The Wife He Never Married, the Wife He Always Came Home To Chapter 02

The Wife He Never Married, the Wife He Always Came Home To Chapter 02

Chase didn’t hesitate. He shoved Brittany behind him.

When he looked at me, his eyes were ice. “Did you hit her?”

He was protecting her. The man I loved was staring me down like I was the enemy.

My chest caved in. I pointed at the certificates on the table.

“You said the marriage certificate didn’t matter. That you didn’t care about the formalities. So why did you give my things to her?!”

“Every excuse you gave for canceling on me, it was all fake, wasn’t it? It was always her.”

His face didn’t move. He just said, “Brittany’s pregnant. I had to do right by the kid.”

But I was pregnant too, back then!

When our startup failed, he fought underground to pay for my pregnancy medical bills. His fingers, the ones that used to write so neatly, still had scars all over.

And we still lost that baby. The doctor said I might never get pregnant again.

He held me and cried into my shoulder. “Harper, it’s okay. We’ll try again. We’ll have another baby.”

I drank every herbal remedy out there. Prayed in church until my knees gave out. Five years later, I finally got pregnant again.

And I lost that baby because he was too busy marrying Brittany.

“Daddy, she’s the bad guy! She said Mommy’s a homewrecker!”

The little boy tugged at Chase’s shirt. Brittany stood beside him, sniffling.

Chase’s frown got deeper.

I laughed. “Isn’t she? You threw me away for a massage therapist?”

“Harper!” He snapped.

Then he pulled Brittany into his arms to comfort her.

“Chase, she’s right,” Brittany cried. “I’m just a massage therapist. I’m not… I’m not what someone like you deserves.”

Chase wiped her tears gently while we stood there locked in a standoff.

Finally he said, “Let it go. Just don’t come near them again.”

My jaw tightened. “The house is mine. You get them out.”

Chase started to argue. I grabbed my bag and walked out before he could say no.

But the second I left the building, the tears came. No stopping them.

Brittany was wearing the wedding ring I’d wanted. The little boy had a gold pendant around his neck, the one I’d bought for my own baby.

He’d given everything that was mine to her.

I stayed home a full day before going back to the office.

The second I walked in, Brittany ran right into me. Coffee all over my shirt.

“What are you doing here?”

Jordan, my subordinate, jumped in fast. “Manager, she’s new. She didn’t mean it.”

Then she whispered in my ear, “She’s the boss’s wife. He brought her in yesterday. Big show.”

My chest went cold and hot at the same time.

Chase always said our relationship was bad for business. He never announced we were together.I made it to manager on my own merit.

But Brittany didn’t even finish high school. And she walked in as team lead.

“Get HR. Fire her.”

I built this company with him. No way I was letting her slither in.

“Harper, please don’t come after me,” Brittany said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Just let me and my baby live.”

HR stood there stuck between us. “Harper, I don’t know…”

“Fire her. I’ll take the heat.”

The words weren’t even cold. Brittany lunged at me, grabbing my sleeve. “Can’t you just leave me alone?!”

She was saying all this weird stuff to piss me off. I tried to pull her off me.

Then she fell backward, straight down and hit her head on the corner of the desk.

Chaos. And somehow Chase was already there.

“Babe… Harper looks down on me…”

Chase scooped her up immediately. Then he turned to me, face like stone.

“Harper Quinn. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Someone like you doesn’t belong in my company. Don’t bother coming back tomorrow.”

People were whispering. Eyes all over me.

I suddenly felt how ridiculous this was. The Chase in front of me was a stranger.