I Stayed Widowed for 30 Years, Only for My Dead Husband to Resurrect with My Bestie Chapter 03
The memories hit me all at once, everything that happened next, the first time around.
Back then, I’d been too terrified to think.
I’d scrambled to his side, held him while blood seeped into my dress, and climbed into the ambulance with him.
At the hospital, he’d grabbed my hand, barely conscious. “Audrey… don’t leave me… I’d rather die than lose you…”
He swore he’d send Chloe away. Swore he’d never see her again.
And I believed him. Like an idiot, I forgave him.
After that, I questioned everything. Was I not loving enough? Not attentive enough? Had I missed something he needed?
I tried to be better. I learned to cook his favorite meals from scratch, drove to his office between meetings just to bring him lunch.
When he stumbled out of work dinners at two in the morning, I was the one who drove across town to bring him home.
…
“Ugh…”
My stomach turned.
The comments rolled in.
[The ML is SO down bad for her omg]
[The villainess is just standing there?? Ice cold]
[ML PLEASE wake up and dump the villainess she doesn’t deserve you]
I swiped the comments away. They were as nauseating as Arthur himself. With every guest still watching, I called my parents, then left. I didn’t look back once.
The second we got home, Mom pulled me close. Her eyes were already red. “Sweetheart, thank God you dodged a bullet before you actually married him. You got out. That’s all that matters.”
Something in my chest loosened. She meant every word.
When the Sterling family business was sinking, I was the one who begged my parents to bail them out. I was the one who spent months chasing investors until Sterling Enterprise had enough capital to grow.
I’d given the Sterlings everything. Walking away wasn’t going to be enough. Arthur was going to pay for every last thing he’d taken from me.
Arthur was in surgery all day and through the night. The second he woke up, he called me.
I blocked his number and turned off my phone.
Rain lashed against the windows that night. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, remembering how it played out the first time.
Everyone had said Arthur threw himself into traffic because he loved me too much, because he was terrified of losing me.
His mother had sobbed in front of every relative who’d listen, telling them I was the one with no heart.
Not one person asked how I felt after catching my fiancé with my best friend in my own dressing room. The moment Arthur bled on that pavement, that was supposed to make everything even.
What a joke.
I turned over and forced myself to sleep.
At three in the morning, Arthur checked himself out of the hospital against medical advice and showed up at my door. Refusing to leave.
I pulled the blanket over my head and went back to sleep.
By morning, the comments were losing it.
[The ML literally almost died for her and the villainess STILL won’t forgive him?? Does she even have a heart]
[If I were her I would’ve forgiven him SO fast like where else are you gonna find a man that fine who loves you this hard]
[Once a cheater always a cheater. The commenter above needs a reality check]
Outside, Arthur’s wound had gotten infected. He passed out on my porch with a raging fever.
His parents watched it happen, growing more frantic by the hour.
So they went after my family. The Sterlings went after the Vance family business with everything they had, sabotage, smear campaigns, all of it. The damage was devastating.
My father looked ten years older overnight.
He shrugged it off. “It’s just money, sweetheart. As long as you’re happy, nothing else matters.”
Even the comments went quiet. After a long pause, a few trickled in.
[Audrey’s dad has me in tears rn stop]
[Girl just give in already and be happy with the ML]
[But he already proved he can’t be trusted. If someone lets you down once why would you believe them again]
[He’s been camped out there for over 24 hours how is that not enough??]
My jaw tightened. I grabbed my keys and drove straight to the hospital.
