The House I Paid For Was Never Mine Chapter 02
My mother immediately defended them. “Brielle’s condition worsened that year.
“Before surgery, her only wish was to marry Gavin legally.”
“Her doctor warned us that emotional stress could be dangerous. What were we supposed to do, let her die?”
“You were healthy, and you already had a wedding with Gavin. What harm was there in letting her have this one thing?”
Sienna sighed. “I realized long ago that they loved each other.”
“Brielle begged me not to tell you because she didn’t want to destroy your home. How could I force someone that selfless to walk away?”
So Sienna had not merely known. She had taken their wedding portraits, prepared Brielle’s bouquet, and gone with them to the County Clerk’s Office.
She had helped them apply for the license, stood beside them during the civil ceremony, and watched the signed paperwork become an official marriage record.
Every step had required planning.
My partner, my parents, and my best friend had all participated in the deception.
I alone had worked myself raw paying the mortgage on a house legally owned by my sister.
Gavin frowned. “Brielle wanted only to marry me and have a real home of her own.”
“You had the ceremony, and you’ve lived with me all this time. Stop making a scene.”
He spoke as though dividing my marriage between two women were perfectly fair.
I remembered our ceremony five years earlier.
As Gavin placed the ring on my finger, he declared before every guest, “You’ll be my only wife for the rest of my life.”
My mother had cried hardest. Sienna had been the first to applaud.
Brielle had adjusted my veil herself and wished us a lifetime of happiness.
Everyone there had known I was not the legal bride, yet they watched me cry over vows they knew were false.
They had smiled as I treated the ceremony as the beginning of a lawful marriage.
In reality, Gavin had deliberately left our license application unfinished, preserving his freedom to marry Brielle later.
My voice went numb. “If the house belonged to her, why did you make me pay the mortgage?”
My mother’s brows drew tight. “You and Gavin lived there for five years.
“Of course you should pay for it.”
“Brielle owns the place, but she never spent one night there because she cared about your feelings.
“She didn’t complain while you occupied her house, yet now you’re counting every dollar?”
I looked at my mother and found nothing left to say.
Then Brielle covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom, retching. Gavin’s face changed, and he hurried after her to rub her back.
My mother brought warm water. “I thought everything would settle down after the first trimester.”
My body stiffened. “What first trimester?”
Pale, Brielle leaned against Gavin and instinctively protected her stomach.
After several seconds, he finally said, “She’s twelve weeks pregnant.”
Twelve weeks.
They had a legal marriage, a house, and now a child. The claim that Brielle had received only a piece of paper was simply another lie they had created together.
With red eyes, she explained, “I didn’t plan to keep the baby, Laurel.”
“The doctor said I might never conceive again, and Gavin couldn’t bear to lose it.”
She stroked her stomach, apologizing while unmistakable happiness shone in her eyes. My mother immediately stepped in front of her.
“Brielle is risking her life for this pregnancy, so stop upsetting her. Your miscarriage was tragic, but sometimes a pregnancy simply isn’t viable.”
“Do you expect Gavin to give up fatherhood forever because you lost one baby?”
A roar filled my ears. The child I had lost on an operating table was merely an accident they expected me to get over.