All Chapters of I Stepped Aside for Best Friend and My Husband, They Regretted It: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Two painfully familiar faces turned toward me at the same time, both wearing expressions of remorse.After a brief silence, Derek was the first to reach for my hand."Sophie, let me explain. I drank too much tonight. I got confused and thought she was you. Please... can you forgive me?"Nicole's tears spilled instantly. She grabbed my other hand."Sophie, don't blame him. I was the one who drank too much and went to sleep in the wrong room...""I'm not lying to you! No one would joke about their... first time."She glanced back at the drop of blood on the bedsheets, biting her lip hard, looking as though she were the one who'd been wronged."Sophie, can we just pretend nothing happened?"The corner of Derek's mouth twitched.He felt sorry for her.My heart clenched in response.Three hours ago, the three of us had been at a restaurant celebrating the bank loan approval. Our pharmaceutical company could finally get off the ground.It was the dream all three of us had fought for over the

Chapter 2

Nicole wiped her tears and jumped in."Sophie, our hard days are almost over. Let's start fresh together, okay?""Derek really does love you..." She twisted the hem of her top. "If it bothers you that much, I... I'll be the one to leave!""No."Derek immediately pushed back, reaching for her hand before catching himself."You've poured everything into this company. Where else are you going to find an opportunity like this on your own?"He couldn't bear to see her upset.And she, apparently, couldn't bear to make things difficult for him.I couldn't stomach their lovesick little performance. My stomach turned.I looked up and took back the pen."Enough. Stop the act.""If either of you actually cared about what we had, you wouldn't have done something this disgusting!""Do you really want me to stay? Or do you just want to keep your lead researcher on staff?"I wrote a number one on the page."I said I want a divorce, and I mean it."Derek gritted his teeth and sat down across from me.

Chapter 3

She came over, sobbing, reaching for my hand."Sophie, please don't be impulsive. I know you're only doing this out of spite to get money!""How about this? We can sign a contract to buy all your research. Once the company starts making money, we'll pay you right away."I laughed coldly and pulled away."We're not even divorced yet, and you're already acting like the new Mrs. Palmer? You don't get a say in this."Nicole froze, her body trembling."I... I shouldn't be here. I'll go."She turned and ran downstairs without her shoes or her coat.She wore nothing but a flimsy satin nightgown she'd thrown on in a hurry.It was already dark outside.Derek nearly lost his mind. He rounded on me, his voice suddenly sharp."Sophie Archer, have you lost your mind? What if something happens to Nicky out there?""I told you, I was too drunk and got confused. It had nothing to do with her! Who gave you the right to push her around?"He called her Nicky. He called me Sophie Archer.She'd slept with

Chapter 4

Before the company was officially established, we'd rented a small factory on the outskirts of town and converted it into a cleanroom lab. A handful of our college classmates worked there with us and would eventually become minority shareholders.The building was empty at that hour. I disabled the security cameras, went inside, and carefully packed up all my research. Then I sealed everything in temperature-controlled cases and sent it to Vincent by overnight courier.I recreated every sample, including the leukemia drug they wanted most, but changed two colorless, odorless ingredients in the formula.Once everything looked exactly as it had before, I turned the cameras back on and left.The apartment was still a mess when I got back.I hadn't owned much over the past few years. I'd lived frugally.The only valuable things I owned were the wedding dress Derek had insisted on paying for and the necklace Nicole spent a month crafting by hand — engraved with the words "Forever and Always.

Chapter 5

I went to the lab on purpose.Evan Harris always grinned when he saw me. "Here comes our star scientist!"Today he just gave me a nod, his eyes darting away. He'd just come out of my research room.I figured Derek had asked him to swap out my work.I played dumb, went along with the ruse, and packed everything up into a cooler as if nothing were wrong.When I walked out carrying my bags, every single person at the lab came to the door."Sophie, where are you headed? Are you staying in Brookhaven?""Sophie, we've fought together since graduation to get to this point. The company loan just came through. We're so close to making it. Where are you going..."My nose stung.A small team of just over a dozen people. We'd worked side by side since the day we graduated college.At the beginning, we'd pooled every dollar we had to rent a cleanroom no bigger than three hundred square feet. We'd built everything from there.It really hadn't been easy.I wiped the corner of my eye and forced a smil

Chapter 6

Everyone was already seated, looking uncomfortable.The restaurant's usual glassware had been replaced with gold-rimmed champagne flutes.Nicole wore a champagne-colored strapless mermaid gown. Derek's tie matched the gold-and-white decorations.Nicole spotted me and rushed over with exaggerated warmth, looping her arm through mine."Sophie, what took you so long?""I know you and Derek are over, but we're still friends. Make yourself at home. Sit wherever you like."She dragged me to a seat as if she were the hostess of the evening.My chair faced the enormous engagement portrait on the wall.I recognized the gown Nicole wore in it.The year Derek and I went to try on wedding gowns, Nicole had come along, of course.I'd picked one out for her and told her to try it on too.When she came out, she kept staring at me, her eyes red.I asked her what was wrong. She said, "I just realized my best friend is getting married. It hit me that we've suddenly grown up. I got emotional."I hugged h

Chapter 7

I looked up and met Derek's bloodshot eyes.Maybe he'd had too much to drink."None of your business."I pulled free.He grabbed me again, tighter this time."Sophie, we've been separated for one day! The divorce isn't even final!""And you already have someone new?"My temper flared."You got together with someone else while we were still married, and I caught you in bed with her! We're separated now. I'm free to see whomever I want!"The people filing out behind him exchanged stunned whispers."My God, no wonder they went from being so close to announcing a divorce overnight!""So that's what happened... She slept with a married man and took his wife's place? And she has the nerve to brag about it..."The words, though murmured, hit Nicole's ears like needles.She stamped her foot and yanked Derek's arm."I wasn't the other woman. You were. He never loved you!""I've been swallowing my feelings for years and I've had enough!""Derek! Let's go! I refuse to waste another second on this

Chapter 8

The Ashton Biomedical Research Center was one of the country's top independent drug-development facilities. It conducted its own research and ran preclinical validation for companies preparing FDA submissions and patent filings.Only after a drug cleared this level of review could its data package move on to the FDA and support a formal patent application.Even our team's six formulations had been validated at this center."Vincent, you work here?"Vincent shrugged."I run the place. No big deal."He had far more authority than I'd imagined.Vincent brought me to his two-story house. I had the entire second floor to myself.Everything in the room was brand new, and the closet held several outfits that suited my style perfectly."Get some rest for a few days, then straight to work.""I pulled a sample from your shipment and ran a preliminary test. The results are excellent. I'm going to repeat the tests for a few more days, then personally prepare the FDA package and patent filing."He

Chapter 9

The moment I left, Derek submitted "my" samples to Vincent's center for validation and help with a patent filing.Predictably, they failed the first round of formula verification.When he ran his own analysis, he finally saw how badly the formulas had failed.He texted me: "Sophie, you did that on purpose? Is this your revenge? I know you'd never make such a basic mistake!"I texted back, "Derek, are you saying you stole from me? I took everything when I left. How do you have copies?"He didn't reply.He was probably too guilty to answer.Even with only two ingredients changed, he couldn't reverse-engineer in days what had taken me three years to develop.Nicole had always been the weakest researcher of the three of us, and now all her energy went into clinging to Derek. She couldn't recreate it either.Eventually, Derek gave up. He submitted several colleagues' formulas and a few of his own.Only one passed testing.The patent brought in $30,000.Nowhere near enough to pay back the ma

Chapter 10

Derek wore an expensive suit. The watch on his wrist had to be worth around $30,000.Nicole wore a white mermaid gown and a pearl necklace that clearly wasn't cheap.They looked less like wedding guests and more like they were there to steal the show.Nicole walked up to me with her chin raised and her hips swaying, looking down at me with undisguised contempt.Layers of foundation still couldn't hide the exhaustion on her face."Sophie, turns out you were the most calculating of the three of us.""So that's why you left in such a hurry. You'd already latched onto a rich man. You couldn't even bother to acknowledge an old friend like me. But then again, Derek and I made it on our own. We didn't need to cling to someone else.""Derek and I were invited to a pharmaceutical conference in Washington, D.C. We're on a tight schedule, so we didn't have time to buy a proper gift. But for old times' sake, we thought we'd stop by."Derek's eyes never once left me.He produced a ring from somewhe

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP