From Left Behind to Living Lavish

Chapter 7

I followed Carter around, greeting guests and managing the event arrangements.

The large LED screen displayed a montage of Uncle Hall's life, his accomplishments, his appearances, and news reports about him.

I stood there, staring blankly at the screen, lost in thought.

But the memories weren't happy ones.

My recollection of him was distant. He was always stern and serious, rarely speaking to me.

The only thing he ever gave me was a ruby bracelet when Carter and I got engaged. I'd heard it was meant for the future daughter-in-law of the Hall family.

But later, Carter took it back.

I couldn't help but smile bitterly at the thought.

Suddenly, the screen went dark.

When it lit up again, the image had changed.

It was the video from Amy's phone.

Chaos erupted in the room.

I stood frozen, unable to react.

It felt like ice running through my veins, and the bottom of my dress felt wet.

"What is this? Turn off the screen now!" someone shouted.

A jacket was quickly wrapped around my waist, and large hands covered my eyes, shielding me from the storm that was about to hit.

Despite the protection, I could still hear the whispers around me.

"The girl in the video, isn't that Lindsey?"

"With all those men... That's disgusting."

"Did you see that? Looks like she wet herself. How gross."

"Oh my God, showing this at the memorial for Mr. Hall? How can someone like her still be part of the Hall family?"

The lights came back on, and those large hands moved to cover my ears instead.

A strong, steady voice cut through the noise.

"Lindsey is the victim here!"

"How dare you attack a victim like this? Have you all lost any sense of decency?"

I glanced at Carter, standing there, stunned.

The pain in my chest wasn't as heavy anymore.

The world seemed to quiet down, and I let out a relieved smile as I held onto the hand pressed against my ear.

"I'm no longer part of the Hall family. Carter and I are divorced."

Now, I had someone who truly cared about me.

And that felt… pretty good.

The next morning, I woke up early, packed my things, and waited for Carter in the living room. Normally, he was decisive and efficient, but today he was dragging his feet.

I stood up and said, "Let's go."

He grabbed my wrist, his head lowered, avoiding my gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what you'd been through. I'm really sorry..."

I calmly interrupted him, "Let's go."

He didn't move.

"Can we not get a divorce? I'll make it up to you."

I took a deep breath and met his eyes. "Carter, yesterday, I saw embarrassment and anger in your eyes, but not a trace of pity."

I smiled softly. "You have to admit it, you don't love me."

Saying it out loud wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I had been trapped by that truth for so many years.

"That's not true. It's not that I don't love you…"

His gaze dropped to my right hand, and his face lit up with a flicker of hope. He reached for my hand, lifting it with expectation.

"You're still wearing this ring. That means you still love me."

On my right ring finger was a simple band, its color faded and worn. It looked cheap, and because of that, during the three years I'd wandered the streets, no one had ever tried to steal it.

The people who'd bullied me would mock me whenever they saw it.

"Look at this junk. This idiot still treats it like treasure."

But to me, that "junk" was the wedding ring Carter had given me. He'd bought it for ten dollars from a street vendor just to get it over with.

I knew it was worthless, but I had foolishly treasured it all these years.