From Neglected Wife to CEO’s Obsession novel Chapter 87

“No matter what you say, you have no right to tell me how to live my life. And don’t even think about using the whole ‘father’ thing to boss me around. Get this straight: I, Remy, might as well have come out of nowhere. I don’t have a father. Even if you die, I’m not coming to your funeral. Don’t ever call me again.”

The voice on the other end was still going, but Remy didn’t care. He threw his phone hard against the wall. It shattered, pieces scattering everywhere.

“Remy, he’s still your dad. Maybe just talk it out—”

“Stop it. I said I don’t have a father. I’ll say it again, I don’t have a father!”

Cindy was so startled by Remy’s anger that she pressed her face into my shoulder, shaking like a scared little quail. Marissa sat there, silently crying. Remy looked furious, his face stone-cold, veins in his neck standing out as he struggled not to lose control.

The hospital room was painfully quiet.

I pulled out my phone and started searching online. From what I could tell, a regular fever almost never causes real amnesia, unless it’s over 107 degrees or there’s something serious like meningitis. So whether Remy actually lost his memory was definitely questionable.

He might be able to convince the doctors, or even Cindy and Marissa, but facts are facts.

I rushed back to the office just before two. I hadn’t even had a chance to sit down when Kailynn called. She told me Jeffery was back in town, and everyone was meeting up that night. She said I absolutely had to be there.

When I checked my phone, our group chat was blowing up.

Jeffery was one of those childhood friends I’d grown up with, along with Kailynn. After college, he moved abroad and started his own company. He was back now to help his parents move overseas.

“Avery, remember when Jeffery confessed to you after high school?” Kailynn teased in the group chat. “If things hadn’t gotten messed up, you’d probably be married to him by now, with two cute little kids. Remy wouldn’t even be in the picture.”

The first guy walked up to the prettiest girl in our grade, knelt down with a bouquet in one hand and a silver ring in the other, and said, “I’ve liked you since the first time I saw you. I’ve been by your side for three years. I want to go from school uniforms to wedding dresses with you, and one day, be buried side by side by our kids. Will you be my girlfriend?”

Everyone cheered as she tearfully said yes.

The second and third guys confessed too, both of them getting happy endings. Only Jeffery was left, standing there, holding his roses.

Everyone was whispering, trying to guess who he’d pick. Kailynn and I even bet on whether it would be the class beauty or the tall girl from the track team.

But Jeffery just walked straight through the crowd, roses in hand, and stopped right in front of me.

“Avery, we’ve known each other for fifteen years. I’ve liked you for fifteen years. I don’t just want to go from school uniforms to wedding dresses with you—I want you in this life, and the next, and the one after that. So…”