Library

Home / She Double-Booked Forever / Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Lahat ng Kabanata ng She Double-Booked Forever: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

12 Kabanata

Chapter 1

Gabriel Parker froze. "Oh, sorry. You look so young. I didn't realize you were married."I set the form down. "It's fine. I haven't seen her in four years. We're barely married.""Four years?" Gabriel stared. "You should've divorced her ages ago."I nodded. "It's not too late."Anna Keating opened her mouth, then said nothing.Gabriel shook his head. "You're wrong, Mr. Reinhardt. Four years is too long to waste on someone who doesn't care about you."She's not worth it."He put an arm around Anna. "Take my wife."When I was sick, she stayed at the hospital with me. Barely slept."After Milo was born, she never complained about taking care of him. She didn't want me to worry."When things go wrong and I'm in a bad mood, she comforts me instead of picking a fight."Now she's worth waiting four years for."My hands slowly clenched.'So this was Anna with her family.'I'd never seen that side of her.'Four years ago, just after we got married, she told me she'd been sent abr

Chapter 2

Alone with me in the office, Anna hesitated. "Riley, Gabriel doesn't know."He... isn't well. He can't handle stress."I couldn't believe it.She'd lied to me for four years. Now, face-to-face, she offered no explanation, no apology. Didn't even ask how I'd been.She just wanted me to keep Gabriel calm.My voice came out hoarse. "Four years, and that's all you have to say? You're not even going to explain?"Guilt flickered in her eyes. Her voice softened. "I was wrong. I'll explain when we get home.""Home?" I looked at her. "Which home?"Anna opened her mouth, then fell silent.Gabriel came back holding Milo's hand."Honey, it's raining harder. Let's head home."He smiled at me. "Mr. Reinhardt, it's pouring. Need a ride?"I shook my head. "No, thanks."I'd walked through rain like this alone too many times.Once, a bad storm forced the preschool to close early. I couldn't get a cab, so I walked two stops down the road, clutching a stack of lesson plans.The wind broke m

Chapter 3

"She works hard.""She'll be home soon."I said it for four years.Now I knew how much care she'd put into her other home.Near an intersection, I said, "You can drop me off up ahead."Anna glanced at me in the rearview mirror. "It's pouring. I'll take you to your building.""No, thanks. I can walk."She pulled over. I opened the door, letting in the roar of rain.Gabriel turned around. "Oh, Mr. Reinhardt, let's connect on the app."In case anything comes up with Milo at preschool."He pulled out his phone, smiling.Anna's eyes met mine in the mirror. Her hard stare felt like a warning.I looked away. "Sure."I searched Gabriel's username on the messaging app.His profile picture showed Anna holding Milo in the sun, Gabriel's arms around her. All three were smiling.I stared for two seconds, then tapped Add.Gabriel waved. "See you tomorrow."I stepped into the rain and opened my umbrella.The car pulled away, its taillights blurring into two red spots.I watched for

Chapter 4

I'd given in so often that Anna thought she could keep hurting me.She sighed, about to speak, when her phone rang.[Gabriel]She glanced at me and answered."Honey, where are you? Milo woke up looking for you. He won't stop crying."She turned away, lowering her voice. "Something came up at work. I'll be back when I'm done."From the couch, I could picture her telling me the same lies for four years.Gabriel said something else."Okay," Anna said. "Try to calm him down. I'll be home soon."She hung up and turned to me. "Riley, I know I hurt you. Give me time. I'll figure this out.""Don't bother." I got up and opened the front door. "Leave. This isn't your home."Anna paled, but her phone buzzed again.She checked it and grabbed her coat. "I'll be back."I said nothing.As the door closed, I took out my phone.I stared at Gabriel's smiling profile picture.I didn't hate him. He'd fallen for Anna's lies, too.But I couldn't pretend nothing had happened. I was the only

Chapter 5

Anna arrived just then.Her face changed at the sight of my red, swollen cheek. She reached for Gabriel's arm. "Gabriel, let's go home."He shook her off. "Go home? You're still protecting him?"She lowered her voice. "We can talk about this at home.""I'm not leaving! Anna, tell everyone the truth."Did you go see him last night?"Anna glanced at me, panicked and pleading.She wanted me quiet, just like yesterday in the office.But if I stayed silent now, I'd be branded a homewrecker for life.I met her eyes. "Anna Keating, tell us. Which one of us is the homewrecker?"Everyone fell silent.Gabriel paused, then scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean? That I broke up your marriage?"He pulled a copy of his marriage certificate from his bag and threw it at me."Look! Anna and I got married four years ago! I'm her legal husband!"The certificate hit the ground.Gabriel and Anna. Married exactly four years ago.My mind went blank.'If his certificate was real, what was mi

Chapter 6

The preschool entrance went silent.Everyone stared at the two marriage certificates.One real. One fake.Gabriel stopped shouting.He looked from the fake certificate to Anna, his lips trembling. "A fake marriage certificate? Anna, what's he talking about?"Anna was white as a sheet.She ignored Gabriel and stepped toward me, lowering her voice. "Riley, don't make a scene."I almost laughed.'A scene.'For four years, I'd lived alone and covered for her.At my mom's hospital bed, I said Anna was too busy with work to come home.When a coworker gave me a wedding invitation and asked about my wife, I blamed her project.At a neighbor's baby shower, everyone said I'd be next.I smiled.I'd never made a scene.And where had that gotten me? Punched in public while her real husband jabbed a finger in my face, called me a homewrecker, and told me to die.I looked at Anna. "Are you scared I'll make a scene, or that everyone will find out you've lied to me for four years?"She

Chapter 7

I pulled out my phone and called the police in front of everyone."I'd like to report a possibly forged marriage certificate. I've also been assaulted and falsely accused in public."Anna's head snapped up. "Riley!"She hadn't said my name that urgently in four years.I looked at her. "Anna, you don't need to come home and explain anymore."Explain it at the police station."***At the police station, Gabriel sat across from me, eyes red, clutching Milo's water bottle.His mother had picked Milo up. The boy had cried for his mom and dad as they left.Gabriel could barely stand. When Anna tried to steady him, he shoved her hand away.My cheek was red and badly swollen. An officer told me to get my injuries documented first.Benjamin and a few parents had come to give statements.My lawyer friend Emily Townsend arrived while I was giving my statement.When Anna's turn came, she kept it vague. "I handled things badly. My relationship with Riley was complicated."That certifi

Chapter 8

I listened as the pain in my chest went cold."Gabriel, you were scared your four years would become a joke. What about mine?"He had no answer.An officer came in."Anna Keating, you're suspected of document forgery and fraud. We need to investigate further."Anna panicked.She turned to me, her voice shaking. "Riley, you're really taking this that far?""You brought us here, Anna. You did this to all of us."***Word spread anyway.Someone posted a video with a nasty headline.[Husband Punches Preschool Teacher Over Alleged Affair]It showed Gabriel screaming at me while I stood silent, my face swollen.The fake marriage certificate? Cut out.The police taking Anna away? Gone, too.Overnight, I was the villain in the parents' group chat.A crowd waited outside the preschool the next morning.People whispered."That's him, right?""He looks so nice. Who would've thought...""Who'd trust him with their kids?"Benjamin called me into his office. He looked at my face

Chapter 9

"But he said Anna told them it was just a way to get her boyfriend to take keepsake photos."He never thought you'd believe it for four years."I smiled faintly.They could all say they hadn't known.I was the one who'd kept that fake certificate tucked in a drawer, treasuring the home I thought it promised.That evening, the doorbell rang.I checked the peephole.Anna.I didn't know when she'd been released. She looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes.I kept the door shut."Riley, I know you're in there."Gabriel's mom took Milo. Gabriel wants a divorce."My company found out. I've lost everything."Her voice caught. "Riley, I really did love you."I leaned against the door, tears sliding down my face.'I loved you.'So easy to say.As if that erased four years of lies and waiting. As if it erased being hit and humiliated in public."My dad was seriously ill," she continued. "Keating Corp needed Parker Corp's investment."I had no choice. I couldn't marr

Chapter 10

"She took your calls on the balcony."On your birthday, she ordered a cake. It wasn't for me."The night Milo was born, she cried in her hospital bed. I thought she was overwhelmed."Later, I found out it was your supposed wedding anniversary."A dull ache settled in my chest."I asked her," Gabriel said. "She said you depended on her. If she cut you off, something might happen to you."She only stayed in touch out of guilt."I believed her."He paused, bitterness in his eyes. "Not completely."I just didn't want to dig."Then I'd have to admit she loved someone else, too."I looked at him.This was Gabriel.He hadn't been completely in the dark.He'd spotted the cracks in her lies and chosen to ignore them.Until they widened and swallowed us both."What now?" I asked.Gabriel held his coffee cup. "Divorce her. But she won't agree."She says she'll cut you off. Wants another chance for Milo's sake."He smiled faintly. "But she needs my family's backing for her famil

PREV

NEXT

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status