He Chose My Sister on Our Wedding Day—So I Walked Away Chapter 06

He Chose My Sister on Our Wedding Day—So I Walked Away Chapter 06

Three hours later, Port Halden airport.

At the arrivals gate, a tall man held a sign with my name on it.

Dan Pruitt, from the company.

“Ms. Whitlock, Mr. Prescott is still in a meeting. He asked me to take you to your apartment first. You report

tomorrow at nine.”

“Thank you.”

The next day, I walked into the conference room at the Port Halden regional office.

Mr. Prescott slid a stack of documents in front of me.

“The Westgate Commons development on the west side. Stalled for two years. Three project leads have

failed to close the deal.”

“If the board can’t get a deal done next month, the whole property gets sold off in a distressed bulk sale.”

“Maren, that’s why I brought you in.”

I flipped open the file, and on the first page I smiled.

“The other side’s lead, is his name Kessler?”

Mr. Prescott paused. “You know him?”

“Three years ago, I beat him.”

“Give me a team, give me authority, and give me one month.”

After that, the days flew by.

Days negotiating land parcels, nights revising proposals.

Days on the construction site, dawn hours in a hotel room going through spreadsheets.

I was too busy to think about anything else.

By the third week, the wound in my abdomen no longer hurt.

The hole in my chest had been filled, flat and smooth, by blueprints and columns of numbers.

Two weeks into–the job, Mr. Kessler took me to dinner.

On signing day, Mr. Prescott announced in front of everyone that I would lead the Westgate Commons project outright, with profit share at partner level.

In the middle of the applause, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

An unknown number.

I stepped into the hallway and answered.

“Maren.”

Grant.

His voice was hoarse, barely recognizable.

“You think you can outrun me?”

“Tell the man next to you that another man’s wife is something he can’t afford to touch.”

I held the phone and listened all the way through.

“Are you done?”

“Grant, first, I don’t have a husband.”

“Second…”

I paused, a little irritated.

“My life is none of your business.”

Hanging up the call, Grant suddenly got up and drove to the hospital.

He walked to the hallway where we’d last met and found the nurses‘ station.

“Last week, was there a patient named Maren Whitlock?”

The nurse flipped through the records.

“Yes. Hemorrhage and miscarriage. She signed the surgical consent herself.”

“And you are her…?”

Grant opened his mouth. The word husband died in a throat gone hoarse.

Before dawn, the grocery store was empty.

He had the manager pull up the footage from that night.

On the screen, Delaney gripped Maren’s wrist.

Maren said “Let go” twice.

Then she pulled free of Delaney, hit the shelf, and slowly slid down it, blood running down her leg.

And Grant, rushing in, had picked up the screaming Delaney.

He stood there watching those eighteen minutes of footage again and again.

By morning, he was standing at the door of Delaney’s hospital room.

Her eyes lit up.

“Grant, I knew you still cared about me most.”

“Why did you lie?”

Delaney stared at him for two seconds, and then tears welled up.

“Grant, let me explain…”

“She’s the one who yanked away and slammed into the shelf! She’s hated me since we were little…”

Grant cut her off.

“She had a miscarriage. It’s true.”

Delaney suddenly laughed.

She wiped her eyes, threw back the blanket, and stepped onto the floor barefoot.

“Good. Then you two really can’t get married.”

Grant stared at her, unable to believe it.

“What did you say?”

Delaney smiled and pushed back the hair from her forehead.

“Let me tell you the truth. I never had a germ phobia.”

“I like you.”

“I take everything Maren has. One by one. And the last thing was…”

She lifted her face.

“You.”

Grant’s pupils shrank.

He shoved her off and ran out the door. He looked down at his hands.

How had it come to this?

He’d killed their child.

He’d pushed Maren away with his own hands.

A week later, I saw Grant when I got off work

He was still in his suit, but dark circles ringed his eyes.

I know about the baby. I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

I said nothing.

“Maren, hit me. Curse at me. Whatever you want.”

“Come back, and let’s start over…”

I took a step back to put distance between us.

“Grant.”

“Do you know how heavy the pen was the day I signed the consent form for my surgery?”

“I signed it alone. I checked myself out alone.”

“And you dragged me to apologize to Delaney.”

“That push from the two of you tore my stitches.”

His face went white, bit by bit.

“I…”

“You didn’t know, and you didn’t care.”

“What I care about is that I’ve always loved you.”

I looked at him and suddenly laughed.

“When Delaney called you ‘Grant, honey, didn’t you enjoy it?”

“On the wedding day, the name on the new place was hers. When you forced me to apologize to Delaney,

your hands didn’t even shake.”

“And now you tell me you love me?”

He didn’t defend himself.

“Yes. I’m a bastard.”

He pulled a stack of documents from his briefcase and held them out.

“I paid off the condo in full. Say the word, and I’ll sign the title over to you.”

“I’ve cut Delaney off completely.”