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Todos os capítulos de 214 Wills: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 8

8 Capítulos

Chapter 1

Vivian Zaslow lay with her eyes closed, all the color drained from her face.I'd learned everything there was to know, and not one word of it had been explained to me. My chest felt like it might cave in.Her mother, Nancy Zaslow, came rushing in, bag still in hand. The second Nancy saw her daughter on the hospital bed, her eyes went red."Nancy..."The slap landed before I could finish. It stung all the way down to the bone."Didn't you promise me you'd take care of her? How could you just stand there and let Vivian throw herself into something that dangerous?"I turned my face back toward her, blood filling my mouth with a faint, coppery taste."Nancy, Vivian's an adult. She gets to make her own choices. I don't have a say in her choices.""Nonsense." Nancy's brows knit together as she jabbed a finger into my chest. "She was never like this when she was with the other boy. You're bad luck. That's what you are."I swallowed down a mouthful of blood and pulled my mouth into a

Chapter 2

"Mr. Markman, the floor's cold."Vivian's assistant held a hand out to me. "Get up."The doctor walked past him into the ward, leaving him standing there alone in front of me."Daryl Anderson's situation is more complicated than it looks. He saved Ms. Zaslow's life. That's how the two of them met, out on one of her extreme sports trips."That man is dying. Ms. Zaslow made him a promise. She'd see the world in his place."With his help, it took me several tries to get back on my feet. The sun was blazing outside the window, and yet I was freezing."Right. That's what everyone keeps telling me. Makes it sound like I'm the petty one in all this."I pulled my hand free and braced myself against the wall instead, inching forward as the cold of the tile crept into my palm.Just like Vivian's heart. No matter how long I held on, I could never warm it up.I don't even remember how I got home. I ended up on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling.My phone lit up with a message. It

Chapter 3

I hung up the phone.Vivian's eyes landed on me, her expression shifting into panic. "Stuart! What are you doing here?"She spun her wheels hard, hurrying toward me.Daryl froze for a second. Then, seeing it was me, he broke into a warm smile. "Stuart, you came!"His smile was easy and familiar. Next to it, I felt like the villain of the story."You two know each other?" he asked.Vivian's eyes darted between the two of us."Friends.""You're saying we're just friends?"Vivian pulled out her phone and typed. [He can't handle shocks. He's basically a stranger to you. Why are you being so difficult about this?]I smiled."Aren't you going to introduce me properly?" I said. "Vivian, let me introduce you. This is the man who's been funding me for six years," Daryl said.The color drained from Vivian's face. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed at the hem of my jacket.[Can we not tell Daryl about us? At least for now.][Of course.]Vivian let out a breath of relie

Chapter 4

Vivian drove off, kicking up a gust of scorching wind.I reached for my chest out of habit, and that was when I noticed my neck was bare.I'd worn that sapphire pendant for six years.Back when we first started dating, I'd come down with a cold, and Vivian had personally picked out the stone and carved it herself.Back then, she'd moved her entire workload into our house and stayed glued to my side without a moment's rest.I'd teased her once. "It's just a cold. You don't need to make such a fuss."Vivian had wrapped her arms around me, shaking her head over and over."I just need you safe. Watching you sick is worse than if someone tried to kill me."By the time I got to the hospital, Vivian was carefully slipping the sapphire pendant around Daryl's neck."We can't do this," Daryl said through tears, "Stuart is the one who saved my life. I can't let him get hurt over this."Vivian pulled him into her arms."You're just too kind for your own good. Can't you think of yourself

Chapter 5

I watched Vivian's reaction play out perfectly clearly on the security feed.She sank to her knees. The phone slipped out of her hand and hit the floor.I didn't wait for her message to come through. I powered my phone off first.The note itself was short. It seemed like there wasn't much left to say between the two of us anymore, even after six years of loving each other.[The suit is yours to keep. Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness together. We won't be seeing each other again.]My destination was a small town. A good friend of mine had already rented an apartment there ahead of time and taken time off work just to keep me company.When I pushed the door open, the room lit up with confetti poppers."Congratulations on cutting your losses."Colin Reed took my luggage from me and pressed a glass into my hand."I honestly wonder if Vivian hypnotized you. A guy like you, heir to everything, and you still put up with six years of misery for her sake.""My father didn't ap

Chapter 6

Colin said his piece and ducked into his room, hands covering his head as he ran.There wasn't much I could do about him. Riding out the last of the alcohol, I went through my phone and deleted every memory of Vivian, one by one.Once you turn the page, you turn the page.The photos deleted slowly, one progress bar at a time, and it felt like the memories were being pulled out of my head right along with them, inch by inch.The phone slipped out of my hand onto the carpet, and I sank into a hazy, half-formed dream.Until a soft laugh sounded somewhere near my ear.A face that looked exactly like Colin's loomed over me. "Stuart, it's been so long. Don't you recognize me?"I flinched back.Colin cracked the door open and called out guiltily, "Sis!"For the next few days, wherever Colin and I went, Adeline Reed always seemed to be right in the middle of it. By the third day, she was in nearly every single photo we'd taken.Colin grabbed my phone, put together a post, and sent it

Chapter 7

The door swung shut, and Adeline pulled out her phone to book our return flights."She chased you all the way out here. I doubt you're in the mood to keep playing around anymore."Colin nodded in agreement."Your mom and dad have been waiting for us to come back for a while now."Adeline straightened her back and gave a light cough. "If your parents start pushing you to get married, consider me.""Noted.""What was that?"Colin smirked, his grin heavy with implication. "He said he'd take it under advisement."The day we got off the plane, Adeline went ahead to bring the car around while Colin stood beside me, pointing at an old woman sitting by the road."Look at her. Doesn't she look like your ex's mom? Isn't their family from the next city over?""That's not a resemblance. That's the same person."Colin's mouth fell open. He grabbed me and dragged me behind a pillar in a hurry."What is wrong with this family? How do they always know exactly where you are? It's terrifying

Chapter 8

"Busy. I've got to work late tonight, but I'll finish it eventually, one way or another," Adeline replied."Doesn't your father say anything about it?" I asked.She shrugged. "He thinks a son-in-law matters more than a daughter's overtime."I nodded, my hands never slowing on the keyboard."In that case, it looks like it'd be a good idea for our two families to team up sooner rather than later.""Team up on what?""A project between our two families."Adeline didn't catch on right away. "Since when do our two families have a project together?"She saw the way I was looking at her.She shot up out of her chair."You're saying yes?! What should we start preparing? I want the biggest wedding anyone's ever seen!"Adeline shoved the door open and dashed out in a hurry.I found out later that she'd fired off nine straight rounds of cash bonuses in the company group chat, determined to make sure everyone knew about the two of us before the day was out.On the day of the wedding,

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