They Thought I Was Duped, Unaware I Had Truly Been Reborn Chapter 04

They Thought I Was Duped, Unaware I Had Truly Been Reborn Chapter 04

I went still.

I stared, incredulous, at Wade, who was desperately clamping his hand over Brynn’s mouth.

My voice barely came out.

“What does she mean by that?”

Wade couldn’t meet my eyes.

Brynn, meanwhile, shrugged it off as if she were discussing something utterly trivial.

“It means I was the one who hit your mom.”

“Actually, she wasn’t dead right away—but her lower body was crushed.”

“She would’ve been a useless cripple for the rest of her life.”

“She saw my face. She definitely would’ve tried to shake me down for everything I had.”

Brynn shrugged. “So Wade told me to wait.”

“We sat there for about thirty minutes until she finally died.”

“Then we called 911.”

Her expression turned annoyed.

“And the whole thing cost me over a grand.”

“Since you’re my buddy’s fiancée, I never even asked you to pay me back.”

My knees nearly buckled. Pain ripped through my chest.

A year ago, I was working late when Wade called.

He told me my mother had been in a car accident and was at the hospital.

By the time I got there, a white sheet had already been pulled over her body.

The overwhelming grief caused me to miscarry my three-month-old baby.

Then I collapsed and spent days unconscious.

When I finally came to, the case had already been closed.

Wade told me the driver was a single parent with cancer. That they were struggling.

He’d signed the letter of forgiveness on my behalf, saying it was to build good karma for my mother.

I had trusted him completely. Never once doubted him.

What I never imagined was that the driver was actually Brynn.

And the two of them had stood there and watched my mother die.

The fury in my eyes must have been obvious.

Wade’s face hardened.

“Simone, this isn’t Brynn’s fault.”

“Your mom threw herself in front of Brynn’s car. She was trying to scam her.”

“It’s your mom’s fault Brynn was too scared to drive for months afterward.”

He kept going. Like he actually believed every word.

“And let’s be realistic.”

“Even if we’d saved her, the medical bills would’ve been insane.”

“She would’ve spent the rest of her life paralyzed.”

“We just couldn’t afford to take care of a cripple.”

“I helped her end her suffering—no more pain, no burden on us. A win-win, right?”

Three years earlier, Wade’s liver had failed. He needed a transplant.

My mother donated part of her liver without hesitation.

Then she spent three straight months caring for him while recovering from surgery herself.

Back then, Wade had wept and swore that she was his savior, that he would treat her like his own mother and repay her kindness forever.

And this was how he repaid her. By helping Brynn kill the woman who had treated him like family.

I couldn’t stop imagining those thirty minutes.

My mother lying there, broken and bleeding, watching the man whose life she’d saved with her own liver just stand by and wait for her to die.

How terrified must she have been? How betrayed?

A weight settled on my shoulders.

Wade grabbed me gently, his voice full of fake concern.

“Simone. You still have me.”

“Our wedding’s only a few days away. Can we please stop fighting?”

He smiled as if offering a generous compromise.

“Here’s the thing—let Brynn wear your wedding dress, just for fun. You can wear the bridesmaid dress.”

“Don’t worry. You’re the one I love, the one I’m marrying.”

“Brynn’s just a tomboy—nobody else wants her. But you, you have me.”

The wedding. At the word, memories of my previous life came flooding back.

I clenched my jaw. “Okay.”

This time, I’d settle every score—old and new.

Just like before, the wedding day arrived.

As I was resting in the bridal suite in my bridesmaid dress, a masked man suddenly burst in.

A sharp chemical smell hit me.

Then darkness swallowed everything.

The ceremony was about to begin, but the bride was nowhere to be found.

Panic spread through the venue.

Brynn stood there in my wedding dress, looking not the least bit surprised—almost vindicated.

“See? I told you she was petty.”

“All this, just because I wore her dress.”

“She throws a tantrum and bails, leaving Wade humiliated in front of everyone.”

Wade called my phone over and over. No answer.

His face grew darker with every failed attempt.

Finally, he turned to the guests.

“Simone’s throwing another fit. She ran off.”

“Luckily, Brynn here is willing to step in and save the ceremony.”

Brynn couldn’t hide her smile.

She slipped my engagement ring onto her finger.

At that exact moment, the ballroom doors flew open.

A group of police officers rushed inside and flashed their badges.

“Brynn Keane, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Simone Harlow. Come with us.”