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Home / Romance Short Story / After I Died, He Ruined the Woman He Chose Over Me / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of After I Died, He Ruined the Woman He Chose Over Me: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

17 Chapters

Chapter 1

The oncology wing of City General Hospital was quiet.I sat on a cold bench at the far end of the hallway, clutching the diagnosis report that had just been printed. The corners of the paper were crumpled beneath my fingers.“Late-stage stomach cancer. The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. Immediate hospitalization and chemotherapy are recommended. Estimated survival time is no more than three months.”Dr. Parker, my attending physician, took off his glasses and looked at me with the calm of someone who had seen life and death too many times.I asked him what would happen if I refused treatment.He said I might have two months at most, and the final month would be extremely painful. The pain could reach a seven or higher on the scale.“I understand. Thank you, Doctor.”I left his office with the report in my hand and sat down on the bench outside.My stomach started hurting again.It felt like someone was slowly sawing through the lining of my stomach with a dull knife, ba

Chapter 2

It was already two in the morning by the time I got back to the villa.I dragged myself upstairs, gripping the handrail with every step. The pain in my stomach came in relentless waves, like a dull blade twisting deeper every few seconds.I walked into the master bedroom and stopped in front of the walk-in closet.It was enormous.Ethan's clothes filled the left side, arranged with meticulous precision by color. Suits, overcoats, dress shirts. Every piece looked expensive.Mine occupied barely a third of the space on the right.Simple colors. Understated styles. Easy to overlook.Just like me in this house.I pulled out a suitcase and started packing.A few changes of clothes.Toiletries.Important documents.When I came across our marriage certificate and the photo from the City Hall, I paused.In the photo, we stood shoulder to shoulder.Ethan wasn't smiling. His lips were pressed into a thin line.My smile was careful, almost timid, as though I was afraid too much hap

Chapter 3

A blister pack of pills sat on the table.They were the painkillers I’d opened the night before. Three tablets remained.I reached for them.“Oh, what’s this?”Claire moved faster.She picked up the blister pack and held it in front of her face. Her expression turned innocently concerned.“Nora, these are expired. Look. They expired last month.”She flipped the pack over and pointed to the printed date.I knew they weren’t expired.I’d only gotten them last week. The date was clearly printed on the foil.“You shouldn’t take expired medicine. It’s bad for you.”As she spoke, Claire walked over to the trash can and dropped the pills inside.They landed on a pile of wastepaper with a faint rustle.I lunged for the trash like I’d lost my mind.Dropping to my knees, I shoved my hand inside and started digging.Scraps of paper. Fruit peels. Used tissues.I didn’t care.My fingers finally closed around the blister pack, and I clenched it tightly in my fist.Ethan walked over

Chapter 4

I leaned back in the old wooden chair, staring at the overgrown weeds outside the window."I'm not going."Ryan was quiet for a moment before lowering his voice."Mrs. Ford, Mr. Ford said that if you don't come, he'll stop paying the maintenance fees for your parents' graves. The annual fee is thirty thousand dollars, and this year's payment is still outstanding. He's been covering it for you all this time, but now he says..."He trailed off.I closed my eyes and rested my head against the chair.My parents were buried at Grand Memorial Park on the outskirts of the city.I had bought their burial plots with a loan during my first year of work.There were still ten years of maintenance fees left to pay.When Ethan married me, he'd told me I would never have to worry about those things again.He would take care of everything.It wasn't until later that I realized what "taking care of it" really meant.He'd turned it into something he could use to control me."I'll be there."

Chapter 5

Standing together, they looked like they belonged on the cover of a magazine.Ethan picked up the microphone and gave a brief welcome speech, thanking everyone for coming to Claire’s birthday celebration. He said she was the most important person in his life and hoped everyone would enjoy the evening.When he said “the most important person in my life,” his gaze swept across the room.He spotted me sitting alone in a corner.His eyes paused on me for the briefest second before moving on.As Claire cut the cake, her attention suddenly shifted to the necklace around my neck.It was the only thing my mother had left me.The chain was silver, with a small moonstone pendant. It wasn’t worth much, but I’d worn it for ten years and had never once taken it off.“Nora, your necklace is so pretty.” Claire walked over with a sweet smile. “Can I see it?”My hand instinctively closed around the pendant.Ethan came to stand beside her.The moment he saw me protecting the necklace, his exp

Chapter 6

Then I turned and walked toward the ballroom doors.Behind me, Ethan's voice rang out, laced with anger."Nora. Stop right there."I didn't stop."I said stop!"His voice echoed through the ballroom, silencing the room.I never looked back.I pushed open the doors and stepped into the hallway.The crystal chandeliers behind me cast my shadow long across the polished floor.At the end of the corridor were the hotel's front doors.Rain was falling outside.Just like it had been seven days ago.I pushed the door open and walked into the rain.The water washed over my face, taking my makeup with it.Beneath the foundation was the gaunt face I'd been trying so hard to hide.I didn't wipe it away.And I never looked back.Not once.The house on the outskirts of town had belonged to my grandfather.It was an old wooden home that had sat empty for decades.By the time I moved in, the weeds in the yard had grown to my knees, and two of the windowpanes had been replaced with

Chapter 7

I forced myself back to my feet and kept moving.Just as I reached the living room, a deafening crash came from above.A burning wooden beam collapsed across my leg.Pain tore through me, and I heard a sharp crack.I looked down.The beam had pinned my lower leg to the floor, and the flames were already spreading across my dress.I tried to pull free, but it was far too heavy.I shoved at it with both hands, only to jerk them back from the unbearable heat.The smoke grew thicker by the second.I lowered myself to the floor, pressing my face close to the ground where the air was slightly clearer.Even then, every breath burned my throat.I knew I wasn’t getting out.I pulled out my phone with trembling fingers and found Ethan’s number.The signs that he had blocked me were still there.He had never unblocked me.Still, I pressed call.Ring.Ring.Ring.After three rings, he answered.“Nora?” Ethan’s voice was thick with sleep and irritation. “What the hell are you do

Chapter 8

Everything burned.Every last trace of it.....I floated above the ruins, watching my grandfather’s house collapse into ash.By the time the fire trucks arrived, it was already too late.The old wooden structure had burned too quickly. Once the flames were finally extinguished, all that remained was a blackened frame.The firefighters carried my remains out of the wreckage.The medical examiner crouched nearby and took notes.“Female. Approximately twenty to thirty years old. Preliminary cause of death is smoke inhalation. Multiple burn injuries. Both legs appear to have been broken when the beam collapsed.”He didn’t say my name.There was nothing left on me that could prove who I was.My phone was destroyed.My clothes were gone.There was no way to recognize my face.I hovered above the scene, staring down at what remained.It felt strangely unfamiliar.Was that really me?Was that really all that was left of Nora?I reached out, but my hand passed straight throug

Chapter 9

Ethan let out a cold laugh.“Nora’s house?”Ryan nodded.“Someone like her won’t die that easily,” Ethan said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Give her three days. She’ll come crawling back and beg me.”Ryan opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but one look at Ethan’s face made him swallow the words.He turned and left.Claire came out of the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee and set it in front of Ethan.Then she started cleaning the living room.She gathered the last few things I’d left behind, a mug on the windowsill and a scarf draped over a chair, and tossed them into a large trash bag.Ethan watched her throw them away.He didn’t stop her.“These old things should’ve been thrown out ages ago,” Claire said with a smile. “The house feels so much nicer when it isn’t cluttered.”She tied the bag shut and carried it to the front door.Ethan slipped an arm around her waist.“You’re right. That trash should’ve been cleared out a long time ago.”I hovered near th

Chapter 10

“Then keep looking!” Ethan roared before hanging up.From that day on, he couldn't stop checking his phone.Every few minutes, he'd unlock the screen, open the messenger app, and see if there were any new messages.The number that had once called him ninety-nine times in a single day had now been silent for an entire week.He made another social media post.It was a photo of Claire wearing my mother's necklace.The caption read:'Engaged next month.'The comments exploded with congratulations.*Congratulations, Mr. Ford.**Congratulations, Claire!*One after another.Ethan scrolled through every single comment.He wasn't reading the congratulations.He was looking for one person.He was looking for my comment.No matter what he posted, I had always been the first to respond.Sometimes it was a smiling emoji.Sometimes it was, “Don’t work too hard.”Sometimes I’d just leave a like.Now the comments were overflowing with well-wishes.The only thing missing was the pr

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