He Said It Was A Bet, I Made It His Last One Chapter 01

He Said It Was A Bet, I Made It His Last One Chapter 01

My boyfriend’s childhood friend, Tamsin Vale, had a favorite game: publicly branding me a mistress.

Every time I changed jobs, she’d show up with a crowd and accuse me of sleeping with someone else’s husband.

The first time, management decided I was trouble because of the scene she caused and fired me.

I confronted her afterward, furious, but Callum Rourke immediately stepped in front of her.

“You know what Tamsin’s like. She takes things too far sometimes. You’re the one making it a bigger deal than it is.”

The second time, I quit because I couldn’t stand the whispers from my coworkers anymore.

Callum said I was too sensitive.

“If you know you didn’t do anything wrong, why let people get to you?”

Then I finally landed a job at Northwick Analytics, the company I’d dreamed of working for since college.

On my very first day, Tamsin showed up again with the same stunt.

Three strikes were enough.

I called the police.

Callum arrived at almost the same time as the officers, and instead of asking if I was okay, he blamed me for overreacting.

“Tamsin was joking around. Did you really have to make this such a big deal?”

Then he added without hesitation, “Besides, she wasn’t wrong. You are the other woman.”

The entire lobby went silent.

The coworkers who had just been defending me immediately looked at me differently, and the looks they gave me made my skin crawl.

“Callum, what the hell are you talking about?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“I know you’re trying to protect Tamsin, but you don’t have to make up something like that.”

He ignored me.

Instead, he pulled out a marriage certificate and handed it to one of the officers.

“Tamsin and I are married.”

He spoke calmly, like he was discussing the weather.

“Sorry we dragged you into a personal matter. It won’t happen again.”

Every word I’d been about to say died in my throat.

My mind went completely blank.

Tamsin smugly pulled out another copy of the certificate and waved it in front of my face.

“Callum said if I was going to expose a mistress, I needed proof I had the right to.”

Her smile widened.

“So he married me.”

She gave me a sugary smile.

“Sorry, Maren. Looks like this time you really are the other woman.”

The officer handed the document back to Callum.

Before leaving, he warned me, “Making a false report can have consequences. Don’t do this again.”

The HR manager who’d come downstairs to welcome me earlier had gone completely cold.

She looked like she couldn’t distance herself from me fast enough.

“Ms. Ellery, I’m sorry, but we may need to reconsider your offer.”

She kept her voice polite.

“We’re going to pause your onboarding for today. Please go home and wait for an update.”

“We’ll contact you as soon as a decision is made.”

The meaning was clear. They were backing out.

Still, standing there in front of everyone, I felt like I’d been slapped across the face.

It hurt.

Worse, it was humiliating.

Callum reached for my wrist.

“Since you’re not working today, I’ll drive you home. I’m heading that way anyway.”

I yanked my hand free.

My voice trembled.

“When did this happen?”

His lips tightened.

“We’ll talk at home. Everyone’s watching. Aren’t you embarrassed enough already?”

I stared at him.

“If you’re married to Tamsin, why did you propose to me?”

“Why did you tell me we’d have our wedding by the end of the year?”

Before Callum could answer, Tamsin burst out laughing.

“Oh. You mean the bet?”

A chill ran through me.

My voice dropped.

“What bet?”

Tamsin slipped her arm through Callum’s.

He didn’t pull away.

“Everyone kept saying you were desperate to marry him, so I wanted to see if it was true.”

Her smile turned cruel.

“I just didn’t think you’d be this pathetic. He proposed with a cheap costume ring, and you actually said yes.”

She laughed again.

“That’s embarrassing.”

The blood drained from my face.

My fingers curled so hard at my sides that my nails dug into my palms.

I’d questioned that ring too.

Callum had looked guilty when he gave it to me.

“The custom ring isn’t ready yet, but I couldn’t wait any longer to ask you.”

He’d held my hand and looked straight into my eyes.

“Maren, you’re not going to reject me over a ring, are you?”

He had looked so sincere that I’d said yes.

But the real ring never came.

Instead, I got his marriage certificate with Tamsin.