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Home / Emotional Realism Short Story / Love's Convenient Lie / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Love's Convenient Lie: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

12 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Nathan, you're really coming with us? That's wonderful! We leave in two days."On the other end of the line, the HR representative from the foreign tech giant sounded thrilled.They had waited seven years for me. They even built a domestic branch specifically to make it easier to recruit me."Yes."The morgue was so quiet I could hear the echo of my own voice.I took one last look at my ten-year-old sister, Anna Harper. Her face was pale and tinged blue. I signed the death certificate and sought out the doctor.The doctor said cremation required a two-thousand-dollar advance payment.After Anna's condition turned critical, my savings from years of work were nearly gone.I had spent all these years revolving around my girlfriend, Gina Whitmore. I had no friends. After she removed me from my VP position, my coworkers distanced themselves from me too.Now, I could not find a single person willing to lend me money.Instinctively, I glanced at the watch on my right wrist.It was

Chapter 2

Gina did not even realize it herself. She said Lincoln was being dramatic, but her eyes held nothing but indulgence.Once, I was the one she worried about.When I had a simple stomachache, she sat by my hospital bed all day and made me soup herself, burning her hands in the process.Gina pulled out her phone. The next second, mine chimed.Two hundred dollars was deposited into my account.She smiled as she explained. "Lincoln likes to check up on me. If he finds out I gave you too much money privately, he'll get upset. Use this 200 to buy Anna some supplements and cheer her up, okay?"I gripped my phone tightly. We were supposed to be the real couple, yet now I felt like some kind of criminal.After a long moment, I laughed bitterly and transferred the money back to her.She had been about to get out of the car, but her movement paused. She finally realized something was wrong and turned back to pat my hand."Nathan, I know you've been hurt, but if we want to destroy Lincoln,

Chapter 3

Seeing the transfer record, Lincoln threw the phone on the ground."Gina! I'm looking out for you, but you're still hung up on your ex. Forget the checkup. I don't need it. I hope my leg just breaks off!"He stormed away in anger.Gina, who was decisive and commanding at the company, did not dare argue with him. She moved to pursue him.Then, as if remembering something, she stopped herself abruptly. She turned back, gently took my hand, and shook it. Her tone was earnest."Nathan, just two more days. Please be patient. I'll make it up to you properly after this."This was her favorite way of acting sweet. In the past, when she showed me this vulnerable side, my heart would melt.Now, all I felt was disgust.Before I could pull my hand away, she turned and went after Lincoln. I stood there alone, wiping the back of my hand with my sleeve.In two days, I would be gone. I was done with her.…After leaving the parking garage, I quickly found the buyer, got the money, and had A

Chapter 4

The next second, the fitting room curtain was yanked open. Gina was about to scold her assistant, Claire Shaw.When she saw it was Lincoln, her face went pale instantly.Lincoln stood in the doorway and gave Gina a bitter smile."Gina, I thought you really cared about my injured foot. I thought you were having someone try on my outfit for tomorrow's party."If Nathan hadn't tipped me off and told me to come watch the show, I never would've known that this was all just wishful thinking on my part. There’s no need to wait until tomorrow. I'll return everything you gave me right now."His hands trembling, he stripped off the custom-tailored suit and the million-dollar watch, hurling them at Gina.When he yanked off the VP badge from his chest, his gaze turned malicious. He deliberately threw it at my face.The pin on the back of the badge scratched my cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. It stung.Gina did not look at me for even a second. She only stared at Lincoln, not even flin

Chapter 5

The photo showed their hands tightly clasped together at sunset. The Patek Philippe watch Lincoln had thrown away was back on his wrist.The caption read, "She said love comes without warning. I said I'd never stop hoping she'd feel the same."My finger slipped and I accidentally liked the post. I quickly unliked it.Gina showed no reaction.By the time I got home, it was late. I had not eaten all day, so I made myself a bowl of instant noodles.Halfway through eating, Gina came home. She smelled faintly of alcohol.She had low alcohol tolerance. I used to care about her and never allowed her to attend drinking events.In the past, I would have asked her where she had been drinking and made sure she hydrated and took aspirin. Now, I kept my head down and continued eating without looking up.She kicked off her heels. Her nose twitched and her brow furrowed."Why didn't you wait for me? Didn't I tell you not to eat this kind of junk at home?"Gina hated the smell of instant noo

Chapter 6

"It's just 70 thousand dollars. I'll give it to you. 70 thousand or seven million, what does it matter?"Gina grabbed her phone and threw it at me. I did not dodge and let it hit my cheekbone.The wound the pin had left earlier that day started bleeding again.Gina's pupils contracted. She moved toward me.Meanwhile, I picked up the phone and transferred 70 thousand dollars to myself."Thanks."Gina bit her lip, swayed, and collapsed onto the couch, curling into a ball with her brow furrowed. I knew she was sulking, but I did not want to comfort her.I went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, put them away, and wiped down the counter until it was dry.She must have thought I was making her something to help with the hangover. Eyes still closed, she murmured softly."Not too warm."I smiled bitterly to myself, grabbed my suitcase, and left.It turned out leaving for real was a quiet thing. I did not even make enough noise to wake someone who was tipsy.I found a hotel at rand

Chapter 7

Gina stood up abruptly, bracing herself against the desk. "What did you say?"She looked down at her phone, the call still active. She was about to speak, when on the other end, an airport announcement echoed through."Attention passengers. Your international flight—"The next second, the call disconnected.On my end, I turned off my phone and followed my future colleagues to the boarding queue.The blonde, blue-eyed HR representative struck up a conversation with me in Eralish."Nathan, we've been trying to recruit you for seven years. We sent you messages every year and even sent people to seek you out domestically. You wouldn't even give us the chance to buy you a meal. So why now? Why did you suddenly agree to join our company?"I looked down. My grip on the suitcase handle tightened.Inside the suitcase, Anna's ashes lay quietly."I wanted a change in perspective. Staying in one place for too long, never moving forward, gets exhausting."The HR rep clapped me on the shou

Chapter 8

"No. She's not. She's just a stranger. That's all."My colleague clearly sensed that Gina and I had an unusual relationship. He said nothing more.Claire saw her boss kneeling on the ground and hurried to help her up."Ms. Whitmore, maybe we should just let Mr. Harper go. With so many people watching, if this gets in the news, it could affect the company's image."Gina's face darkened. She had a strong premonition that if she could not make me stay now, no matter how hard she pursued me in the future, I would never look back.However, soon, a group of traffic officers entered the hall. When they saw Gina, they frowned and reprimanded her."You were speeding. We told you to pull over and you didn't stop. Even if you're in a hurry to catch a flight, you can't drive like that. Your car's been towed. You need to come with us now."Gina pleaded softly. "I can go with you, but please, just give me a moment. Let me say a few words to my boyfriend. Please?""Gina?"Behind the officers

Chapter 9

"Nathan, do you regret it?" Her tone was calm.I looked down and smiled bitterly. "I do. If I had known you were the chairman's daughter, I would have gone with you."Tiana froze.In her memory, I was still the young man from seven years ago with light in his eyes, strong principles, and a confident posture. She had expected me to stubbornly insist I had no regrets.Instead, I looked desolate and unbearably lonely.That loneliness made her heart skip. She took a deep breath."What happened? Did you and your wife have a fight?""We broke up.""You broke up? When? Why? You used to say you loved her more than you loved yourself—"Realizing her emotions were running too high, Tiana clenched her hand into a fist and cleared her throat lightly."Don't misunderstand. I'm just concerned about my employee's mental and physical well being."I had nothing to hide, so I told her everything.Tiana was even angrier than I was. She ground her teeth for a good while before telling me to fo

Chapter 10

So that was it. I wondered why Gina had suddenly been willing to give me back my VP position. It turned out she had given Lincoln something far better. Company shares. He no longer cared about trivial perks like a VP title.Still, none of it had anything to do with me anymore."Oh. Well, congratulations. I hope you two get married soon and live happily ever after."Lincoln sounded smug."I knew your sister needed surgery. I knew you were short 30 thousand dollars. I blocked the transfer on purpose because I knew she'd die. And I knew that once she was gone, you'd finally give up and leave Gina for good."Nathan, no matter how capable you are, what's the point? The workplace doesn't need honest people like you."I said nothing and hung up.A moment later, a notification popped up on my screen."Recording saved locally."The moment Lincoln called, I had a feeling he was up to no good, so I started recording. I just had not expected to actually capture something useful.Still, w

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