Ditching Me for His 'Soulmate'? His Loss. Next Stop: My New Life novel Chapter 97

Chapter 10

Several months had passed, and the air in a cramped basement apartment somewhere in a quiet residential neighborhood was thick with tension. Harsh voices echoed off the worn walls.

“Reed! You useless bastard! Where’s the money from today’s deliveries? If we don’t pay rent by tomorrow, we’re out on the street!” Sage’s voice cracked with frustration and exhaustion.

Pregnant and weary, Sage’s greasy hair clung to her sweaty forehead. The softness that once graced her face had been replaced by sharp lines of bitterness and fatigue, etched deeply by hunger and worry.

She grabbed Reed’s grimy delivery uniform—still reeking of sweat—and rifled through the pockets roughly, desperate for any sign of cash.

“Stop nagging me!” Reed snapped irritably, pushing her hand away. He slumped down onto the battered sofa, its springs creaking and poking him painfully.

“I ran myself ragged all day, and I got two complaints. They docked half my pay! What little’s left barely covers these lousy burgers!” He jabbed toward the two sad-looking burgers on the table.

Sage’s eyes flashed with anger. “You mean half your wages only bought two crappy burgers? I’m carrying your baby, Reed! We can’t even afford prenatal vitamins!”

She threw the uniform onto the floor with a harsh clatter, her voice rising in frustration.

“This is all your fault! If you hadn’t pissed off that witch Willa Lynn, we wouldn’t be stuck like this! That psycho Sterling wouldn’t have destroyed us! I can’t even afford a proper prenatal checkup now!”

Reed’s face twisted with rage. “My fault?!” He sprang to his feet, bloodshot eyes blazing as he glared at her.

“If it weren’t for you! If you hadn’t insisted on wearing that stupid ring! If you hadn’t thrown it into the river! If you hadn’t shoved her like some crazy woman! How else would I have lost Willa? How else would Sterling have turned against us? How did Harrison Corporation end up bankrupt? Sage, you’re the curse on us! You and your thieving mother are disasters!”

Sage’s breath hitched, fury flaring. “You dare insult my mother? Reed, you heartless bastard! You think I’m the one dragging you down? This is *your* baby I’m carrying!”

“Baby?” Reed roared, his voice cracking with years of pent-up bitterness and crushing pressure. “Who the hell knows if it’s even mine!”

“You’re just a broke, ugly mess now! I must’ve been blind back then, giving up a real heiress like Willa for a fake like you! She’s Mrs. Whitmore now—the Lynn Corporation heiress!”

Before the priest, surrounded by the blessings of family and friends, Sterling slid a ring symbolizing eternity onto my finger. Then he bent down, pressing a solemn, heartfelt kiss to my lips.

“I love you, Willa Lynn,” he whispered.

Applause swelled like a wave, filling the grand cathedral with joyous celebration.

In that moment, flowers seemed to bloom brighter, and time itself held its breath in peaceful stillness.

All the pain and suffering I had endured were now just echoes of the past—a mere prelude to the happiness that was finally beginning to unfold.

Those who once crushed me beneath their scorn were now trapped in the very lives they had once looked down upon.

And I—at last—stood in the radiant sunlight, ready to embrace the brilliant life that was truly mine.