Ditch My Fake-Poor Boyfriend, Marry My CEO Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 4

James Anderson wiped the blood off his face and shoved me back, hard.

Even drenched in the pouring rain, his beauty remained undeniable. His features, usually so sharp and handsome, now twisted into an expression of pure anger.

"You followed me?" His voice was dripping with contempt. "Sophia Carter, I didn't think you were this low."

My body trembled with fury, each word laced with betrayal. "Yeah, so what? How much do you want from me now?"

The pain was unbearable. The kind of heartbreak where the person you thought you knew becomes someone unrecognizable.

I thought losing my child had been the worst thing I'd ever go through.

I was wrong.

Now, this was the deepest cut.

I collapsed to the ground, my body shaking, tears streaming down my face. "James Anderson, are you even human?" I gasped, my voice raw with hurt. "How are you still trying to twist everything around?"

I stood up slowly, forcing out a bitter laugh that felt like it was coming from someone else. "Do you remember the bar attendant you kicked today?"

James frowned, clearly confused.

I glared at him, every word like a weapon. "That was me."

His face froze, but he didn't speak.

I couldn't stop. My chest felt like it was on fire. "You needed a commuter car, so I came here, working extra shifts to get the money you wanted."

A flicker of guilt flashed across his face. He reached out for my hand, his eyes softening. "Sophia, I never meant to deceive you."

The moment his fingers touched mine, I felt like I was going to choke.

"Don't touch me!" I yanked my hand back, stepping away like he was toxic.

The woman who loved him, the one who thought he was her future—she was gone.

"James Anderson, did you spend all the money in my account?" I asked, my voice chillingly calm, though my body was trembling.

His lips curled into a sneer. "Sophia Carter, I thought you were above this." His eyes grew colder, dismissive. "Is it really just about the money?"

I felt sick. The disgust swelled inside me.

"Don't worry," he said, still mocking me. "I'll pay you back—ten times, a hundred times the eighty thousand tomorrow."

He was still treating this like a transaction. A game.

Not once did he even mention my grandmother.

I raised my hand, ready to slap the smug expression off his face—

But before I could, Jessica Taylor appeared from nowhere, shoving me down with brutal force.

"How dare you hit James?" She hissed, but the moment her eyes landed on me, her gaze flickered with recognition. "Oh, it's you."

My anger flared even more. I staggered to my feet, but the sharp pain in my stomach almost knocked me back down. I'd been eating only once a day, and the stress had taken a toll. Now, with the kick to my stomach, it felt like my insides were tearing apart.

Jessica sneered. "Sister, you didn't think you could hide forever, did you?"

James blinked, confused. "You know her?"

Jessica flashed a cruel smile. "Of course. We went to high school together. She was expelled for stealing and even spent half a month in a police station cell."

James's face hardened. He turned to me with a look of utter disappointment. "Sophia... is that true?"

I didn't answer. It didn't matter anymore.

Jessica leaned in close, her voice a soft, venomous whisper in my ear.

"You'll never win," she said, a cruel smile stretching across her lips. "My mom belongs to me. And James Anderson? He's mine too. You'll only ever be my shadow."

I couldn't take it anymore. I shoved her hard.

She stumbled back, overacting with a dramatic gasp. "Ouch, my hand!" She held it up like I'd actually injured her.

James grabbed my neck, squeezing just enough to make me gasp. "Sophia Carter, how can you be so vicious?"

I lost it. The anger that had been building up finally erupted.

My nails dug into his arm, the pain in my stomach forgotten in the rush of rage.

"Vicious?" I spat, my voice shaking with fury. "James Anderson, do you even know what that eighty thousand was for?"

His eyes flickered, but there was no real understanding there.

I took a step forward, my voice a blade in the night.

"It was for my grandmother's life-saving surgery!" I screamed.

And then, it hit me like a freight train.

My grandmother was dead.

"She died." I whispered, the words tasting like ashes in my mouth. "Because there was no money for the surgery."

James's face twisted into something unreadable. But it didn't matter.

I wasn't done.

I took a shaky breath and screamed again, the words tearing through me.

"You killed her."

I took another step forward, every inch of my body shaking with the weight of my words.

"In these three years, hasn't my grandmother treated you like family?" My chest heaved. "She loved you like her own grandson!"

Tears burned my eyes, but I didn't care.

"She died—because of you."

James just stood there, frozen. His expression was distant, like he wasn't even hearing me anymore.

And that was the hardest part.

He didn't care.

Not about me. Not about her.

Not even about the woman he had once claimed to love.