NovelNext Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The real estate agent had just finished showing the house to a buyer, who eagerly agreed to sign the contract. I was in the living room, going over the details with the middle-aged man in the polo shirt when the security door suddenly clicked open with a key.
Mia Jefferson stormed in, her high heels clicking sharply against the floor, clutching a Hermès bag—probably a new gift from Evan Sutherland. Her eyes landed on the purchase agreement on the coffee table, and her face went pale.
"Ryan Hodgson!" she shrieked, marching toward me. "How dare you sell the house behind my back? I own half of it!"
The buyer, Mr. Stone, frowned as he studied her. "Young lady, the property deed only has Ryan's name on it."
"None of your business!" Mia flung her bag onto the sofa. "We lived together for three years! This is shared property!"
I twirled my pen lazily, unimpressed. "Civil Code, Article 1042—property acquired during cohabitation belongs to the party who paid for it." I met her flushed face with a cool gaze. "Need me to hook you up with a lawyer?"
Her nails dug into her palms. "You were never like this before!" Her voice cracked with a sob. "Just treat it as a loan, okay? Evan's mom is demanding an 880,000 dowry..."
Mr. Stone suddenly chuckled. "Kid, I can hear your scheming from the next city over." He pointed to the sticky note on the entryway, the one with last month's unpaid utility bill still under my name. "You call that shared property?"
Mia froze. She knew the law well—she'd just banked on my past soft-heartedness. The look on her face now reminded me of the time she maxed out my credit card at a luxury boutique.
"Your stuff's already packed up and shipped back to your hometown," I said, handing Mr. Stone the signed contract. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
In a fit of rage, she grabbed an orange from the coffee table and hurled it at the TV wall, splattering juice across the freshly hung wallpaper. "You'll regret this!" she trembled. "Just wait until Evan and I get married—"
"Send me an invite," I said, pulling open the security door. "I'll chip in 200 for the gift."
The door slammed behind me with a deafening crash as Mr. Stone examined the property deed. He looked up, eyes wide. "Kid, that girl's got a mean streak. You dodged a bullet."
At six in the morning, my phone buzzed, yanking me awake. A message from Evan Sutherland stared back at me: "Be here at eight sharp. I want you to witness just how much Mia Jefferson loves me."
I adjusted my tie in the mirror, a cold smirk tugging at my lips. How could I miss such a spectacle?
The wedding venue was dripping in opulence, crystal chandeliers refracting blinding light. Guests mingled in designer outfits, exchanging hollow pleasantries over champagne flutes. Mia stood at the altar in her white gown, her eyes flickering toward me with a hint of defiance.
"Thank you all for witnessing my love with Evan," she announced loudly, her voice deliberately ringing out. "A special thanks to my ex-boyfriend, Ryan Hodgson, for coming to bless us today."
Every eye in the room turned to me. Mia had played a cruel card—calling out her ex at her own wedding. Too bad she didn't realize she wasn't the one pulling the strings here.
I rose gracefully, lifting my champagne glass. "To a lifetime of happiness," I said smoothly. Pausing, I added, "The venue is... quite unique."
Evan suddenly grabbed the microphone, his knuckles whitening. Guests began egging him on: "The groom's going to confess!" "Someone record this!"
Mia blushed, stomping her foot in mock annoyance. I swirled my glass, the ice cubes clinking melodically.
"Mia," Evan's voice wavered slightly. "There's something I need to tell you."
He took a deep breath, and the room held its breath with him. "I've been HIV-positive for two years."
The air turned to ice. The chandeliers suddenly felt painfully bright.
"We're married now," he continued, his voice steady. "I can't keep hiding it." He reached for her hand. "You'll stand by me through treatment, won't you?"
The crowd erupted. A champagne tower toppled. Glasses shattered beneath stiletto heels. Amid the chaos, Mia's face cycled from red to white to ashen.
"T-today isn't April Fools'..." Her voice trembled.
Evan took a step closer. "I falsified last week's premarital test results. My CD4 count is actually—"
SMACK!
The slap echoed through the hall. Mia frantically scrubbed her wrist where he'd touched her, grabbing disinfectant and spraying herself down.
"You bastard! Why now? Why today?" she shrieked hysterically. "I'll sue you for intentional transmission!"
Evan pressed a hand to his cheek, smirking. "Who was it yesterday who vowed 'in sickness and in health'?"
The scene erupted into pandemonium. Setting down my glass, I slipped away unnoticed in the deafening chaos. Sunlight glinted off the wedding invitation in my hand, the embossed "eternal conjugal bliss" mocking us all.