Home / The Story about Amanda / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of The Story about Amanda: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

My brother, Eric Wilson, was cheating on his wife.A designer boutique I frequented had just received the season’s latest collection. A sales associate I knew called and asked if I wanted to come in for an early look. As luck would have it, Eric was there when I arrived. He was lounging in the seating area. His long legs were propped up on the coffee table.He was probably bored because he was scrolling through his phone. A slender, curvaceous woman stood with her back to me as a sales associate helped her choose a handbag.She turned around and asked him with a hint of coquettishness, “Eric, what do you think of this one?”My eyebrows rose with interest. Did she just call him Eric? I knew that businessmen like my brother always had women around them, married or not. Whether those relationships were innocent was another matter, but those women usually addressed him as “Mr. Wilson,” “Sir,” or “Boss”.It was the first time I had heard one of them call him by his first name so in

Chapter 2

Eric and Amanda’s marriage had been arranged by their families, with both families being of comparable social standing. In truth, my family was nouveau riche. My grandfather had made his fortune in coal mining.By my father’s generation, the family had moved into the jewelry business, but really, we had only traded coal for precious stones. Besides, coal and diamonds were both made primarily of carbon. The same was true of my family members. Whether we dealt in coal or jewelry, we were still nouveau riche at heart.That was why Dad wanted Eric to marry a young woman from an equally prominent but more cultured family. He hoped she might lend a little refinement to the next generation of our family.Amanda was the perfect candidate. Her father was an art appraiser, while her mother was a renowned painter. Amanda herself had earned a graduate degree from a prestigious university. She was exceptionally intelligent and was only twenty-three when she graduated. Afterward, she join

Chapter 3

Although it had happened three or four years ago, I remembered it vividly. I was normally oblivious to awkward situations, but even I had wanted to disappear from embarrassment. When Eric finally arrived, he did not even bother sitting down. He picked up the nearest glass of red wine and went straight over to toast Amanda. In a deliberately flirtatious voice, he said, “Amanda, darling, forgive me for keeping you waiting. Let me make it up to you with a drink.” I had to hand it to him. He had somehow managed to sound spectacularly sleazy.His behavior was also incredibly forward and rude. Even worse, he had clearly come determined to sabotage the entire dinner.When Amanda raised her glass to meet his, he deliberately spilled some of his wine onto her. She was wearing a white blouse.The red stain spread across her chest. The wine soaked through the fabric and faintly revealed the outline of her bra underneath.I did not dare look at my parents’ faces. Amanda’s parents, Mr. an

Chapter 4

A vein throbbed at Dad’s temple as he pointed a trembling finger at Eric. “I turned a blind eye to all those women you used to fool around with. But if you bring some stranger into this family, I’m going to kill you.”Eric laughed. His lips curved upward, but his eyes remained cold.“She’s hardly some nameless stranger. Her name is Tiffany McCann. She’s an honors graduate from Camford.“She’s gorgeous, and she has the body of a model. Why can’t I marry her?”Dad snatched up a glass and made to throw it at him. Realizing that things were about to get ugly, I hurried over and linked my arm through Eric’s. I gave the inside of his elbow a discreet pinch, warning him to stop.Then, I turned to Dad in my sweetest voice. “Come on, Dad. You know what Eric’s like. I’ll talk some sense into him.”I practically dragged him out of the living room in the next moment. I could understand how Eric felt. As the daughter of the family, I had always been spoiled and indulged. Eric had never be

Chapter 5

Amanda fell in love with Eric and even agreed to marry him.My brother Eric had never been willing to share the details of his love life with his younger sister, so to that day, I had no idea what he did during their supposedly fake courtship to win Amanda’s heart.At that time, I had told Eric to swallow his pride and play along until the development project was secure. Once Dad could no longer use the funding as leverage against him, Eric could end the relationship.I never imagined that Eric would play the part so convincingly. Amanda might have been brilliant, but when it came to love, she was innocent and trusting. Somehow, Eric made her fall in love with him and agree to become his wife.They had not been together very long. After a little over a year, they began discussing marriage. The path to their engagement was neither smooth nor honorable, because Dad apparently forced Eric’s hand. He used both the development project and Tiffany’s education and future career as lever

Chapter 6

The rest of the album captured more personal, unguarded moments. There was a photograph of their fingers intertwined at the movies, one of Amanda tucked into Eric’s arms during a skydiving trip, another of them barefoot and leaning against each other on the beach, and one of Amanda sitting behind him on his motorcycle with a helmet on and her arms wrapped around his waist.What surprised me most was the sheer number of close-up selfies they had taken together. Sometimes, Eric looked at the camera. Sometimes, he did not. Most of the time, his expression remained unreadable, but every now and then, he smiled, especially when Amanda used one of those ridiculous filters that distorted both their faces.There was also a candid photograph of Eric alone. He was sitting on a bench in the hallway outside Amanda’s laboratory, waiting for her to finish work. Amanda must have called his name just as the photograph was taken. He had turned toward her with his gaze lifted beyond the camera

Chapter 7

Before their relationship fell apart, Eric and Amanda had enjoyed a peaceful and mutually respectful marriage. Eric had actually been quite protective of her.On the first morning after their wedding, Amanda came down a little late for breakfast. I sat at the table and started teasing her. She blushed from her face all the way to the tips of her ears at my remarks.She had stopped at the foot of the spiral staircase and was too embarrassed to come any closer. All the while, she looked at us with shy uncertainty.Eric kicked me hard under the table, then got up and walked over to her. He held out his hand as though it were the most natural thing in the world, calmly led her to the table, and helped her into her seat.Then, he turned to her and asked, “What would you like? Pancakes or eggs?”They looked just like any other blissfully happy newlywed couple.Back then, whenever I went downstairs late at night in search of a snack, I often found Amanda in the living room. She was read

Chapter 8

I had teased her at that time. I said someone as sheltered and well brought up as her could hardly have done anything truly terrible.Then, two weeks later, Dad stormed into the house carrying a thick file and ordered everyone into his study. He had something important to discuss.The argument that followed was the first sign that our family was beginning to come apart.The file contained dozens of promissory notes. The total was substantial without being catastrophic for a family like ours. They documented Mr. Jordan’s gambling debts, which had grown to nearly ten million dollars after years of interest and penalties.Every major asset owned by the Jordan family had been pledged as collateral for loans Mr. Jordan had taken out to cover his gambling losses. When Amanda married Eric, those encumbered assets had been transferred to them jointly as part of the marriage settlement.No one had conducted proper due diligence before Amanda and Eric signed the transfer papers. Mr. J

Chapter 9

She was such a fool. Her husband had spent the day buying another woman designer handbags. She was probably one step away from being thrown out of the family, yet there she was, happily playing with flour. I gave a cold scoff and ignored her. Amanda had grown accustomed to offering warmth and receiving nothing but coldness in return from our family.Even in the face of my hostility, she continued smiling at me. I turned and walked away.I did not come downstairs again until dinner. To my surprise, Eric was home. After spending the day shopping with Tiffany, I had assumed he would spend the night with her too.Amanda sat beside him, with my parents across the table. I walked over and took my seat.My parents spoke to Eric. I occasionally joined the conversation. Without ever acknowledging it, all of us treated Amanda as though she were invisible.It could not have been easy for her. I glanced sideways and saw the chandelier casting its light across her face. Her eyes remained low

Chapter 10

Then, he released her, turned around, and walked out. After that night, he hardly ever came home.I was afraid they might have another violent confrontation. I went upstairs and stopped outside their bedroom.Just as I reached for the door, I heard Amanda ask, “Do you want a divorce?”A year ago, after Eric had finished paying off the Jordan family’s debts, he had asked Amanda with a mocking smile, “The debt is paid. You’ve gotten everything you wanted from me.“Are you planning to leave now? If you want a divorce, I’ll be happy to oblige.” Amanda had looked directly at him and answered with quiet, deliberate conviction, “I will never ask you for a divorce, Eric.”Eric had paused for a second, then scoffed. “Of course. Your mother is still in the hospital.“Her dialysis and private care cost tens of thousands every month. You could never afford that on your own, could you?”I never forgot the way Amanda’s face had gone blank at his words, or the silent despair that filled her

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