My Sister Threw Away Her Fiancé Like Trash So I Married Him Instead Chapter 03

My Sister Threw Away Her Fiancé Like Trash So I Married Him Instead Chapter 03

We walked two blocks and ended up at a 24-hour convenience store.

He bought me a bottle of water and himself the cheapest pack of cigarettes on the rack. Blew the smoke straight into my face. My eyes watered.

“This is my life right now. I can’t afford anything.”

“I live in the projects. We share a bathroom with three other families.”

He flicked ash off the cigarette. “Come with me and you’ll have less than you do at the Wests’.”

［Ha. Samuel’s lying again.］

［Man has like fifteen houses scattered around the suburbs and he’s talking about the projects.］

［Think she’ll buy it? Bet she runs.］

［And honestly, if she does run, knowing Samuel’s petty streak, she’ll probably regret it.］

I clocked his gray t-shirt, a limited drop from one of those quietly obscene luxury brands. Liar, I thought. Out loud, I let conviction settle over my face.

“I can take care of you.”

“You take care of me?”

Samuel looked at me like I’d just said the funniest thing he’d heard all year. “On a maid’s salary?”

“I have some savings. Not a lot. But if we’re careful, it’s enough.”

In reality I had almost nothing.

My mother’s chemo bills were a bottomless pit.

But this was a gamble. Lose, and I ended up exactly where I started. Win, and the payout was enormous.

My resolve settled into something solid.

Samuel studied me. His expression was complicated, full of suspicion and curiosity and something else I couldn’t name.

Then, without warning, he crushed out the cigarette and kissed me.

“Willow. Don’t regret this.”

“I won’t.”

When Aurora found out about me and Samuel, the torment got worse.

“You really are pathetic,” she told me. “Digging through my trash and calling it a treasure.”

The people who’d been sitting on the fence started coming for me. Aurora’s doing, obviously. Petty stuff, every day.

I let it go.

Then one day I grabbed a rag from the usual spot and felt a sharp sting in my palm. Someone had hidden sewing needles inside it. The cloth tore into my hand.

When I saw Samuel later, he noticed right away. “Aurora?”

I managed a tired smile. “It’s nothing. I’m used to it.”

Samuel didn’t say a word.

Two days later, the West family got hit with a wave of explosive scandals. The news cycle went feral. Their stock cratered. The Aldrich family started floating the idea of breaking off the engagement, which sent Aurora spiraling. She spent every waking hour clinging to Theodore, too consumed with damage control to bother with me.

［West family’s out here chasing ghosts trying to figure out who’s behind it. Little do they know it was Samuel with one hand tied behind his back.］

［He’s protecting her. Fighting her battles for her.］

［Yeah. Samuel’s actually catching feelings.］

I glanced at the golden words, looked away, and bent back over my work.

In a spot no one could see, the corner of my mouth curved up.

Things between me and Samuel shifted after that.

He finally brought me to where he was actually living.

Peeling walls. Battered furniture. A faint smell of moisture in the air.

I didn’t let a single flicker of disdain show. Instead I pulled my sleeves up, already talking about cooking dinner.

Samuel’s expression loosened.

That night we lay in the narrow bed together.

His arm curved around my waist. Warm breath against the back of my neck. A faint shiver ran through me.

My palms were sweating.

In the dark, his voice came close. “Why are you so good to me?”

Golden text appeared:

［Classic test, better late than never.］

［Samuel’s paranoia is genuinely incurable. Here we go again.］

［If she hesitates even a little, she’s done.］

I turned my head and gave him my most honest smile. “Because I think you deserve it.”

Samuel stared at me. Said nothing.

Moonlight came through the window. I could see his eyes clearly.

Deep eyes. The kind that didn’t show a bottom.

What happened next happened naturally.

The narrow bed. Tangled limbs. Ragged breathing.

When the night went quiet again, the golden text was practically giddy. Somewhere along the way, the way it referred to me had shifted from that woman to something closer: Willo.

［Samuel is gone. Completely gone for her.］

［Willo is his first. His first woman.］

［I bet he’s about to tell her everything.］

My heart pounded. I turned to look at him, barely able to contain it.

Samuel pulled me closer and closed his eyes. “It’s late. Go to sleep.”

After that night, things between us moved fast.

In that cramped apartment, the bed, the couch, the balcony, we left marks on nearly every surface.

He held nothing back. Every time felt like he was trying to press me into his bones. But he never said the words.

Then one night he stopped mid-motion and looked down at me.

“Willow.” His voice was quiet. “What if you found out I wasn’t as good as you think I am?”

I didn’t hesitate. I reached up, hooked my hands behind his neck, and looked straight into his eyes.

“Your good and your not-so-good together — that’s the whole you. That’s what I want.”

I delivered it with enough sincerity that I almost believed myself.

What I was actually thinking: the spare change in your bank account could probably buy half of Manhattan. If you shared a fraction of it, who’d dare say you weren’t a saint?

He didn’t ask again. He just kissed me, harder than any time before.

Afterward he stepped out to the balcony for a smoke like always.

Red ember burning in the dark. On and off.

His voice drifted through the glass door, a little muffled. “Baby… when I come back in… I have something to tell you.”

My entire body, loose and tired a moment ago, pulled taut.

This was it.

The golden words appeared right on cue.

［Ha! Samuel’s finally going to come clean. Man has been holding out forever.］

［He got her a gift too. It’s in the safe by the bed. Worth a full billion dollars.］

［The code is Willo’s birthday. When a man falls hard, he goes full romantic.］

My heartbeat spiked.

A billion dollars.

A billion.

My eyes went to the nightstand before I could stop them.

There was a safe there. One that hadn’t been there before. Samuel was still on the balcony, back turned, cigarette smoke curling into the night.

He’d be a while. He always was.

It was mine anyway, right? Just taking a peek early.

Something pulled me out of the bed.

I crept over to the safe, held my breath, and pressed my birthday — 0101 — into the keypad with trembling fingers.

BEEP. WRONG CODE. BEEP BEEP BEEP.

The alarm blared. Red light strobed across the room.

I froze. My mind went completely blank.

What—

［LMAOOO she actually fell for it!］

［Idiot. Did you really think you were the main character?］

［We knew it. You could see us the whole time.］

What?

They knew I could see them?

This was all a setup?

Samuel — the noise — he had to have heard—

I spun around, face drained.

Samuel was already in the bedroom doorway.

He’d been watching me.

Whatever warmth had ever been in his eyes was gone. What was left was cold, naked contempt.

I opened my mouth. My voice came out dry. “I wasn’t — I was just curious about what was—”

Samuel spoke.

“Willow.” Slow and deliberate. “So you really can see them.”