He Pretended to Have Amnesia and Chose My Best Friend, I Left Chapter 08
“You’ve been living in my apartment rent-free. I could’ve done this months ago.”
“But hey, you don’t have to leave.”
“I’ll just have the eviction crew dump your stuff on the sidewalk.”
“That apartment you rented for me? Keep it. You and Tessa can play house there.”
The line went quiet.
“How long have you known?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“We were done the second you chose her and kept pretending.”
I hung up and blocked his number.
Callum stood on that balcony for a long time.
When he finally came back in, something in him looked smaller.
He’d set things up so he could have it both ways: keep Tessa or come back to me, depending on how things played out.
That door was closed now.
Tessa knew who he’d been on the phone with.
She rushed over.
“What happened? Did Maren agree not to sell the apartment?”
—
Callum didn’t look at her.
“Pack our stuff.”
Tessa was furious, but she packed.
He watched her sulk for a while, then pulled her aside.
“This is temporary. Once we’re married, we’ll buy our own place.”
“The baby deserves a real home.”
Tessa’s face softened. She laced her fingers through his.
“I don’t care where we are, as long as we’re together.”
Callum pulled her in close.
“I can’t believe I ever wasted my time on someone like Maren. You’re the one I want. That’s never going to change.”
Tessa went still.
“Wait, you got your memory back? Then you’ve been…”
He took both her hands.
“I’ve had it back for months. I didn’t tell you because I couldn’t lose you.”
Something crossed Tessa’s face. Guilt.
Callum was too caught up in his own relief to see it.
A few days later, the cash offer closed and the funds from the apartment sale cleared.
—
Callum ended up moving Tessa into the apartment he’d originally rented for me.
I wired the real estate agent his full commission.
He called to thank me.
“Maren, anything you need down the road, call me.”
“And when you buy your next place, I’ll waive my fee.”
I paused.
“I’ll be overseas for a while. A new place isn’t in the picture anytime soon.”
“But there is one thing you can help me with.”
As Tessa’s belly grew, both families sat down for dinner and agreed the wedding needed to happen soon.
“It’ll be rushed. Are you okay with that?”
Tessa shook her head, then hesitated.
“What about a place to live?”
“We can’t start a marriage in a rental. That’s not… how I pictured this.”
Callum paused.
“My parents have the down payment ready, but we’d still need time to find a place and renovate.”
“For now, we make it work.”
—
Tessa smiled, a real one this time.
“I told you. I don’t mind.”
A few weeks before the wedding, my mom called.
“Can you believe this? They actually sent a wedding invitation to our house.”
“What are they trying to pull?”
I already knew. The receptionist at my old office had emailed me. Someone had sent a wedding invitation there first.
When they realized I was gone, they mailed it to my parents’ place instead.
“I’m not flying back for it. And I’m definitely not sending a gift.”
I paused.
“Actually, Mom, you should go. It might be worth the trip.”