They Thought I Was Duped, Unaware I Had Truly Been Reborn Chapter 03

They Thought I Was Duped, Unaware I Had Truly Been Reborn Chapter 03

Seeing the confusion on my face, Brynn let out a mocking laugh.

“He never told you? That house you sold—he bought it for me.”

“He put down a $1.5 million down payment just to help me out.”

My blood ran cold.

Slowly, I turned to Wade.

The guilt written all over his face told me everything.

But even if he’d sold the heirloom sapphire bracelet, it would’ve only brought in a few thousand dollars.

Where had he gotten $1.5 million?

Then a horrifying thought hit me.

My hands trembled as I opened our joint bank account on my phone.

[Balance: $3.15. Recipient: Brynn. Memo: Voluntary Gift.]

My legs nearly buckled. Eyes burning red, I finally screamed.

“Wade! That was our money!”

“Five years of savings for our wedding home—and you just gave it away to someone else?!”

For five years, I’d scrimped and saved every penny.

Every month, I’d deposited ten thousand dollars into that account.

Then, after my mother passed away a year ago, I added the six hundred thousand dollars from her wrongful death settlement.

Together, we’d saved $1.2 million.

And he’d given every penny of it to Brynn.

When faced with my anger, Wade’s voice actually softened.

“Simone, Brynn’s my buddy. She’s not some outsider.”

“You have me. You have someone to rely on. We can save up for another house later.”

“But Brynn’s such a tomboy. If she doesn’t have a house—some kind of security—who’s ever gonna want her?”

My eyes burned red.

“Whether she owns a house or not is none of your business!”

“That money belonged to us!”

His expression hardened.

“Simone, why are you being so selfish?”

“If anything, you should be thanking her.”

“Without Brynn, that five million dollars would’ve gone to somebody else.”

The absurdity of it all made me laugh, nearly to the point of tears.

“So I should thank you both?”

“For stealing my money, my bracelet, and tricking me into selling a property at half price??”

Wade’s face darkened.

“Tricking you? Nobody tricked you. You’re just dumb enough to fall for it.”

“If someone tells you a property won’t get bought out and you immediately sell it, that’s on you.”

“That house was only worth $1.5 million.”

“We paid five. You made a profit, so you should be grateful.”

I stared at him, taking in his self-righteous expression.

The sheer shamelessness of it all—it was beyond ridiculous.

What he didn’t know, though, was that I really had come out ahead. Because the buyout was never happening.

In my previous life, I hadn’t believed the text message.

I’d never met the buyer.

But in this life, I knew his name. Rudy Keane.

Looking back, he did resemble Brynn.

He was probably the younger brother she’d mentioned before.

And his eyes—they were nearly identical to the man who had abducted me on my wedding day.

The man who’d tried to assault me. The man who had accidentally killed me.

After I died, my spirit lingered beside Wade. I watched everything unfold.

Brynn slipped into my wedding dress, claiming the bride had thrown a tantrum and bailed.

She said she was just stepping in to save the day.

And just like that, she took my place.

A few days before the wedding, Wade had sweet-talked me into signing the marriage certificate.

Not long after, my body was found.

As my legal spouse, he inherited the inherited family home.

Then he rushed to marry Brynn.

They thought they were about to become millionaires overnight.

Instead, the government canceled the developer buyout days later.

Their dream collapsed before it even began.

The realization hit me like a bucket of ice water.

My death hadn’t been an accident—it was Brynn’s plan all along.

A chill shot down my spine.

And Wade—was he in on it too?

I looked straight into his eyes.

For the first time, suspicion took root. And once it did, it spread like wildfire.

“I want my mother’s bracelet back.”

“And I want my $1.2 million returned.”

“If I don’t get both back, I’m going to the police.”

I grabbed my suitcase. Then I walked out.

Behind me, Brynn’s mocking laughter echoed through the apartment.

“See? What did I tell you—it’s always about money with her.”

“Good thing we didn’t bother saving her mom. Letting the old hag die early was a blessing.”

“Otherwise, the whole family would’ve bled you dry.”