All Chapters of Better Off without You: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

"Give me the password to Peaches's account. I'm deleting it."Outside the courthouse, Vicky Charleston chased after me, her voice clipped with command.She'd always believed I ran the pet influencer page just to chase clout.What she never saw was that every shot in my feed was of her. Every clip was one of our happiest moments together.I handed over my phone and watched her tap [Delete Account] without a moment's hesitation.Nearly a million followers vanished in an instant."If you keep it running, your obsessive fans will just go after Derek. Better to cut it off now than deal with the fallout later."She waved the forged evidence in front of my face again, then tossed it straight into the trash.The corner of her mouth curled into a satisfied smile, like someone who'd just won a battle.Except the winner wasn't me.Derek Charleston stood there holding Peaches's leash, leaning into Vicky's side, looking utterly harmless."Vicky, I promise this is the last time I'll be se

I came to again in the hospital."Mr. Fletcher, thank goodness the cleaning lady found you and got you here. We stitched up the cut on your head. You need to rest."The doctor studied my chart, frowning deeply."One more thing," he said, lowering his voice."You need to be more careful from now on. If you'd gotten here even a little later, we might not be having this conversation."I gripped the edge of the blanket, my chest aching.The doctor asked, "Where's your wife? I have a few things I need to tell her."I shook my head and said nothing.I'd already called her three times. She'd turned her phone off long before that.That evening, I went home.The moment I stepped through the door, Peaches broke free of her leash and slammed into me.Derek clapped a hand over his mouth, looking startled."Trey, I'm really sorry. I was just training Peaches to guard the house. I didn't realize it was you coming in."Pain shot through me as I braced myself against the wall.The wound

[Brain Surgery Consent Form]The words hit her like a blow, and Vicky's breath caught in her throat."What? He was... hurt?"Her eyes shot to the surgery date. It was the same day she'd left Trey behind to take Derek to the hospital for his stomach flare-up.[Patient sustained severe head trauma resulting in significant blood loss, with possible nerve damage...]The dense block of medical text pulled her straight back to that day."I did this to him..."Vicky's hand shook as she dialled Trey's number.All she got back was a cold, mechanical voice.[The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later...]She couldn't believe Trey would ignore her calls, so she sent a message instead.[Something this serious happened and you didn't tell me? Am I just furniture to you? Pick up the phone right now.]The second she hit send, she found I blocked her.Trey had blocked her."Fine." Her breathing turned unsteady. "If he wants to give me the silent treatment

As I carried my father's ashes out of the prison, I felt my entire world going dark.I'd searched everywhere for a lawyer at the time and sworn I'd do whatever it took to get him out.Vicky had blocked every single one of them."Every lawyer you've found is someone I trained under. If any of them helped you, how am I supposed to keep my standing in this field? You need to think of me here. This is exactly the kind of situation where I have to avoid any appearance of a conflict."In the end, the case fell apart, and my father was sentenced to three years.Now he'd been framed again, and the daughter-in-law lawyer he'd always been so proud of wouldn't lift a finger for him.He was gone. I'd never ask Vicky for another thing again.I carried his ashes onto a plane and went back to our hometown.Plenty of people used to mock me for growing up without a mother, but my father had shouldered that role too, on top of his own.He'd worked himself to the bone just to give me a shot at a