He Left Me in a Fire for Her, Now He’s Looking for Me at His Engagement Party Chapter 03

He Left Me in a Fire for Her, Now He’s Looking for Me at His Engagement Party Chapter 03

I didn’t know how Christopher planned to handle it. When I woke up, I found myself in the hospital.

The nurse checked my vitals and let out a breath. “You’re lucky. Just superficial injuries. You wouldn’t have lasted another three hours.”

Christopher never came back that night. My chest felt hollow. But I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I was discharged quickly.

I kept livestreaming nonstop just to pay off the debt. Back then, I only slept about five hours a day.

When I got back to campus, Victoria and Christopher were inseparable.

My roommates tried to break it to me gently. But when I heard it, all I felt was relief.

I thought about going to the police. Suing them.

But I was told the traffic cameras on that street had conveniently gone down that night. All I had was a thirty-second clip with terrible picture and sound. Not admissible.

I managed to convince a convenience store owner to give me his security footage. But when I went back the next day, he’d already deleted it.

He looked at me nervously and asked if I’d crossed someone powerful.

The video I’d posted online vanished too.

That night, Christopher called me out of the blue and said the first thing out of his mouth was, “So what if Victoria made a mistake? Did you really have to destroy her?”

His voice was full of disappointment. Accusation. I couldn’t believe it.

“That’s what this is about?”

“You think this isn’t serious?”

“I told you I’d handle it. Besides, it was just a few words. It’s not like it killed you. People used to say worse about you all the time, remember?”

“So back then, you weren’t embarrassed for me. You weren’t proud of me. You just didn’t care?”

“That’s not what I meant. We’re getting married anyway. You won’t have to put yourself out there like that anymore.”

I looked up at him quietly. Something inside me finally broke.

“I’m not doing this forever. But I still have to live.”

When I started streaming again, my chat was flooded with messages. The comments were obscene, vicious.

At first I pretended not to see. Then a notification slid across my screen.

#SHOCKING: CresthavenUniversityStudentInfluencerCaughtDoingTHIS

It was my photo up there. Blurred, but anyone who knew me could tell.

Below it were screenshots of fake conversations. So-called “proof” of me going into hotels with different men.

I went cold and shut off the stream, hiding under my blanket as I shook. Christopher pounded on my door.

I opened it and fell into his arms. All the pain came rushing up. But before I could say anything, his voice cut through ice cold. “Emma, I didn’t think you were this kind of person.”

It felt like I’d been dropped into an ice cellar. I just kept saying, “I didn’t do it. You have to believe me.”

“Then how did you pay that bill?”

I went numb. Before I knew what I was doing, I slapped him across the face.

Christopher stared at me in disbelief. “Did you just hit me?”

I looked at my shaking fingers and said slowly, one word at a time. “We’re done, Christopher.”

I pulled my hand back. Slammed the door in his face.

Later, my mother took a turn for the worse. I borrowed from everyone I knew and still came up three thousand dollars short.

I went to Christopher one last time. He just looked at me coldly. “You’ll say anything for money, won’t you, Emma?”

Victoria tugged his sleeve. “She doesn’t mean it. Studying abroad isn’t easy.”

Christopher stared down at me. “Where’s all that tough pride now?”

I looked up at him quietly. “You don’t want me to press charges for the hit-and-run, right? Fine. Pay me off.”

His expression shifted. He looked at me like I was a stranger.

Then he laughed, low and mean. “Want to borrow money? Get on your knees and apologize to Victoria.”

I held his gaze for a long moment. Then I knelt on the floor in front of everyone.

Christopher froze for two seconds. Then his face twisted with disgust. “Will you do anything for money?”

“I used to think you had self-respect. I was blind.”

He threw a check at my face. “Don’t let me see you in Cresthaven again.”

So I left. I was gone for five years.

I never heard anything about this place again. If work hadn’t transferred me back, I might never have come at all.

I looked at the woman in front of me, still running her mouth, and felt nothing but annoyance.

“Fine, I hope they live happily ever after. Are you happy now?”

“If you want gossip, start your own blog. Stop looking for validation from other people.”

“Don’t act like we forgot what people said about you in college—”

I didn’t hold back. I slapped her so hard her head snapped to the side.

I covered my daughter’s ears and let my voice go ice cold. “Defamation is a crime. Want to test that?”

“If my daughter has any psychological issues from this, I’ll see you in court.”

She flinched but tried to keep up her brave face. “So what if you have a husband? Wherever you dug him up, he’s not worth one hair on Christopher’s head.”

“Why don’t you ask Victoria if you can be his side piece?”

“You—don’t come begging me to help you later!”

I didn’t even make it out of the mall with my daughter before we got blocked.

Six black cars were lined up at the entrance. Christopher stood in front of one, watching me.

My daughter licked her ice cream like nothing was happening and looked up at me. “Mommy, are they filming a short?”