The Wedding Where I Was The Witness, Not The Bride Chapter 09

The Wedding Where I Was The Witness, Not The Bride Chapter 09

I sent a file through the phone, cutting them off. “Tell them I’ll be sending money according to the ate minimum support standard. Not a cent more. This is what your favoritism has earned you. If you’re sick, in the hospital-I don’t want to know. Eight hundred dollars. That’s my last obligation to you. Until you die.”

On the other end, I heard Dad roar, a table flipped. Mom’s muffled sobs.

I hung up.

I looked at Grayson. “Was there something else?”

His lips moved. “Clementine… are you really that heartless? What about our seven years?”

I laughed, cold and hollow. “Grayson, I’m not the one who forgot our seven years. And I’m not the one who betrayed them.”

The food came. I took a bite. “Do you remember this place? We used to come here all the time.”

He stared.

“It doesn’t taste the same. I used to love it. Now it’s changed. So I don’t want it anymore.”

I stood. He grabbed my sleeve, his eyes red, his voice breaking in front of everyone. “Clementine, give me one more chance. I’ll put your name on everything-my paychecks, my house. You don’t like Wren? We’ll never go back. I can’t lose you.”

I pried his fingers off, one by one. “You’ve been pushing me away this whole time. Every single

move.”

Two years passed.

Mom called, cautious. “Clementine? Mom misses you. Are you coming home for the holidays?”

I paused. “I don’t have money.”

“Mom doesn’t want your money,” she said quickly. “I just miss you.”

I heard Dad coughing softly in the background. I smiled. Sure enough-“Your dad broke his leg coming down the stairs. He’s got a fever, keeps calling your name. Can you come back?”

“I don’t have time.”

Her voice dropped. “Could you maybe send a little more? Eight hundred a month isn’t enough. And Marcus is in jail-he got into a fight delivering food.”

She sniffled. “Elementine, I really have no one else. Wren’s just crying all the time-”

“Mom.” My voice was calm. “Favoritism has consequences. I’ve done the math. You spent less than a hundred thousand raising me. It was an Investment. Don’t worry-I won’t let you lose. If I don’t hit a hundred thousand before you die, I’ll find you a good plot.””