Sold Out by the Woman I Was Going to Marry のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

I rubbed at my eyes, raw from crying, and stared at the white sheet covering my mom's body on the hospital bed. I could only force out a bitter smile as I listened to my girlfriend, Joanna Quill, spin the same empty promises yet again."No need," I said hoarsely. "Because my mom is already—"Dead. With Mom gone, there was no reason for Joanna and me to get married anymore.But before I could finish, Joanna cut me off, her voice ice-cold. "What are you throwing a fit for this time, Callum? It's just a wedding. Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?"I only married Larry so his parents would get off his back. What, was I supposed to just stand by and watch him get forced into some nightmare marriage? It was a tiny favor. Do you need to drag your mom into this to threaten me?"Besides, I already told you to push our wedding back. You're the one who wouldn't listen and insisted on rushing into it, and now we've both made fools of ourselves. It's your own fault that your

I sighed, stopped dwelling on depressing stuff, and made myself something hot and comforting. I'd barely taken a few bites when Joanna burst through the door, fuming.She held up the protective charm and snapped, "Callum, this pendant is our token of love. How could you sell it secondhand?"I hadn't expected the buyer to turn out to be her, of all people. Still, I kept my face blank at her interrogation. I didn't bother to look up as I continued to eat.Only after I'd polished everything off did I finally speak, slowly and steadily. "I didn't want it anymore, so I sold it."Joanna stared at me in disbelief. "But I gave this to you!""I know. And?" I didn't even want her anymore, much less a pendant.She locked her gaze on me. After a moment, it was like a light went on in her head. Disappointment filled her face as she asked, "Callum, are you still mad about the wedding and the watch I bought for Larry? That's why you sold the pendant to piss me off?"I told you I had my reasons

Larry soaked up the flattery, grinning from ear to ear.By the time it was my turn, the gift cards and chocolates were gone. He spread his hands in mock innocence, then pulled a few flowers out of nowhere and shoved them into my hand."Looks like I ran out of gift cards and chocolates, Mr. Shore. You can have these instead. I heard your mom just died. Thought you could put them to good use. Say hi to her for me."Everyone around us burst out laughing.My blood boiled as I stared him down. "How do you know my mom passed away?"Larry chuckled and dropped his voice. "I know Jo's password, Callum. I deleted all your calls and texts that day before she ever saw them. And that money for your mom's treatment? I talked Jo into spending it all on me."My eyes burned, and I gritted my teeth in anger. "So, you killed my mom? Why would you do that?""Because you don't know when to quit. You kept clinging to Jo, so I made sure you backed off—"My fist smashed into his nose bridge before he

The nurse's words struck Joanna like a bolt of lightning, leaving her mind blank and her ears ringing."What did you just say? That's impossible!" she cried. "I don't believe it. Callum's mom was fine. There's no way she just suddenly died!"Satisfaction flickered in Larry's eyes when he heard I'd bought a plane ticket out of the country, but his face stayed carefully worried. He said pointedly, "Jo, I'm sure Callum's just mad. He probably took his mom and disappeared on purpose to scare you."But honestly, even if he's pissed, who jokes about their own mother being dead? He even paid off some nurse to lie for him to really sell the act."You're already killing yourself running back and forth between home and the office. What happens if you fall sick from stress? He's your boyfriend, but instead of having your back, he just keeps making a mess of things."With Larry sowing discord like that, Joanna's brow creased. She shot a look at the nurse and said coldly, "I seriously underest

I hadn't forgotten how Joanna and Larry had caused Mom's death. There was no direct evidence that Larry had murdered her, so the police were never able to open a case. But I never forgot they were the ones who'd driven her to her death.Now that they were married and even streaming the wedding live for everyone to see, I had to send them a wedding gift.With that thought, I took half a day off and headed out.When I got back to my apartment, I put Mom's autopsy report and the recording I'd saved of Larry taunting me into a gift box and mailed it to Joanna.I'd had the presence of mind to keep a recorder on me the whole time when I'd gone in to resign. I'd wanted to cover my bases, just in case. I hadn't expected to accidentally catch Larry's little victory speech on tape.I was really looking forward to seeing how Joanna reacted when she got the present.…Two days later, Joanna and Larry held their wedding, streaming the whole thing live.The venue was packed. All my former co