Home / Married Three Years, but I'm Not Her Match / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Married Three Years, but I'm Not Her Match: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Chase's POVMy mother-in-law, Carol Simpson, held onto my best friend, Shawn Lynch, and gushed over him for a long while before she finally noticed me still standing in the doorway."Who's this?" she asked.Before I could answer, my wife, Jillian Luke, took the single-origin coffee beans and blood pressure medication from my hands."He's Shawn's friend, Chase Sherman. He's just helping Shawn carry the gifts."With that simple remark, she wiped away three years of our marriage.Carol opened the gift box, her face lighting up with surprise and delight. "Shawn, you remembered that Raymond loves this coffee?"Shawn froze for a second, then quickly smiled and nodded. "It's the least I could do."I was the one who had asked someone to buy the coffee beans straight from the source. I was also the one who had gotten the blood pressure medication a month in advance, based on Carol's usual medication routine.In three years of marriage, Jillian had never taken me to meet her parents. Sh

Chapter 2

Chase's POV"A man needs a respectable family background and a proper upbringing to be worthy of standing beside Jillian," Carol went on. "If it weren't for Shawn, someone with your background would never have crossed paths with our family in a million years. But since you're Shawn's best friend, you can still be the best man at the wedding."I looked at Jillian. She kept her head down, pouring Shawn a glass of water, and never once looked at me.As I was leaving, she even handed me a garment bag. "Shawn is wearing this tomorrow. Drop it off at the dry cleaner's on your way."I took the bag without arguing. On the way back, I reached out again about the out-of-state job I'd given up three years ago to get married."Mr. Chapman, is the creative lead position you mentioned before still open?"…Carol and Raymond had only planned to stay for three days, but once they were convinced Shawn was their future son-in-law, they decided to extend their stay and plan the wedding themselves.

Chapter 3

Chase's POVThe company's reply read, "We're still keeping the creative lead position open. The new project begins in 40 days."I accepted the offer and set my start date for after the divorce was final.…On the day of the wedding, I arrived at the hotel early, dressed in the best man's suit.When the guests started arriving, Shawn stood at the entrance arm in arm with Jillian, greeting them.Carol had me stand beside them as "Shawn's friend", collecting gifts and keeping track of the gift list.It wasn't until the wedding march began that I realized they were still playing the music I'd chosen. The vows the officiant read came from my wedding binder too.The day we made our marriage official, Jillian had said, "I'll only make these promises out loud when I publicly marry you."But now, even though the wedding dress, the wedding ring, the music, and the vows hadn't changed, all I could do was stand below the stage and watch her marry someone else.Before the ring exchange, J

Chapter 4

Chase's POVBy the time Carol and Raymond rushed to the hospital with Shawn, Grandma had just been wheeled into the ICU.Right in front of everyone in the hallway, Carol jabbed her finger at me and yelled, "For someone from such an ordinary background, you sure have plenty of tricks up your sleeve! You got close to Shawn on purpose and then hounded Jillian. Don't you have any shame?"I looked at Shawn. Wearing the gold signet ring passed down to the Luke family's sons-in-law, he stood behind Carol as if he were the one I'd hurt.Jillian arrived soon after.I thought that this time, at least, she'd tell the truth, but all she did was pull me aside. "I'll take care of it as soon as I can."…That night, she came to find me with divorce papers and a public statement.The statement claimed I'd known all along that Jillian and Shawn were in love, yet I had still used Grandma's critical illness to pressure her into a secret marriage.It stated that we were married in name only and h

Chapter 5

Chase's POVBy the time my flight landed in Larkhaven, night had already fallen.I turned off airplane mode, and dozens of missed calls immediately flooded in. They were from Jillian, Shawn, and Carol, as well as a few of Jillian's relatives who had never contacted me before.At the very top were Jillian's messages."The celebration dinner is over. Where are you staying? Send me the address."Ten minutes later, she texted, "Stop it. I told you I'd come find you."Half an hour later, another message came in. "Chase, why aren't you answering your phone?"The last one had been sent three minutes ago. "I'm at your place. Where did you go?"I didn't reply. I just blocked her number.Outside the airport, a colleague from the branch office was already waiting for me, holding up a sign with my name on it. She took my luggage and smiled. "Welcome back, Mr. Sherman.""Back". That one word made me freeze for a second.Three years ago, when the company invited me to join this project,

Chapter 6

Chase's POVIn my first month on the job, I was so busy that I barely had time to think about the past.The company handed me back the project that had been shelved for three years. My colleagues said I was the one who had come up with its original core concept.After I left three years ago, they brought in two creative leads, but the results never met expectations.I reorganized the materials and led the team through more than ten straight days of meetings.The day the proposal was approved, the whole office applauded. The manager personally placed the creative lead nameplate on my desk. "Welcome back, Chase."I looked down at my name. It felt as if the place in my chest that had been empty for so long was finally being filled, little by little.Grandma had been brought to this city too.The day we saw each other again, I couldn't look her in the eye. I kept my head down and said, "I'm sorry, Grandma."She raised her hand and stroked my head, just as she had when I was little

Chapter 7

Chase's POVAfter the project entered the public roadshow phase, my name appeared in industry news again.On the day of the launch event, our partners invited many media outlets.I'd just finished my speech when a reporter asked, "Mr. Sherman, I heard you gave up this project three years ago for your marriage. Now that you're back, do you have any regrets?"The audience went quiet for a moment.Holding the microphone, I said, "I do. But what I regret isn't losing a marriage. It's that I once let someone else decide my life for me."After the launch event, that part of the interview was edited into a short clip, and it soon went viral within the industry.…Jillian's POVI watched the clip in my office for an entire afternoon.My assistant reminded me that I still had an important meeting, but I kept replaying the look on Chase's face when he said "losing a marriage".There was no resentment or reluctance to let go. It was as if he were talking about something long past.Tha

Chapter 8

Chase's POVThree days later, that public statement was trending online again.It wasn't my doing. After seeing the news, the clerk who had handled our marriage registration gave the media a timeline.It included our marriage registration from three years ago, Jillian's proposal video, the marriage pledge she'd personally signed while Grandma was in the hospital, and records showing we'd lived together in our apartment.Every item proved that I wasn't the other man who had hounded her by using a sham marriage. I was the legal husband who had lived with her for three years.Right after that, the hotel also released its full security footage from the wedding.In the footage, after I got the call from the hospital, I grabbed Jillian's hand and begged her to leave with me. But she pressed the car keys into my hand, then turned and put the wedding ring on Shawn's finger.The security footage from the hospital hallway where I'd signed the statement was released as well.In the video,

Chapter 9

Chase's POVAfter the press conference, Jillian asked Shawn for a divorce, but he refused.He came to my office in the white suit he'd worn at the wedding, bringing Carol and a group of reporters with him.In front of everyone, he knelt before me. "Chase, I'm giving Jillian back to you. I'm begging you. Stop ruining us."Anyone who didn't know better would have thought I was the villain who had wrecked his marriage.My colleagues wanted to call security, but I had someone bring in a projector instead. On the screen were all the messages Shawn had sent Jillian over the past three years."Your parents like me. Don't rush to explain."Have him move out for a few days first. It won't hurt anything."As long as he's willing to be the best man, everyone will be convinced I'm the groom."The last one had been sent on the day of the wedding. "Is this thing with his grandma really that important? If you leave today, everyone will think I stole his wife."Those messages were part of th

Chapter 10

Chase's POVA year later, our project won a major international award.As the awards ceremony came to a close, Grandma sat in the audience. She was wearing the new clothes I'd bought her, smiling so hard that her eyes crinkled.The host asked me who I wanted to thank the most.I looked at Grandma. "I want to thank the person who told me, even when I had nothing, that I didn't need to suffer in silence to earn love."Applause broke out, but Grandma quietly wiped away her tears.…After I returned from abroad, I received a package. Inside was a very thick photo album.On the first page was the photo of Jillian and me from the day we got married. The back of the photo read, "If I could do it all over again, I'd definitely take you home to meet my parents first."After that came the photos I'd taken of every corner of our apartment over those three years—the curtains, the dining table, and the matching mugs.There was also a photo of the bottle of red wine that was never opened f

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