Chapter 74
-BLAIR-
:
The article was already everywhere by the time Olivia shoved breakfast in front of me.
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Sources close to the Shaw family confirm Blair Monroe has moved out of the couple’s residence following an apparent split.
No official statement. No quotes from either of us. Just enough confirmation to let the internet finish the story it had wanted since the rumors first went up. I knew this day would come but it had come faster than I wanted it to. The announcement of our split.
I sat at the kitchen island in my parents’ house with my phone in both hands and made the mistake of opening the comments.
Finally. Lily never should have been pushed aside for a forced wife.
Serves her right. You can’t buy your way into someone else’s relationship and expect it to last.
Grayson looks happier already. Let him go back to the girl he actually chose.
Monroe money couldn’t keep him. Shocking.
Homewrecker era over.
She really thought her last name would replace a childhood sweetheart lmao.
Good. Now the right woman can stop waiting in the background.
She always was temporary. Everyone could see it except her.
Hope Shaw and Lily get a real wedding this time.
Karma.
Olivia reached over and pulled the phone out of my hands. I instantly complained. I was reading those.
“Stop staring at those,” she said. “It isn’t good for you. It’s also mostly written by people who have never been in the same room as either of you. They know nothing about your marriage.”
“They have photos,” I said. “That’s enough for them.”
“They like seeing others miserable, some people just love the drama as long as it doesn’t concern them.” She set the phone face down, out of reach. “You have been walking around this house for two days looking like someone pulled your heart out. Try smiling. Just a little. I’m starting to worry. I’ve never seen you like this before, not even for that idiot Chase.”
I forced my mouth into something that could technically be called a smile.
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14:48 Thu, Sep 17
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Olivia frowned. “A little more.”
I stretched it wider.
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“A little more,” she said, already fighting a grin of her own. “Come on. Show teeth. Pretend I said something funny. Maybe I could come up with something. Hmm, smile!”
“This is my face now.”
“That is the face of a woman who signed divorce papers that she never should have signed. She leaned in and poked my cheek. “A little more. There. Hideous. Perfect. You’re alive.”
The tease helped for half a second. Then the comments pushed their way back into my head. I could not believe people were actually celebrating this. The comments were mean. They didn’t realize how much I had actually loved Grayson. And I never got the chance to tell him the truth.
Olivia’s expression softened. “He’s stupid if he chooses Lily over you. I mean that. I have watched you survive Chase, public humiliation, and an arranged marriage. If Grayson looks at you and still chooses Lily, that is a him problem.”
I stared at the untouched toast. “He said he loved her. He said he wanted to be with who he truly wanted.”
“And yet,” Olivia said carefully, “I saw the way he looks at you. At games. When he thought nobody was paying attention. He surely fooled me the entire time. I was sure he was falling in love.”
I always knew it was too good to be true.
She tapped the back of my hand. “Which is why I don’t think this is actually about Lily. I think the main reason he asked for the divorce is that he believes you willingly cheated on him with Chase.”
“Which,” Olivia continued, “brings me back to how much of an asshole Chase is. He did not meet you in that park to check if you were okay. He saw a chance to break up your marriage and he took it. He’s selfish. He kissed you in public after everything he already did to you because he knew someone would snap it and post it up. If that picture is what blew up your marriage, then Chase got exactly the kind of damage he is good at causing.”
I swallowed. “Grayson didn’t ask.”
“I know.”
“He just decided.”
“I know that too.” Olivia’s voice gentled again. “Men in pain are not famous for handling it in the best way. They pick a story and they run. Grayson picked the one that let him stop feeling whatever that photo made him feel. Chase handed it to him. Lily is probably lighting candles in celebration. And you are sitting here reading comments from strangers who think they understand a marriage they watched through short clips.”
“I signed,” I said quietly. “I didn’t even take my things.”
“Maybe you should have told him the truth.” She said. “You know, about Chase kissing you. And then you slapping him. I honestly think if he knew the truth, things would be different now.”
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14:48 Thu, Sep 17
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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From somewhere down the hall, Tessa shouted that if we were doing sister therapy she wanted to bring
snacks.
Olivia shouted back that this was a closed meeting.
I tried to smile again, smaller this time, and Olivia looked genuinely happy to see me at least trying to get better.
“Eat something,” she said. “Then we can hate Chase in more detail. I have time.”
I picked up the toast.
The article was still out there. The comments were still multiplying. And Grayson, he was probably already planning a wedding to Lily. I knew how badly she wanted to marry him and now with me out of the picture. there was nothing stopping her.
I felt like puking…still, I ate anyway, because Olivia was watching, and because if I stared at another sentence about Lily being the right woman for Grayson I was going to lose it.
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14:48 Thu, Sep 17
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.