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All Chapters of The Life I Chose Alone: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1 The Black Card

By the time I snapped out of it, Matthew Carrington had already paid the bill.Seeing me staring at him, he smiled and waved the black card in his hand."Pretty fancy, right? It's actually just a credit card. I always thought it was some kind of premium debit card with a ton of money in the account. If my wife hadn't told me, I never would've known she was the one paying off my bills."A week ago, I had been doing Madeline's laundry when I accidentally found a black card in her pocket.I had joked that maybe she had a secret stash of money.But Madeline had thrown herself into my arms, her voice full of concern. "If I had a black card, I'd buy us a bigger house. I wouldn't let you and Rebecca struggle."So the black card had been real. It just had not been meant for me.Matthew handed me the shopping bags and casually continued, "I noticed your daughter had been staring at those frozen fruit bars for a long time, but she never worked up the nerve to ask for one. A kid that well-

Chapter 2 Being Poor

When we got home, Rebecca went straight to her room and fell into a deep sleep.I sat on the couch, staring blankly at our tiny rental.It was in one of the cheapest neighborhoods in the city, barely 320 square feet.Not long ago, Madeline had said Rebecca was getting older and that we should save up for a bigger place.Yet the groceries Matthew had casually bought today alone cost nearly as much as what we paid in rent for most of the year.At midnight, I heard the door open.Madeline walked in, back in the drab work uniform she usually wore.If I had not seen her with my own eyes today, I might have actually been foolish enough to believe she'd spent the entire day working as a cleaner.I spoke numbly. "So, were you afraid Rebecca would see you in a dress and realize you've been pretending to be poor?"Madeline frowned, but she still patiently handed me the bag she had been carrying. It was stuffed with children's toys."Andrew, girls need to grow up without being spoiled i

Chapter 3 A Marriage That Never Existed

When I rushed to the school, I found Rebecca surrounded by a crowd. The bruises on her face made my heart ache with anger."What happened?"The teacher looked deeply troubled. "Didn't you see the messages in the parents' group chat?"Only then did I realize the group chat had exploded.Somehow, Matthew had joined the group and accused me of being a homewrecker."I felt sorry for them, so I offered to pay for their groceries. I never thought he was the homewrecker who was trying to seduce my wife!""My wife and I have been married for seven years. We only recently started trying for a baby. He deliberately played the victim to gain sympathy because he wanted to become my wife's lover and get his hands on her money!"He had posted photos of me and Rebecca, and the group was already flooded with messages condemning me.The parents were furious."I'll never let my child go to school with an illegitimate child!"One of the students shoved Rebecca hard. "Homewreckers are bad people

Chapter 4 The Last Chance

"No!"The blood drained from my body as I scrambled toward Rebecca. But I was too late.Blood streamed from Rebecca's nose and mouth as she reached a trembling hand toward me. "Daddy, I'm not some unwanted bastard…"Before she could finish, she passed out.My hands shaking, I called 911.When I watched them wheel Rebecca into the ER, it felt like my heart had shattered with her.A nurse handed me the bill. "Her condition is critical. You need to pay the surgical deposit immediately."I stared blankly at the five-figure amount. Even with the $5,000 Matthew had transferred to me, it was not enough.Desperate, I had no choice but to text Madeline. "Rebecca was in an accident. The surgery will cost $30,000."It was not long before Madeline called, furious."Andrew, how long are you going to keep this up? I told you, Rebecca needs to learn to live without money. She has to struggle if she's going to amount to anything! You're so desperate for money that you'd even curse your own d

Chapter 5 Growing Up

Madeline froze for a moment, then exploded in anger."Did Andrew put you up to this? He's gone too far. Just to get money, he'd actually say something like that, cursing his own daughter to die! Tell Andrew this. Rebecca is my daughter. I will never let her grow up spoiled.""Ms. Westcott—"The person on the other end had not even finished speaking when Madeline abruptly hung up.She was furious.Andrew had already infuriated her earlier that day by kneeling and bowing to Matthew just for money.But she never expected him to take things even further—to actually say something as horrible and ominous as wishing for his own daughter to die.Madeline's reason for pretending to be poor was actually quite simple. She wanted Rebecca to experience some hardship and learn to overcome adversity so she could grow into a better person.But she was afraid Andrew would go soft.More than that, she was afraid he would get in the way of her plan and accidentally give everything away, making R

Chapter 6 Too Late

The noise behind Madeline pulled her out of her thoughts.She turned and saw Matthew walk out of the examination room."How did it go?" she asked casually.Matthew covered the wound on his wrist—the one from his supposed suicide attempt—and was about to play the victim like he always did.Then he saw the look on Madeline's face."For the sake of your tantrums, I've already put Andrew through enough. I even had someone create a website to trick him into believing our marriage certificate was fake. Matthew, if you try anything else now, don't expect me to go easy on you."As someone who held a powerful position, Madeline had always seen through Matthew's little schemes. She knew exactly what he wanted.He wanted to take Andrew's place. But Madeline had never taken it seriously.As far as she was concerned, there was only one person she had chosen—Andrew.Matthew's petty little tricks had never been enough to make her care. She could tolerate them.This time, though, Matthew had

Chapter 7 The Truth

The blood drained from Madeline's face.She had no idea how she made it to the hospital. She rushed there in a panic.She grabbed one of the staff members outside the morgue. "Where's Rebecca? Where's my daughter?"The staff member looked nervous at first, apparently thinking Madeline was there to cause trouble. But when she heard Madeline's question, she relaxed. Her expression shifted to one of reproach."How could you be so careless as a parent? She was such a young girl, and yet she…"The woman sighed and shook her head, unable to finish.But Madeline's heart already felt like it had been carved open. Then she saw the small body covered by a white sheet.Her legs gave out, and she dropped to her knees in front of it.The staff member assumed Madeline was overwhelmed with grief. Having seen similar reactions before, she shook her head helplessly and left Madeline alone to release her emotions.Madeline's mind went blank. Her trembling hands slowly lifted the white sheet.T

Chapter 8 An Unexpected Reunion

When I woke up, all I saw was a white ceiling.The mattress beneath me was incredibly soft. There was none of the bone-deep pain I had gotten used to from sleeping on a hard wooden board."Andrew, you're awake?"I stared at the woman in front of me in shock.When I did not respond, Valerie Chambers waved a hand in front of my face and smiled. "What's wrong? Don't you recognize me?"I came back to myself, but the shock still had not faded.Valerie was the girl who lived next door when I was growing up. Our families had been neighbors, and she was two years older than me. She used to take me along whenever she went out to play.Whenever other kids picked on me, she would always stand up for me.But later, her family made enough money from their business to move away, and Valerie and I lost touch.After all these years, I never imagined we would meet again under circumstances like these.She had changed a lot. Her features had become more composed, and she carried herself like a

Chapter 9 A New Beginning

When I arrived at the police station, a small crowd had gathered outside.I heard people whispering among themselves."They caught the bastard who ran over that child! What a monster!""I heard it was some woman who was cheating on her husband with another man. He wanted to take the husband's place, so he hired someone to run the kid over!"Valerie quickly caught me when I stumbled, keeping me from falling.The moment Madeline saw me walk in, her eyes turned red. "Andrew, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you. I shouldn't have refused to believe you…"She broke down sobbing.And finally, a police officer told me the truth.Matthew had known about me from the very beginning.He had deliberately appeared in front of me to provoke me, hoping Madeline and I would get into a fight. He wanted to take advantage of the cracks in our marriage and use the opportunity to replace me.But Matthew also knew that as long as my daughter was alive, even if Madeline and I actually divorced,

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