Chapter 9
That night, Christian confessed he’d harbored feelings for me for years. He explained that before he could express his interest, he’d learned of my marriage. Now that I was divorced, he didn’t want to let another opportunity slip away and asked me to consider a relationship with him.
He found me a new apartment in a secure building, helped me move, and began cooking for me daily.
One afternoon, while he was preparing lunch in the kitchen, Kaia dropped by.
“Your new man’s quite the catch,” she teased. “Oh, and I’ve got some juicy gossip.”
“What kind?” I asked.
Kaia’s face lit up with schadenfreude. “It’s about your penny–pinching ex.
“A friend told me loan sharks are after Nolan, and they even
called his friend.
“Since he can’t pay up, they’ve plastered his compromising photos everywhere. His family and friends are being hounded by debt collectors and have all cut ties. He’s been begging everyone for money, but no one will help.
Chapter 9
“He’s been kicked out of the hospital for unpaid bills and is living on the streets.”
2/3
It all made sense now. The money for the designer bags and the house down payment had all come from loans he’d taken out from loan sharks.
He could have managed the monthly payments with his salary, but after the wedding incident cost him his precious job, everything unraveled.
The debts snowballed with compound interest while cancer treatment expenses mounted.
Caught between these two crushing burdens, he couldn’t handle
either.
The hospital wasn’t a charity, and the loan sharks turned to aggressive collection tactics when he defaulted. His downfall had been inevitable.
I felt oddly neutral about it all, neither grief nor joy.
Then, while spending time with Christian one day, I heard Nolan had died.
Though I knew about his cancer, the timing seemed premature.
According to my friend, it wasn’t the cancer that killed him but
rage.
He’d been scrounging through garbage when he spotted Andrea
Chapter 9
with another man. His precious son was calling this stranger “Dad“.
3/3
When Nolan confronted her about letting his child call another man father, Andrea had sneered, “You actually thought he was yours? That’s his real father. Who do you think you are?”
This was karma. The cheater had been cheated on all along.
Learning he’d been cuckolded was too much for Nolan’s pride. The shock and fury literally killed him.
It was a tragic end, but one of his own making.
After hearing the news, I simply said “I see” and called my boyfriend about lunch plans.
I had financial security, a loving relationship, and a fulfilling life. Nolan was firmly in my past where he belonged.
B
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ir Gifts
