Not Your Bet to Make Chapter 16

Not Your Bet to Make Chapter 16

Time moved fast. Senior year arrived before I knew it.

Four years. Scholarships covered most of tuition. Three jobs covered the rest. But what really built my first savings was a small program I sold junior year. By graduation, two hundred

thousand sat in my account.

After graduation, I started my own company.

Building it was brutal. I swallowed a lot of failure. Crashed

into a lot of walls.

But the result was good. My startup took off. Revenue

multiplied year after year.

My parents came looking for me a few times. I calculated every dollar they’d spent on me over the years. Added twenty thousand. Paid them back in full. One lump sum. Nothing left

between us.

Two years later, I got married.

At the wedding I saw Tiffany again.

She looked at me. Something complicated in her eyes.

“Congratulations.”

Mutual friends had told me. After college started, she confessed to Asher. Officially. He tore into her. Blocked her.

Deleted her.

That’s when she finally realized what she’d done. Tried

everything to reach me. Apologize.

I’d left her no path. She could only send her regrets through

mutual friends. I never responded.

But for a moment this big, I still invited her. I once promised

her-no matter what happened between us, if I got married

she’d be there to witness my happiness.

Toast time. My grandmother couldn’t stop beaming.

From the corner of my eye I caught a familiar shape. Standing in the shadows.

Asher.

Eyes red. Staring at me. Lips moved. No sound.

My husband stepped beside me. Followed my gaze.

“Someone you know?” he murmured.

I pulled my eyes back. Looped my arm through his. Smiled

faintly.

“No. Nobody important.”

[End]