He Said It Was A Bet, I Made It His Last One Chapter 08

He Said It Was A Bet, I Made It His Last One Chapter 08

My flight left after midnight.

By the time I landed in Alderhaven, it was eight in the morning.

The moment I stepped into the arrivals hall, I saw a sign with my name on it.

A woman from Vesper & Rowe was waiting for me.

“Maren?”

She smiled and came over.

“You made it. That was a long trip.”

“I’m lone Mercer. I’ll take you to the office and help you get settled in.”

I nodded.

“Thank you.”

A month earlier, I’d been choosing between two offers.

One was from Vesper & Rowe’s headquarters in Alderhaven. The career prospects were better, but it came

with a three-year overseas commitment.

The other was Northwick Analytics, the company I’d wanted to work for since college, though the pay was

lower.

I’d chosen to stay in Bellweather.

Then Tamsin showed up on my first day and publicly accused me of sleeping with a married man again.

By the end of that day, I’d lost both my boyfriend and the job I’d dreamed about for years.

Luckily, Vesper & Rowe still hadn’t filled the position.

For once, changing my mind had worked out in my favor.

By my third week in Alderhaven, I’d already adjusted to the climate and the pace of life.

Even one of the other expats on my team was impressed.

“You’re doing better than I did.”

She laughed.

“It took me almost two months to get used to the food, the weather, and the local accent.”

By the fourth week, Callum showed up outside my office.

I wasn’t surprised.

A month earlier, I’d received all forty-five thousand dollars back.

Bellweather police had contacted me afterward.

They told me Callum had asked where I’d gone, but they hadn’t given him any information.

Even so, I wasn’t shocked that he’d found me. Calderwyn wasn’t a large country, and there were only so many

companies in my field.

I folded my arms.

“What happened?”

I looked past him.

“So Tamsin got tired of harassing me, and now it’s your turn to show up uninvited?”

Callum clearly hadn’t expected that.

Whatever speech he’d prepared died instantly.

“Maren, I didn’t come here to interfere with your life.”

I cut him off.

“Showing up here is interfering with my life.”

For once, he didn’t argue.

“I’m sorry.”

A few familiar coworkers walked past in the distance.

I took a breath and forced down my irritation.

“You’re with Tamsin now.”

“So stop following me around.”

“I can’t afford another round with her, and I want nothing to do with whatever the two of you have going on.”

Callum visibly flinched,

He immediately said, “The marriage certificate was fake.”

I looked at him.

“I only did it because I thought it would make her feel secure.”

He spoke quickly.

“The marriage certificate, the proposal, all of it… I only ever wanted a real future with you.”

Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box..

“This is the custom ring.”

“I brought it with me.”

I glanced at the box.

It was from the same jeweler I’d looked at before.

Their custom rings had to be ordered at least two months in advance.

Unfortunately for Callum, both the ring and his regret had come too late.

I didn’t want either one anymore.

I brushed my fingers lightly over the ring, then closed the box.

“It doesn’t matter whether the certificate was real.”

I looked at him calmly.

“The second you stood in front of everyone and called me your mistress, we were done.”

I pushed the box back toward him.

“Maybe give it to Tamsin. She might still want it.”

There was nothing else to say.