pale skin. A grid of old wounds — some deep, some shallow, none of them forgotten.His pupils blew wide.He stared at them. His breath started coming fast and shallow."Nora—"He reached toward me, shaking, and stopped himself halfway."Two suicide attempts.""Once with pills. Once with a blade.""Three full years of severe postpartum depression. Every single day, I was trying to figure out how to die."I watched his face come apart and kept going."I was on high doses of psychiatric medication for years. My body never recovered."I looked him dead in the eye and dropped the last one."The doctors told me I'll never be able to have another child. Ever."He slumped back in his chair like his strings had been cut."No — how — "He covered his face with his hands. A small, strangled sound came out of him."What kind of pardon is big enough to cov

Chapter 10

Three days after he died, his lawyer found me.The lawyer brought a thick folder, and a little boy.Logan."Ms. Pemberton. This is Mr. Forsythe's final will."He slid the folder across the table toward me."Everything left in his personal trust — everything that wasn't liquidated — goes to his son, Logan Forsythe.""And he named you as Logan's sole legal guardian."I looked at the tight, uneven signature at the bottom of the will.I could picture how badly his hand had been shaking when he signed it."Did he leave a message?"I asked.The lawyer shook his head."Only one thing. 'Once the boy is with her, I can rest.'"I looked down at the boy pressed against my coat.He didn't fully understand what death meant yet.He was clutching the hem of my coat, eyes wide with unfamiliar-place fear."Mommy."He said it small.I sighed. I crouched down and pulled him into my arms."It's okay, Logan. Mommy's here."I signed the stack of legal paperwork.I took custody of Logan, and of the trust tha

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