My Boyfriend Faked His Death, So I Married Someone Else Chapter 01
The day after the SATS, red paint showed up on my front door. Every morning. Fresh rat bodies on the doorstep too.
My parents didn’t even get mad. Just sighed and said, “You brought this on yourself.”
All because my boyfriend got hit by a car coming out of the exam hall—on his way to buy me a birthday cake.
Everyone said I was the reason that genius, who had early admission to an Ivy League, died young.
Even I blamed myself. If I hadn’t asked for a birthday cake, would he still be alive?
Between the guilt and the online hate, I developed severe anxiety. I started hurting myself.
After one too many suicide attempts, the school kicked me out.
Five years later, I was working a seafood stall at the market when a familiar voice cut through the crowd.
“Your mom loves fish. Let’s grab one to grill, yeah?”
I snapped my head up.
Carter Wells also froze when he saw me, with a little girl in his arms.
A long silence. Then I dropped my gaze and pulled a fish from the tank.
“This one grills well.”
The fish thrashed. I slammed it with my knife.
“Seven ninety-nine a pound. One point eight pounds. Call it fourteen.”
Carter’s face was stiff. He held up his card. “You take cards? Or Venmo?”
“Sorry, cash only.” My voice was flat.
Back when the cyberbullying got bad, people kept reporting my Venmo account. They froze everything in it.
So now I only take cash. Sure, I lose some customers, but at least I feel safe.
Carter pulled out his wallet. “What a pain. Even the old ladies at the market take Venmo. Why don’t you?”
I ignored him. I slit the fish open, pulled out its guts. Blood splashed on my apron. The fishy smell clung to everything.
“Daddy, it stinks.” The girl in his arms covered her nose.
She wore a pretty princess dress. Cute hair clips. A little girl raised in a happy family.
Carter wrinkled his nose too, disgusted, but he smiled at her and stepped back two paces.
“Your daughter?” I asked.
Carter paused, then nodded. “Yeah. She turns two in a month.”
“Mia, say hi to the nice lady.” He waved his daughter’s chubby little hand at me.
“Avery Reed. Wow. You used to hate the smell of fish, remember? You’d skip lunch every time the cafeteria served it. Made me bring you food.”
“So what are you doing now… slinging fish at a market?”
I scraped off scales, hard, not looking up. “Sorry, didn’t go to college.”
Carter nodded knowingly. “Bombed the SATS? You could retake. A bachelor’s degree would at least get you a real job.”
“But you were always lazy and spoiled. Couldn’t even run the mile in gym class. You can’t function without me, admit it. No surprise you ended up like this.”
I slammed my knife into the cutting board. For the first time, I looked him dead in the eye.
“Carter Wells. You don’t think you owe me an explanation for what went down back then?”