They Thought I Was Duped, Unaware I Had Truly Been Reborn Chapter 02

They Thought I Was Duped, Unaware I Had Truly Been Reborn Chapter 02

I fought back the sting in my chest and pulled out a suitcase to start packing.

But when I opened the jewelry box I kept locked in my dresser, my blood ran cold.

My mother’s only keepsake—the heirloom sapphire bracelet—was gone.

Only Wade and I knew the password to that drawer.

In my previous life, Brynn had moved in on this exact day and taken over the master bedroom.

I’d gotten into a screaming match with Wade and called her every name I could think of.

He’d slapped me across the face and chased after Brynn when she stormed out.

I spent the entire night crying alone in a corner.

And until the day I died, I never realized my mother’s bracelet had vanished.

I snapped back to the present.

The sound of laughter drifted from the guest bathroom.

My hands trembling, I pushed the door open to find Wade scrubbing Brynn’s bare back.

“Ah!” Brynn covered herself dramatically and let out a shrill scream.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Simone? Ever heard of boundaries?!”

Wade pulled her into his arms right away, blocking my view with his own body.

“Simone! You’ve crossed the line this time!”

I lowered the phone I’d been recording with.

The whole thing was laughable.

A woman had my boyfriend washing her back.

Yet somehow I was the one with boundary issues.

Every time Brynn called Wade away in the middle of the night, he’d tell me she was his best friend and I needed to stop being so insecure.

When they kissed, he claimed it was just a stupid dare and told me not to be so dramatic about it.

Even when I caught them in bed together, and I completely lost it, his friends just called me crazy and said I couldn’t take a joke.

Wade always said the same things—that I was overthinking it, that I was just jealous.

He and Brynn were just friends. Friends shared a bed. It was no big deal.

If something were going on between them, they’d already be together—he never would’ve proposed to me.

Just like now.

Wade stood in front of Brynn after she’d gotten dressed.

The two of them stood united, as if against a common enemy. The table between us felt like a battle line.

Brynn smacked Wade on the ass.

“Seriously?”

“Your fiancée just got a free show, and you’re not even going to defend me?”

She rolled her eyes.

“What are you standing there for, you coward?”

“You weren’t this pathetic when you were doing me so hard I couldn’t take it!”

“So what happened to all that confidence?”

Wade murmured a few words to calm her down before turning back to me. His expression darkened.

“Simone, I told you already. I was just helping her wash her back, that’s all.”

“Why are you making such a huge deal out of it?”

When I didn’t respond, his voice softened, almost as if he were coaxing a child.

“Come on, just apologize to her. She’s the bigger person. She’ll forgive you.”

I stared into his angry eyes and refused to say a word.

His patience was running out.

Before he could explode, I hurled the empty jewelry box at him.

My voice trembled. “The bracelet—did you steal it?”

The words died in his throat. His eyes shifted away.

“Steal? That’s a harsh word, don’t you think? We’re getting married—what’s yours is mine.”

“You never wore it anyway. It was just sitting there. So I sold it.”

“I needed the money to help Brynn buy a house.”

My eyes widened in disbelief.

“Wade, you knew that was the only thing my mother left me!”

Brynn examined her manicure without looking up.

Her tone was completely matter-of-fact.

“If my good little buddy hadn’t insisted on helping me buy a place, I wouldn’t have wanted it anyway.”

“Wearing something from a dead person? Talk about bad juju.”