All Chapters of The Life I Stole: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

[Whitney is definitely coming, right? She waited ten whole years for Jethro! How could anyone not be moved by that kind of devotion?][Seriously. There hasn't been so much as a rumor about her getting married all these years. I always knew she was still waiting for Jethro.][I really want these two to end up together. I'm so invested in them!]I stared at the messages racing across the screen. My fingers tightened around my phone without me realizing it, but my eyes drifted toward Whitney Charlton, who was sleeping peacefully beside me.She looked completely at ease, her breathing slow and even. Under the soft glow of the bedside lamp, the usually cool, distant lines of her profile looked surprisingly gentle.Fifteen years.Fifteen years had passed since my senior year of high school, when I awakened to my memories and learned the truth. I was not the hero of this story. I was not even an important side character. I was just some forgettable extra whose name barely mattered.Whe

Whitney tilted her head up to listen, the soft, familiar lines of her profile looking exactly the same as always. Then Jethro let go of her, opened his arms, and pulled her into a hug.Whitney stiffened for a moment, but she did not push him away. The two of them stood outside the private club, wrapped in each other's arms like lovers reunited after years apart.I sat quietly in the back of the cab, watching them. I felt completely calm. The last ridiculous bit of hope I had been holding on to finally went out.I pulled out my phone, aimed it at them, adjusted the focus, and took a photo."Take me to my attorney's office."...The conference room at the law firm was chilled by the powerful air conditioning.I slid my phone across the table. On the screen was the picture of Whitney and Jethro embracing outside the club.Tessa Lynch, my attorney, was a woman in her 40s who wore gold-rimmed glasses. She had the sharp, capable look of someone who did not waste time.She studied th

The three of them stood together, looking like one big happy family.People around the room had already started whispering."Isn't that Whitney? Who's the guy she's with? He's gorgeous.""I think that's Jethro. He was the golden boy back in college. I heard he just got back from overseas.""Whitney's married, isn't she? I remember her husband was one of our classmates. Patrick, right?""Wow! Looking at them, I'd say Patrick doesn't stand a chance."I listened to the whispers without letting a single emotion show on my face. I picked up a glass of champagne and took a small sip.Then someone asked Jethro, "Jethro, didn't you marry Yoana and move overseas back then? How come you came back alone?"The smile on Jethro's face faded for just a second. Then he put on a perfectly measured look of vulnerability."I was young and stupid back then. I thought love was all that mattered. After I married Yoana, she... She started staying away from home all the time. And whenever she came ba

I went to work and carried on with my life as usual, as if none of this had ever happened.Every now and then, though, I would think about Lucas. I would remember his little voice calling me Dad, the way he used to throw himself into my arms and act all sweet and clingy.Then I would remember what he had said at the birthday party."I hate you. You're a bad person."My heart still clenched whenever I thought about it. However, I knew I could not let myself give in.His hostility toward me was something Whitney and Jethro had taught him. All I could do was wait, wait for him to grow up and wait for him to understand right from wrong.The days passed, and Tessa continued preparing the case in an orderly fashion. She told me Whitney had approached her privately and tried to convince her to get me to drop the lawsuit. She had even offered her a huge sum of money.Tessa turned her down without hesitation.Just when I thought the lawsuit might drag on for a long time, unexpected news

Yoana had even more evidence than I did.Not only did she have proof that Jethro had cheated on her during their marriage, but she also had text messages showing that he had stolen confidential company information and sold it to a competitor, along with bank records and witness statements.Jethro had no way to deny the charges, so he pleaded guilty in court.The court ordered him to reimburse Yoana's company for its losses and sentenced him to three years in prison for infringement of trade secrets.Around the same time, his divorce from Yoana was finalized, leaving him without any share of the marital assets.The outcome came as no surprise. In the end, both Jethro and Whitney lost everything they had, and both were left penniless and sent to prison.No one in the old class group chat felt sorry for them anymore. Everyone agreed that they had brought it on themselves.Someone asked me if I had known all along that things would end this way.I simply replied, "You always have t