He Stole My Fiancée, So I Took His Wife and His Company novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Eleven Hours
Miles's POV
They took my mother down the corridor with her hand still raised, giving me the thumbs-up.
The double doors closed behind the gurney.
I stood there looking at the doors until Hazel put a paper cup in my hand.
"Sit," she said. "It's a long one."
The surgical waiting room had twelve chairs, a muted television and a vending machine that hummed.
We were the only two people in it.
She sat across from me with her red dress under a gray hospital blanket and the pearls looped around her fingers.
Neither of us said anything for a long time.
At some point she took her heels off.
At some point I leaned my head on the wall and found I was watching her profile.
"I was wrong," I said.
She didn't turn.
"About which part?"
"The part where I called you a project."
"You said it because it hurt."
"I said it because it was easier than the other thing." I rubbed my face with my good hand. "I've never had anyone put themselves between me and a wall, Hazel. Not once. I didn't know what to do with it, so I decided it had to be a trade."
"It was not a trade."
"I know that now."
"How?"
"Because my mother told me, in the elevator, on the way down." I looked at the floor. "She said, if you're stupid enough to lose that woman over a pride thing, I will haunt you personally."
Hazel made a small noise that was almost a laugh.
"She'd do it."
"She'd do it in her good shoes."
I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees.
"I want to tell you why it hit so hard," I said. "I'm not saying it to excuse it."
Keep reading free with an account. Start He Stole My Fiancée, So I Took His Wife and His Company from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
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