They Sold Me in a Crate to Pay His Debt, and the Devil Knelt and Called Me Wife novel · Chapter 5 of 16

Chapter 5: Ask Your Stepfather

I looked down at the napkin.

Then I looked across the ballroom at Conrad.

He was mopping his forehead with a handkerchief and whispering to Simone.

Nine years.

He'd stood at my mother's funeral in a black coat and held my hand.

He'd cried louder than anyone.

Elias leaned down to see what I was holding.

I didn't show him.

I put both hands on my wheels and rolled.

"Eliza."

I didn't stop.

The crowd parted for my chair because nobody wanted to be touched by the bleach girl.

The little stage had a ramp for the cake cart.

I rolled up it.

Damian stepped back from the microphone, surprised, then amused.

He even bowed a little and swept his hand.

I didn't look at him.

I typed on my phone.

Then I held it up to the microphone and pressed play.

The flat woman's voice boomed through every speaker in the ballroom.

"Conrad. Did you cut my mother's brakes?"

Silence hit the room.

The quartet stopped mid-note.

Three hundred faces turned from me to my stepfather.

Conrad's handkerchief froze against his cheek.

Then he laughed.

It was big and loud and too long.

"You see?" He turned in a circle, showing everyone his sad smile. "You see what I've been dealing with? She's sick. She's been sick since her mother died. The doctors have a word for it."

He shook his head at me.

"Sweetheart, you're embarrassing yourself."

Simone hurried to his side and took his arm.

Her eyes were already wet.

"She fell, everyone. She fell down the stairs at the studio, and she hit her head, and now she thinks everyone's out to get her. She drank bleach in the hospital. We had to have her watched."

A woman near the front touched her chest.

"Oh, that poor girl."

My thumbs were shaking so hard I typed it wrong twice.

I got it right the third time.

I held the phone to the microphone.

"I didn't fall, Simone. You knelt on my leg and held it flat while they swung the hammer. You were smiling."

Simone went white under her blush.

← Chapter 4 · All chapters · Chapter 6 →

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