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Home / Romance Short Story / He Cheated, I Sent Invoices / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of He Cheated, I Sent Invoices: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

Tyler Carlton called while I stood outside the funeral home.A staff member was asking if I approved the photo they'd picked for Mom's memorial.Then my phone buzzed.Tyler's name lit up the screen.I didn't answer.A bunch of texts came through right after.[Lindsay, what was that comment supposed to mean?][What did you see?][Didn't I tell you? The project's locked down. I can't get away.][Can you quit making passive-aggressive comments in front of my friends?]I stared at the last text for a long time.So he had checked his phone.He just hadn't had time for my calls.But he had time to read comments.Time to babysit his socials.The third time he called, I picked up."Lindsay Laurier, where are you?"His voice was low and sharp.I glanced through the open doors behind me.The viewing room was still lit."The funeral home."He went quiet for a second."I know you're hurting over your mom, but can you quit taking it out on everyone else?"A dry laugh slipped

Chapter 2

When Mom's body was taken downstairs to the funeral home's care facility, I didn't cry.I'd already cried myself dry during those five endless nights at the hospital.I stared at her framed photo.One of her final questions kept cutting through me."When is Tyler coming?"Buzz.My phone vibrated in the dead-quiet hallway.A text from an unknown number.Numb, I unlocked my phone and opened the photo.The second I saw it, my blood went cold.It was crystal clear.Tyler was holding Vivian's hand, cheeks flushed, love written all over his face.Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, fireworks lit up the Shangara Riverfront for her birthday.Under the photo was one chilling message.[Check the cloud backup account you and Tyler used to share. The password is Vivian Shultz's birthday. You'll find every truth you're looking for.]No sender information.I stared at Tyler's smiling face.After losing Mom, I felt weirdly calm.The scary kind.I didn't reply.I went into the fa

Chapter 3

I clenched my teeth.My swollen eyes burned as my fingers shook over the keyboard.I opened the synced banking records and checked every transaction.Grad school prep course: $8,000.Grad school tuition and housing: $40,000.Four years in a luxury Shangara apartment: $96,000.Four years of watches, electronics, and living expenses: $36,000.Down payment for the condo we were supposed to buy: $40,000.And last month, the money Mom had saved for our future—the money I'd sent him to keep safe: $50,000.Total: $270,000.For eight years, I'd worked myself raw for his so-called future, sending him every dollar I earned.I zeroed in on the $50,000 Mom had left me.It was everything she had.Before cancer, she'd pressed it into my hands and told me to use it for my future.The transaction history was brutal.He'd never put it in the fixed-term account he promised.The day after he got it, he transferred it to a company account called ViviTech.Description: [Personal Project In

Chapter 4

Even through the screen, I could feel the fake excitement.[Lindsay, you finally came around? That's great! Yesterday, we were in a closed development phase, and security took everyone's phones. That's why I missed your calls. Please don't be mad. I'll bring my parents over right away. I'm sorry about your mom. My condolences. Life has to go on.]I turned off my phone.Two days later, at ten that morning, the old apartment door swung open.Tyler walked in wearing a perfectly tailored casual suit.His parents came in behind him, smug as ever.Benjamin wrinkled his nose and waved a hand through the air."Why'd you drag us here this early? This place is depressing."He dropped onto the couch without even looking at Mom's memorial photo or the flowers beside it.Then he started complaining."Tyler worked all night. He's exhausted. And you blew up his phone more than sixty times. Do you know how bad that makes him look to his boss? Can't you act a little more mature?"Tyler's mot

Chapter 5

On top was a crystal-clear photo of Tyler kissing Vivian in a luxury hotel.Beside it sat the certified bank statement for the $50,000.The evidence hit the floor with a sharp slap.Just like that, every smug face went blank.Seconds ago, Irene had been demanding I sell the apartment and cough up more money.Now she had nothing.Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out.With shaking hands, she picked up the bank statement.All the color drained from her face.Benjamin shot to his feet, pointing at the photos."Tyler... what is this? Where did that $50,000 go?""N-No. It's not what it looks like! Lindsay, please. Let me explain!"Tyler went pale.For the first time, he looked scared.He lunged for the papers.I shoved him away."Explain what? How you kissed your old flame backstage at graduation while my mom was in cancer surgery?"He hit the floor.I looked down at him.No anger in my voice.Just cold enough to cut."Or how you used the money my mom left me to re

Chapter 6

I stopped and slowly peeled his fingers off my sleeve."Tyler, you showed up to my mom's memorial and never once looked at her photo. You didn't bring flowers. You didn't even say you were sorry."I met his stunned eyes."You didn't just fail me. You failed her."***Half an hour later, I was at the cemetery outside town.A light rain drifted down.Beside Mom's fresh grave, I lit a copy of the $270,000 debt agreement.The flames curled through the paper until it became ash and lifted into the air."Mom, I got back everything they took from us."My eyes burned."He won't keep a single dollar that belonged to you."My phone buzzed.A text from Tyler.[Lindsay, I know I was wrong. Please don't leave me.]I didn't reply.He didn't know he was wrong.He just never thought I'd actually leave.***After handling Mom's memorial, I went back to the cheap hotel where I was staying.The second I slid in the keycard, my phone started buzzing like crazy.Missed calls stacked up

Chapter 7

Tyler's voice shook."What are you talking about? You begged me to help you. You said we'd get married once your startup got funded!""That was before!" Vivian dropped the sweet act. "Our investors pulled out at the last minute. The company's done. I'm about to go bankrupt. I can't even save myself. Where am I supposed to get money for you?""You bitch! That's not what you told me!"The recording caught a struggle, then a handbag slamming into a car door."That was then. This is now. Tyler Carlton, don't push your luck. I never told you to steal Lindsay's mom's life savings."Her voice went cold."Lindsay's a good woman. Go beg her to forgive you. Don't drag me down with you. Security! Get this psycho out of here!"The recording cut off.I sat in the hotel armchair, listening to the final screech of tires through my earbuds.A silent laugh slipped out.My shoulders shook as the resentment I'd been carrying finally started to melt.Just like I'd expected.People like Tyler

Chapter 8

After I hung up, I looked at my phone.I felt weirdly calm.He was finally paying for what he did.Tyler always thought Vivian was his ticket into a better life.He never got that every shiny thing comes with a price.He gambled Mom's money on a fake future.Now he'd lost everything.That afternoon, Irene called again.The arrogance she'd brought to my old apartment was gone.Her voice was thick with tears and panic. "Lindsay... I'm begging you. Please save Tyler. That bitch ruined him!"The $50,000 was just money Tyler stupidly lent her. Now she's going to prison, and we'll never get it back."Tyler could lose his job. He could even be held responsible. You know people. Please help clear his name. Just say the money was a gift from you, okay?"I listened to Irene beg and felt nothing but disgust."A gift?"I laughed coldly."Mrs. Carlton, you had a totally different attitude when you slammed the table and told me to sell my apartment for Tyler's sister's down payment. Y

Chapter 9

Every night after working late, I stood under Northvale's glittering skyline and let the wind hit my face.I'd never felt that free.Two months later, on the first, my banking app buzzed with two alerts.The first was a deposit.[$2,000 received. Memo: First installment.]Then a text came in from an unknown number.[Lindsay, it's me. This is what I saved this month from working three part-time jobs. I'm at a small company now, doing phone sales. The base pay is terrible... Every day after work, I see couples and think of you. I know you'll never forgive me, but I'll pay back every cent. Are... are you doing okay?]I stared at the message and gave a bitter little smile.I didn't text back.I opened the studio's books, knocked $2,000 off Tyler's balance, and added one note:[Remaining balance: $268,000.]Every payment was a slap in the face. A reminder of exactly what his greed and betrayal had cost him.More than six months passed. The studio kept growing.Then we landed th

Chapter 10

I stopped a few feet away and watched him fall apart.Inside, I was calm. Still water.No anger. No pity. Not even disgust.When you've really let go, the other person becomes a stranger who happens to talk.A dry branch cracked under my shoe.Tyler stopped crying. His whole body went stiff.Then he turned, slow and stunned.The second he saw me, his eyes blew wide. Tears slid down his face.He tried to stand, but his legs had gone numb from the cold ground, and he slipped backward into the mud."Lindsay... Lindsay!"Like a drowning man grabbing for a rope, he crawled toward me and reached for my pant leg."I paid it all back. All $270,000. Every dollar. Please... look at me. Just say something."I stepped away from his hand and set the white roses beside Mom's headstone.I looked at her warm smile in the photo, my voice calm. "You're here.""I came to apologize to your mom!"Tyler slapped himself across the face, over and over. Each hit cracked through the cemetery."L

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