All Chapters of Presumed Dead & Legally Broke: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

I woke up again on the day my husband's supposed death went viral.My phone wouldn't stop buzzing. Alert after alert filled the screen."Prominent garment manufacturer Nathan Mercer killed after car plunges off cliff during road trip. Vehicle destroyed by fire. Remains identified..."I stared at the notification, slowly tightening my grip on the phone.The first time I'd read that news, I'd cried until I passed out in the living room.I'd spent an entire year as his widow.Running his company. Paying his debts. Even supporting the two women he'd been keeping on the side.A year later, he'd strutted back into my life with another woman.Vanessa Shaw. His first love, who lived in another city.He'd never died.He'd bribed a man at the funeral home, Victor Lang, to tamper with the DNA identification, passing off an unidentified body as his own.The plan was to collect $1.2 million in insurance and disappear abroad with Vanessa.But in my first life, she'd collected the money h

Chapter 2

She hit the brakes and pulled over."What?""He's alive."I watched the rain run down the windshield."He staged the crash. Bribed a man named Victor Lang at the funeral home to switch the identification samples."He wants the insurance payout. One point two million."And he changed the beneficiary to Vanessa. His first love."Grace's mouth fell open."How do you know?""Don't ask me that." I turned toward her. "Just tell me if you believe me."She held my gaze for a long moment.Then she started the car again."I do."At the insurance company, I went straight to the claims manager, Warren Cole.I showed him my marriage certificate and ID and asked him to check the beneficiary details on Nathan's policies.After searching the records, he looked up with an uncomfortable expression."Ms. West, Mr. Mercer has two accident policies. The combined benefit is $1.2 million."The named beneficiary is Vanessa Shaw. Her relationship to him is listed as fiancée."Fiancée.I'd be

Chapter 3

I slapped the certificate down on the desk, my eyes red.This time, I'd pinched myself to bring on the tears."Wait for what? You've seen the state of the body. The DNA tests are done. Are you saying they're wrong?"I'm his legal wife. I can have his death registered."His company owes more than eight hundred thousand dollars. Suppliers are at the door every day. I need to settle his affairs before the business collapses!"Dana watched me for a long moment, then stamped the paperwork.By the time we came out, the rain had stopped.Grace asked, "What happens if he comes back now that he's officially dead?""He won't dare." I gave a short laugh. "Or if he does, he won't dare have the record corrected."The moment he tries, the insurer starts asking questions. His fake death falls apart."One point two million in insurance fraud. He could be looking at ten years. He can't talk his way out of that."Grace sucked in a breath.I took out my phone and showed her two pictures."Re

Chapter 4

At four the next morning, before the sun was up, Grace and I loaded two suitcases into her used Volkswagen Golf and headed for the highway.Apart from the luggage, we had one canvas bag.Inside were a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash, copies of the property documents, the business sale agreement, and proof of the $1.2 million insurance payout.Grace drove. I sat beside her.As we left Riverton, I looked back once.The city lights grew smaller behind the rain.At this point in my first life, I'd been sitting vigil for a man who wasn't dead, crying until I could barely see.Now I was in the passenger seat with the wind tangling my hair.And I couldn't stop smiling.Grace glanced over."What's funny?""How stupid I was in my last life."She didn't answer. She just turned up the music.An old song about the world outside.At dawn, we stopped at a service plaza, bought instant noodles, and sat on the steps to eat them.Grace slurped a mouthful."If Nathan really is

Chapter 5

In Port Azure's Riverside district, we rented a tiny studio for eighteen hundred dollars a month.Studio was a generous word. It was one floor of an old apartment building, a two-bedroom unit we'd repurposed.The living room became our showroom. The larger bedroom was the pattern room; the smaller one, our office.Grace slept in a partitioned nook behind the living room. I took a little room beside the balcony.It was rough, but it was cheap. And the Central Textile Market was about a mile away.Grace had studied fashion design. In my first life, her label had almost taken off before Nathan paid someone to wreck her hand and destroy that dream.This time, I would help her get it back.I set aside a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in working capital for equipment rentals, fabric, and trademark registration.Grace named the brand West & Wild.West for me. Wild for everything we were finally free to become.Our first dress was her design: vintage French styling in imported ra

Chapter 6

For West & Wild's first anniversary, we threw a small party.Nothing extravagant. A few tables in the studio, dinner with longtime customers and suppliers.Grace drank too much that night. Holding my hand, she said, "A year ago, I thought that was all there was going to be.""What do you mean?""Nothing. No work. No future. No man." She blinked hard. "If you hadn't brought me out of Riverton, I'd probably still be drifting through the days, waiting to die."I poured her some tea."You weren't waiting to die. You were waiting for me."She stared, then laughed."When did you start talking like a novelist?"I laughed, too.I didn't tell her that, in a way, I had become one.I'd written the story of my first life in a little booklet. Grace was the only person I'd shown it to.She'd cried all night after reading it."This isn't a novel. This is our life.""No," I'd told her. "It's the life we had before. This one, we write ourselves."Two months after the anniversary, Grace f

Chapter 7

The fake-death scheme had been Vanessa's idea.Making her the beneficiary had been their joint decision. She'd thought the moment Nathan died, the $1.2 million would be hers.She'd even picked out a house in Fairhaven before the payout arrived.She hadn't counted on me getting to it first.Nathan spent ten hours on a slow train, then dragged his suitcase to her beauty salon.Her first words weren't "Are you okay?"They were, "Where's the money?""My wife got it. She challenged the insurer. The court ruled for her..."Vanessa's face darkened."What? One point two million, and you didn't get a cent?""Listen, we can find another way—""Another way?" She sneered. "You're legally dead. You have no valid ID and no money. What exactly are you bringing to the table? Your looks?"He tried to explain. She didn't let him."I waited a year for you. I sold the salon. I was ready to leave the country the moment that money came through. And now you're telling me it's gone?"She pointed

Chapter 8

Another year later, West & Wild opened its first flagship store.It was a beautiful space beside the Azure River, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the water.Customers, bloggers, even a few investors came to the opening.Grace greeted them in a white dress she'd designed herself. She was grinning like a kid.Watching from behind the crowd, I remembered her in our first life.Sitting in a rented room with two damaged fingers, staring at a blank sheet of paper.She hadn't cried.She'd only said, "I can't draw anymore."I'd thought her life was over.It wasn't.She'd needed a chance. A chance to begin again.This time, I was here to make sure she got one.After the store closed, we sat on a bench by the river, each holding a beer.Lights shimmered on the water. The breeze carried a faint briny smell."Grace?""Yeah?""Thank you."She turned toward me."For what?""For not blaming me in our last life."She blinked, then laughed."There you go again. Last life, this

Chapter 9

Grace asked, "What if he comes looking for you after he gets out?"I thought for a moment."He won't.""Why?""Because he knows he won't get near me. Security will stop him at the door. Then I'll call the police."She laughed."Cold.""Self-preservation." I turned a page of sketches. "With some people, once is more than enough."In the ninth year, Nathan was released.I didn't know where he went.I didn't want to know.All I knew was that after that, nobody mentioned his name again.Grace and I kept living.Business was better than ever. We bought an old factory in Port Azure and turned it into a design studio and showroom.She took on several young apprentices and taught them fashion design.I handled the brand and business side. Every day was packed, and I loved it.One evening, after we'd finished work, we took our beers onto the studio roof.There weren't many stars over Port Azure. But the lights of the city shone brighter than stars anyway."Hannah?""Yeah?""

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