Chapter 7 - The House of Cards Collapses
“It’s a lie!” Chloe shrieked, slamming her hands on the table. “She’s faking documents to ruin us, Mark! Don't listen to her!”
“Page four,” I said calmly. “Bank statements showing wire transfers to offshore accounts. Page seven, a trail of aggressive text messages from a collection enforcer. You didn't want my house to build a family, Chloe. You wanted it to save your kneecaps.”
Mark pulled the folder toward him. As he flipped through the pages, his breathing grew shallow. He was looking at the undeniable proof of his fiancée’s double life.
“You told me you had savings,” Mark whispered to her. “You told me you needed my name off the deed to protect us from my student loans.”
“Mark, baby, please, I can explain—”
“You were going to mortgage my mother’s house?” Mark’s voice was escalating to a shout. “You were going to steal her home to pay off your gambling debts?!”
“Well, it’s not like she needed it!” Chloe snapped, her true, venomous nature finally bursting to the surface. “She’s an old widow! She has millions! Why shouldn't she bail us out? If you were a real man, you would have made her sign it!”
Mark recoiled as if he had been physically struck.
“You used me,” he realized, the devastation clear in his eyes.
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“Oh, grow up, Mark,” Chloe sneered, standing up and grabbing her cheap purse. “You’re a broke, jobless mama’s boy now. I have guys with actual money waiting in my DMs.”
She didn't even look back as she stormed out of the conference room, leaving Mark sitting in the rubble of his life.
