My Fiancé Erased Me, Then Left Me for Dead novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Her Card

Melinda ends all three hotel bookings on her own card in front of the lobby; Jared's cards are declined, Shea names the Friday balance, and a live microphone turns up in Melinda's sun jacket.

The doctor let me go after three hours, with a printed sheet and a bottle of electrolyte powder.

Wyatt was waiting in the parking lot beside a dusty white truck.

"You're not going back to that hotel alone," he said.

"My suitcase is in the rental car, and my card pays for the rooms. I'm going back for both."

He opened the passenger door and didn't say anything else.

The lobby smelled of orange oil and air conditioning.

The man at the front desk looked up and recognized me from that morning, when I had come down for breakfast with my ring on.

"Ms. Tressler. Welcome back."

"I need to end three bookings," I said. "Mine, and the two rooms on the second floor. They're all on my card."

He tapped his keyboard. "The reservation is under your name for all three. You'd be ending a stay that runs through Thursday."

"Yes."

"Both guests are still in their rooms."

"They can put a card of their own down."

He nodded slowly, and his hands kept typing.

Behind me, the elevator opened.

Jared came out first, rubbing his jaw, and Shea followed him with her phone already raised.

"Babe," Jared said. "What are you doing?"

"Checking out."

"You're being ridiculous. You're not even in your right mind."

"The account holder has ended the reservation," the clerk told him. "If you'd like to stay, I can open a new booking. I'll need a card."

Jared gave a short laugh and handed one across the desk.

The clerk ran it.

We all stood there and waited, and the machine made a small flat sound.

"I'm sorry," the clerk said. "It's declined."

A couple at the end of the counter stopped talking.

Jared took the card back and tried another one. That one was declined too.

"It's a mistake," he said. "I'll call the bank."

"Please do," said the clerk. "Checkout is at noon tomorrow, or sooner if you prefer."

Shea moved closer to me, still filming, and lowered her voice so only I could hear it.

"Cute. But the Sunstone balance is twenty-two thousand four hundred, and it's due Friday. You'll pay it, because that's what you do."

"We'll see."

"And if you don't pay, there's no wedding." She smiled. "And nobody will ever believe you were the bride."

I looked at the camera and then at her.

"Then I guess I'll see you Friday," I said.

I held out my hand to Jared. "The car keys. My suitcase is in the trunk."

"Melinda."

"Give me the keys, or I tell this whole lobby what you did to me this afternoon."

The couple at the end of the counter was not pretending anymore.

Jared dropped the keys into my palm without looking at me.

Wyatt walked me out to the lot and lifted my suitcase from the trunk of the rental. He put it on the bed of his truck.

I pressed the keys into his hand. "Can you leave these at the desk?"

"Sure."

When he came back he stood outside the driver's door a second.

"You have somewhere to stay?"

"A motel, if one takes a card that doesn't belong to my fiancé." I stopped. "Ex-fiancé. I haven't said it out loud yet."

"You just did."

I sat in his truck with the paper bag on my lap.

I took out my sun jacket, because it was the one thing today that had been mine, and I wanted to hold it.

The collar was stiff, the way it had been in the clinic.

I ran my thumb along the seam, and it caught on something hard.

Wyatt looked over. "What is it?"

"There's something in the collar."

He held out his hand, and I gave him the jacket.

He pulled the seam open with his thumbnail.

Inside was a black rectangle the size of a matchbook, with a short wire running up to a tiny microphone.

A green light blinked on its side.

"That's a transmitter," Wyatt said.

I couldn't make my mouth work for a moment.

"Jared kissed me on the neck this morning and fixed my collar," I said. "He said it was crooked."

"The light's still on." He turned it over in his big hand. "These reach a few hundred feet, and it's been live all day. Whoever had the other half could hear the car, the desert, the clinic."

He took the battery out and held it between two fingers.

"They heard every word you said to me."

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend