He Used A Lottery Cup To Avoid Me, Only For Me To Mirror His Cruelty Chapter 01

He Used A Lottery Cup To Avoid Me, Only For Me To Mirror His Cruelty Chapter 01

My husband Dexter Rawlings had a ridiculous way of dealing with his indecision: he drew lots to decide between me and his childhood friend, Hadley Kensington.

On every anniversary, every holiday, and every one of my birthdays, he always managed to draw the long stick.

“Sorry, babe, but your luck is just bad. I’ve got to go be with Hadley.”

I cried and begged. I even chased after him and pleaded with him to stay. He called me crazy.

Eventually, he stopped answering my calls. Then he stopped coming home.

That changed when Hadley landed herself a billionaire heir and the night before her engagement party. Only then did he decide to return to our marriage.

He threw away the lottery jar with his own hands. He cooked, he cleaned, and he became the husband everyone praised.

On my birthday, he made a full dinner and knelt to help me change my shoes.

“I was an idiot before,” he said. “From now on, I’ll be there for every birthday.”

I pulled out the lottery jar and smiled at him.

“Funny. I’ve become just as indecisive as you.”

In front of him, I drew a long stick with Jasper Brooks’s name written on it.

Outside, Jasper was already waiting.

I picked up the suitcase I’d packed long ago and echoed Dexter’s old words.

“Too bad. I didn’t draw you.”

“Your luck’s just awful. What can I say?”

…

Dexter had gone to the market at four in the morning to prepare that meal.

My favorite thing was roasted chestnuts. He’d shelled them by hand because he didn’t trust the machine, and his fingers were covered in band-aids.

The soup was still steaming on the table.

Dexter’s back went rigid, and he looked up at me.

“What do you mean you didn’t draw me? I’m your husband. I shouldn’t need a lottery to spend your birthday with you.”

“And who is Jasper?”

My phone kept buzzing in my pocket. Jasper was waiting.

“He’s my childhood friend. I can’t be in two places at once, so drawing lots is the only fair way.”

I gave him a cool smile.

“I drew him, so he’s the one spending my birthday with me.”

“The soup smells great. Enjoy it by yourself. I have to go.”

I grabbed my suitcase and turned toward the door.

Dexter let out a dry laugh.

“You’ve spent years revolving your whole life around me. I’ve never heard of any childhood friend. You’re just making up a man to get back at me, aren’t you?”

“After everything I did, you invented some guy to piss me off? Is that fun for you?”

“I’ve already come back to our family. What more do you want? Do you have to make everyone miserable?”

But he was the one who’d made this home miserable first.

He’d ignored my tears and pleas. He’d even rigged the lottery jar by leaving out the short sticks, making sure Hadley won every time.

Then he’d watched me break down in front of him without a trace of concern.

“I don’t know why you’re so upset,” he’d said. “I drew Hadley instead of you. That’s just bad luck. You can’t blame anyone.”

Then he’d walked away without a backward glance.

I’d understood then that he’d never planned to choose me in the first place.

But I didn’t need him to choose me anymore.

“I’m not making a scene, and I’m not trying to get revenge,” I said.

Revenge wasn’t quite the word. I just couldn’t stomach the insult and wanted to return the favor.

I shook off his hand.

Before I could speak, Dexter’s face sagged with exhaustion.

“Hadley’s engaged now, and I came home. We won’t have any more contact. What exactly are you panicking about?”

“The past is the past. Can’t we just put it behind us and be happy together?”

So he believed that all he had to do was turn around, and I’d keep loving him and staying loyal as if nothing had happened.

I was about to answer when his phone rang. It was his friend Troy.

“Hadley’s car broke down on the road. Her fiancé isn’t in town, and I can’t get there either.”

“Hadley told me not to call you. She said she blocked you and you wouldn’t come. There’s a thunderstorm rolling in half an hour. Are you going?”

The moment Dexter heard Hadley’s name, he glanced at me.

Then he heard the thunderstorm, and he stopped caring about me altogether.

He hurried to the balcony.

The room was quiet, and his voice carried through the wind, sharp and clear.

“I don’t blame her for blocking me. I couldn’t give her a better life.”

“I’ll go after Fern falls asleep. She’s throwing another fit. I already tossed the lottery jar and chose her. I don’t know what else she wants.”

“If you’re this torn, maybe you should just go crash the wedding and divorce Fern.”

Dexter let out a bitter laugh.

“I can’t stop her from going after someone better. As for Fern…”

“I guess this is just how it is. We’ll get by. She can’t leave me anyway. Her mother’s on medication, and I hold the patent. She can throw all the fits she wants.”

“As long as she doesn’t hurt Hadley, I don’t care what happens to me.”

With Hadley, it was love and sacrifice.

With me, it was compromise and settling.

Thankfully, I no longer cared about him.

I dragged my suitcase downstairs. Jasper opened the car door for me.

“Fern, when are you divorcing him?”

“In a week.”

Dexter didn’t know this, but after I’d given up on him completely, I’d used his connections and resources to assemble a new research team to treat my mother.

The clinical trial had succeeded.

Nobody was tied to anyone anymore.

And the divorce agreement Dexter had signed back when he couldn’t stand me—the one where he’d agreed to give up everything just to be free—already had my signature on it.

I’d handed it to Hadley’s fiancé, Simon Adler, to handle.

Now I was just waiting for Simon to return to the country.