He Turned Our Wedding Into a Bet So I Married Another Man Chapter 12

He Turned Our Wedding Into a Bet So I Married Another Man Chapter 12

Security stepped forward again. This time, Chase didn’t resist.

They dragged him out, stumbling, and the doors slammed shut behind him, cutting him off from everything

inside.

Inside, the music swelled again, the Wedding March, bright and triumphant.

Chase leaned against the cold wall, slid down, and covered his face as the sobs tore out of him.

Memories came flooding back, Quinn saving him a seat in their college lectures, staying by his bedside when he was sick, the way she used to laugh as she threw herself into his arms.

Bright sunlight poured through the entrance.

Chase looked up, blinded.

His vision blurred, and he collapsed.

He woke in a hospital room, the smell of antiseptic sharp in his nose. Lena, Kyle, and Mac were gathered around his bed, their eyes red and swollen.

“Chase… We lost everything.” Lena sobbed, voice broken.

After Chase left, no one dared make the call. Eventually Lena decided-buy the two rocks everyone favored.

One cost eight hundred thousand, the other seven. Nearly two million combined.

Both were duds, the first full of cloudy inclusions, the second with barely a sliver of color, too thin even for a

pendant.

The ugly black rock Chase had pointed at was picked up by a walk-in buyer from Miami for thirty thousand.

One cut, and it revealed deep green throughout. High-grade jadeite. Worth nearly ten million.

Lena covered her face.

“I’m sorry. I made the call. We should’ve listened to you.”

Chase stared at the ceiling for a long time.

“I told you to pick that one. Why did you overrule me?”

Mac stepped in front of Lena.

“Don’t blame Lena. Those two rocks were tempting, anyone would’ve hesitated.”

He shrugged.

“Besides, you always made the final call. That day you were distracted, barely looked at them.”

“How were we supposed to know you weren’t losing your mind over Quinn and Grant?”

Chase bolted upright.

“What did you say? Say it again!”

Lena grabbed his bleeding hand.

“Don’t move! Mac’s just venting.”

Kyle scrubbed his face in the corner, finally looked up.

“So what now. The auction still has two days, can we scrape together more cash and go back?”

Everyone looked at Chase.

He lay back down.

All he could see was Quinn’s calm, resolute face at the wedding, and her words. “Not everything is a bet.”

He remembered the first time he’d gambled on stones. Everyone doubted him. Only Quinn handed over her savings without hesitation.

He’d thought what he loved was the thrill, the test of eye and luck.

But now he understood, none of that compared to her.

He’d gambled on stones to build a future with Quinn. And in the end, he’d gambled away the only future that ever mattered.

“Leave,” he said finally, voice hollow. “I’ll handle it.”

That night, Chase liquidated the company.

Every remaining piece of jewelry, packed and sold at a steep discount.

Then he wired every penny to Lena, Kyle, and Mac, covering their losses.

Afterward, he fastened a heavy padlock to the office door. The clang echoed through the empty hallway, and for a moment, it sounded like the building itself was letting out a breath.

He walked out unsteady, his feet carrying him, without any real direction, to Quinn’s gallery. It was late, the lights off, the door locked. He sat on the steps and stayed there all night.

At dawn, Quinn arrived. Chase got to his feet stiffly, stumbling a step toward her.

“What are you doing here?”

Chase looked at her, pain cracking through him.

“I just need to know.”

“You promised me forever, then turned around and married him?” His voice cracked. “Tell me the truth, was this planned? Before the bet?”

Quinn looked at him, her eyes calm.

“Grant and I got together after you bet away our wedding.”

She paused, her voice soft, but clear.

“I’m not the one who broke this relationship, Chase. You are. You and Lena-don’t act like I don’t know.”

The blood drained from Chase’s face. She knew. Of course she knew.

He nodded, swallowed hard, fighting the sob.

“I’m sorry,” he managed. “I hope you’re happy. I mean that.”

“Thank you,” she said, and for a moment her voice softened. “For finally letting me go. For giving me the chance to choose someone who chooses me back.”

She paused, sincere. “And I hope you and Lena find happiness.”

With that, she turned and walked into the gallery without looking back.

A cold wind picked up, rustling the leaves at his feet. Chase shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was already too late for warmth.