No Legacy For The Liar Chapter 1

The night before my wedding, I found Brooks and a stranger in my bed.

Proud as he was, that was the first time I’d ever seen him weep.

His voice shook as he explained, claiming he was blackout drunk, that he’d mistaken her for me, and that it would never happen again.

The young woman, her face flushed, confessed that she’d secretly loved Brooks for years and deliberately bribed a hotel clerk for his room key.

She fell to her knees and swore she would disappear from our lives forever.

For the next eight years, we were the picture of a perfect couple, envied by everyone we knew.

Then, on Brooks’s thirtieth birthday, I specifically took time off work and endured an eleven-hour international flight to give him a surprise.

Stopping at a corner store for a bottle of water, I overheard a woman talking on the phone beside me.

“You’re so clingy. It’s only been an hour, and you’ve practically blown up my phone.”

“Just wait. This girl is going to wear you out tonight.”

A jolt of something—curiosity, perhaps—made me glance over.

I froze.

The woman was the same girl from eight years ago.

* * *

Years had passed, and she clearly didn't recognize me as she walked over to the checkout.

I couldn't hear what the person on the other end was saying, but she pouted playfully into the phone. “No, I’m not cold. I’m wearing plenty. You can check later if you don’t believe me.”

“You can reach right inside, slide your hand down my waist, and keep going until you hit…”

On an impulse I couldn’t explain, I pulled out my phone and texted Brooks.

[Brooks, are you off work yet?]

No reply.

The woman reached out and took two boxes from the shelf for 'Intimate Products.'

Same brand, same flavor, same size—the one Brooks and I always used.

Her voice was sickly sweet. “It’s your birthday, so it’s your call how many times we go.”

I glanced down at my phone.

Still nothing.

After paying, I followed the woman outside.

“Stop rushing me,” she whined. “I see your car.”

The London rain was hitting my face, cold as ice.

I tightened my coat around me and hit the call button with a trembling hand.

A cold, automated female voice replied: “The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable.”

I understood instantly. He had his phone on 'Do Not Disturb.'

This year, he’d told me his overseas branch was so busy that he couldn’t take calls once he stepped into the office.

It wasn't the first time I couldn't reach him.

A sleek Bentley was parked a short distance away at the corner.

“Brooks!”

The woman hurried forward and opened the passenger door.

I turned my head slightly to look.

One look was all it took to nail me to the spot.

The window was half-down, and the man in the driver’s seat looked composed and expensive.

She twisted her body and leaned in to plant a light kiss on the corner of his mouth.

He smiled, a familiar, fond look of resignation.

“Always the baby,” he murmured.

The streetlights were dim, but I saw his face clearly.

The owner of that face had been by my side for my entire thirty years.

At three, we held hands walking into kindergarten.

He’d sneak the candy the teacher gave him into my palm. “I’ll protect you. Don’t cry.”

At sixteen, he copied a movie scene and hid a drawing of me inside a textbook.

When I found it, his ears turned bright red.

“I just like you. So what?”

At nineteen, during our first kiss, he was so thrilled he bought out the entire restaurant’s tab.

“I want to shout it out—I’m the happiest guy in the world.”

At twenty-two, when I accepted his proposal, he swore in front of both our families that he would only ever love me.

Everything came to a screeching halt the night before our wedding.

When I opened that hotel room door, he and a stranger were naked and tangled together.

The day was a blur of chaos.

Everyone said he was drunk and had made a mistake.

They said I, his childhood sweetheart, should give him a second chance.

Even the girl knelt and begged for forgiveness.

She took all the blame, saying she bought the room key, only to fulfill her foolish secret crush fantasy.

Brooks, who had always been so proud and dominant, cried until his eyes were red that day.

Seeing my silent tears, he picked up a fruit knife and aimed it at his own heart.

“Stella, I know I’ve failed you.

“If you don’t believe me, I’ll cut myself open and show you—there is truly only you in my heart!”

Tears blurred his face.

His voice kept shaking.

“Please don’t leave me, my love. I’m begging you. You know I’ve loved you for so long.”

“If you reject me, I’ll die. I truly will die…”

After that, I sealed the memory away.

Sharing life for so many years, I thought we were inseparable, destined to go from being children's playmates to growing old together.

But in this second.

Our thirty years.

It finally all came crashing down.