Chapter 1: Chapter 1
My fiancé had it all figured out.
Fake marry another woman so she could get his insurance benefits. Get her pregnant because “she might lose her fertility.”
All to help his mother’s supposed lifesaver.
He presented it like he needed my permission.
But the pregnancy test I found told a different story. She was already months along.
I was planning our future while he was creating one with someone else.
So you know what I did?
On our wedding day, while he stood at the altar waiting, I was starting my new job at a research lab in Seattle.
Two years later, I came back engaged to someone who actually deserves me.
Now he’s begging for a second chance.
Funny how the tables turn.
————————
1
“I’ve been over this with you a million times—Krista was in a car accident. The medical bills are burying her.”
“And she saved my mom’s life. I have to help her!”
I’d been listening to Albert Hayes’s little speech for two weeks, and my ears were about to bleed.
The first time he’d pitched it, I’d almost lost my mind.
He wanted to fake marry Krista to use his insurance to cover her medical bills.
And the cherry on top of this ridiculous sundae? The accident might have affected her ability to have kids, so he needed to get her pregnant. Just in case.
Was everyone insane?
But he wouldn’t let it go. He wore me down, day after day. His tone shifted from a hesitant suggestion to a righteous demand, as if I were a heartless bitch for not agreeing.
When did “paying back a favor” involve sacrificing his marriage and, apparently, his sperm?
The constant fighting exhausted me. I was done trying to reason with him.
I just stared at the man I’d loved for five years, my voice trembling. “Albert, we’re getting married in two weeks. You want to marry another woman and have a baby with her? What does that make me?”
He seemed to finally notice the desperation in my eyes. His voice softened.
“Sherry, I know it sounds crazy… but I’m the only one who can help her. I can’t just let her life fall apart.”
“It’s just for the insurance, a technicality. Nothing will happen between us.”
“If you love me, you’ll understand.”
My heart plummeted. He’d already made up his mind. My feelings were just a minor inconvenience.
Albert was about to say more when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen—a call from an OB-GYN clinic—and immediately slipped out onto the balcony.
I watched him go, a bitter laugh stuck in my throat.
We’d known each other since elementary school. I’d spent more than a decade trailing after him like a lost puppy.
He was impossibly handsome; I was painfully average. It wasn’t until after we graduated from college that he finally looked my way and agreed to date me.
I thought our bond was unbreakable. But in five years, I’d never once touched his phone. He was always so secretive about his calls.
Once, he had a fever, and his phone wouldn’t stop vibrating. I just wanted to silence it for him.
The second my finger touched the screen, he shot up and yelled at me for snooping. No amount of explaining helped. I ended up on the couch that night.
I told myself he just had trust issues. Five years later, nothing had changed. And now, he was about to blow up our wedding for another woman.
When Albert came back inside, he was smiling. He grabbed his car keys, already halfway out the door.
“I have to go. Think about what I said, okay?”
He was in a hurry. The only person who could make him move that fast was Krista.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, my phone lit up with a notification. It was a picture from Krista.
I opened it. Zoomed in. My legs gave out, and I sank to the floor.
