He Stole Our Future to Fund Her Wedding, So I Ruined Him Chapter 05

He didn’t ask for details.

“What kind of case?”

“A money dispute.”

Miles Morgan sounded more relaxed.

“That’s my specialty. Tell me what happened.”

I was quiet for a moment.

“Someone took $40,000 from my bank account without my knowledge or permission.”

Miles asked another question.

“Who is he to you?”

“My boyfriend.”

This time, Miles was the one who went quiet.

“Evan? Why would he do that? You’ve been together five years.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“He wanted to put money toward a house with Claire.”

Miles said nothing for so long that I thought the call had dropped.

“I understand. Leave it to me. I’ll handle this.”

After we hung up, I rolled my suitcase down the jet bridge.

I switched on airplane mode, then turned off my phone.

When the plane landed, I looked out at the place I hadn’t seen in so long.

I was home again. Alone, just like before.

At my parents’ door, I set down my suitcase.

I knocked three times.

I counted to ten in my head. Then the door opened.

My parents stared at me in surprise.

“Honey, what are you doing here?”

My mother looked past me, out into the hall.

She was checking whether I was alone, whether Evan had come with me.

She didn’t look disappointed. She only seemed to take in that I’d come home alone, without warning.

Worry spread across both my parents’ faces.

My father silently took my suitcase. My mother led me by the hand to the living room couch.

“Sweetheart, tell me. Did someone hurt you?”

I couldn’t speak. I’d held it together all the way here, without even letting my eyes fill.

In that moment, everything I’d been holding in broke loose.

I cried until my eyes swelled.

My parents didn’t press me. They handed me tissues and wiped away my tears.

When I was exhausted, I went to my room to rest.

They didn’t call me for dinner. They left my favorite food outside my door instead.

They knocked softly twice, lingered outside for a long time, and finally went away.

I lay in bed looking at the star-shaped lamp above me.

Evan and I had an identical one at our place.

When we’d first moved to Charlotte, the rental had problems with both the plumbing and the electrical wiring.

Food took up a huge share of our monthly budget.

We couldn’t afford to let the electric bill climb any higher.

One night, Evan had brought home that star lamp with a secretive smile.

It ran on batteries, so it didn’t need an outlet.

Two AA batteries would keep it glowing for a long time.

They cost about a dollar.

Keeping the room lights on all month would cost several times that.

When Evan wrote code in the dim light, he often struggled to see.

The little star lamp wasn’t bright enough.

Still, he’d smiled and said every few dollars we saved could buy me a little cake.

Back then, Evan loved me enough to give me a sky full of stars.

He’d swallowed the inconvenience and made things harder for himself.

Claire had worried about me too. She was always trying to get me to move in with her.

When I refused, she’d quietly paid my rent or ordered me dinner.

Back then, I’d never imagined that the two people who loved me most would betray me together.

Evan and Claire had made me so many promises.

They hadn’t even lasted as long as the batteries in that lamp.