A 12-Year Love Turned to Nothing Chapter 10
The police laid out a full trail of evidence and an arrest warrant in front of Chase.
He stared at Alice, disheveled and undone, fury and shock rippling through him.
He’d been played.
Nora hadn’t been the one lying to him. Alice had.
Gina really had died-hounded to death by Alice and Olivia, working together.
And they’d stolen her body afterward, then turned around and pinned the whole thing on Nora, playing thief and
victim at once.
When he’d turned against her, believing every lie. How utterly alone she must have felt.
He was a bastard. He owed her more than he could ever repay.
The police led Alice and Olivia away.
As she passed me, Olivia-always so obsessed with her looks-was crying so hard her makeup had run down her face.
“Nora, I’m sorry. You really did care about me as a friend, but I let my vanity turn me against you behind your back. I helped an outsider hurt you, and I got Gina killed. Gina had always looked out for me. I’m so sorry…”
I watched them get led away in handcuffs without a flicker of feeling.
What good were apologies now? My mother was already gone.
All this regret was just the sound of someone who knew she was about to go to prison.
‘Olivia, you were never worthy of being my friend.’
The sirens faded into the distance.
I glanced once more at the wreckage of the wedding and turned to leave.
The police had just recovered my mother’s body. I needed to go bring her home.
A crowd fell into step, blocking my way.
Chase, of course, was leading them.
He looked at me, his eyes full of regret, and dropped to one knee. “I’m sorry, Nora. I couldn’t tell who people really were, and I hurt you because of it.
“Are you going to bring Gina home? I’ll come with you. After all these years together, I’ve always thought of her as my own mother. Let’s go bring her home.”
Susanne wiped away a tear and spoke to me like she meant every word. “Don’t blame my brother for this. That vicious woman was too calculating-she fooled all of us. Nora, honey, a reformed man is worth more than gold. Listen to me. Forgive Chase just this once, and he’ll spend the rest of his life making it up to you twice over.”
The rest of our mutual friends chimed in, trying to keep me from leaving.
“Nora, I’m so sorry.”
“Nora, we really had no idea Alice was this awful. She fooled all of us too. Can you please forgive us?”
“You and Chase went through twelve years together, through everything. How can you just walk away now? Give him a chance. Everyone here wants to see you two happy.”
“Yeah, get married, and we can all still get together like the old days.”
I looked over each of their faces, one by one-every single one fake, repulsive, sickening.
The man I’d loved for twelve years had spent eight of them cheating on me.
My best friend and Chase’s sister, whom I’d respected and helped build her career, not one of them had chosen to tell me the truth instead of helping to hide it.
From the moment Chase betrayed me, from the moment every one of them chose silence over honesty, whatever I’d once felt for any of them was gone for good. None of them deserved my sincerity, not anymore.
“Move,” I said, ice cold.
The crowd, wise enough to take the hint, cleared a path for me.
I walked away without looking back.
After bringing my mother’s body home, I took her back to Millbrook, to the house where I grew up.
The old place had fallen into disrepair over the years, but after a thorough cleaning, it felt alive and welcoming again.
I quit my job in Greth City and took the certification exam for a teaching position at Millbrook Elementary School.
It wasn’t for any particular reason-just that staying on this land, where I could still feel my mother’s presence, was the only thing that gave me any peace.
Later, I heard-I don’t even remember from who-what happened to Chase.
A funding round fell through, his company collapsed into crisis, and it went under completely.
He sold off everything he had left to sell, and it still wasn’t enough to cover what he owed.
The man once surrounded by admirers had become the person nobody in his circle wanted anything to do with.
Friends, buddies, even his own sister-every one of them just stood by and watched. Not a single person was willing to lend him a cent to help him through it.
With no other choice, Chase was left scavenging scrap to pay off his debts, one can at a time.
Given enough time, I suppose he’ll pay it all back eventually.
As for Alice and Olivia-one got twenty years, the other fifteen.
By the time they’re out, they’d probably be nearing retirement age.
I drifted for a moment, lost in thought, until I noticed a few troublemakers in the back of my classroom sneaking snacks during the lesson.
I fixed them with a sharp look and confiscated their candy and chips.
“Come see me in my office after class.”
