From the start, none of my friends–or his–thought we’d last.
Nobody expected a straight–A student, top of the class, with a full ride to college, to end up with a guy like Nathan–the kid who slept through lectures, flunked every subject, and got into fights behind the bleachers.
We were both from single–parent homes, but the difference was–I had a good dad. Nathan had no one to guide him.
He was the reason our class had such a bad reputation.
If the principal caught a kid smoking in the bathroom, odds were, it was him.
To help kids like him, the school started a mentorship program.
Guess who got assigned to be his tutor?
Me.
I took the job seriously. I spent hours trying to get through to him.
And every time, he just smirked, clenched his fists, and blew cigarette smoke in my face, acting all cocky.
I was terrified. But I couldn’t give up.
Something in me refused to let him ruin his own life.
Maybe my stubbornness wore him down.
Maybe he got tired of me nagging.
Either way, he finally started listening.
Then came the big test.
He didn’t let me down–he moved up one spot.
Second to last in the whole school.
The only kid below him had missed the test due to a fever.
Determined to keep pushing him, I decided to visit his house.
And that’s when I saw it.
His dad, chasing him with a belt, screaming at the top of his lungs.
“You worthless piece of shit! You embarrass me every damn day!”
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Just a Stand In?! My Billionaire Hubby’s OTHER Wife…
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Chapter 4
“I should’ve left you in the gutter where you belong!”
“Look at the neighbor’s daughter–top fifty in her grade!”
“And you? You make me hang my head in shame!”
Before I even realized what I was doing, I stepped in front of Nathan.
“Sir, you can’t talk to him like that! Nathan–Nathan is good at things too!”
His dad barely glanced at me before shoving me aside.
“Stay out of this! Who the hell do you think you are?!”
Nathan burned every study guide I’d spent nights making for him.
He cursed me out in the middle of school.
My friends told me to let him go.
Said he was trash. Said he belonged in juvie.
But then, one day, I was cornered by a group of guys outside school.
And Nathan–Nathan showed up with a brick in his hand.
By the time it was over, he was covered in blood.
His shirt was slashed open. He had knife wounds all over him.
And for the first time, he wasn’t smirking. He wasn’t acting tough.
He was crying.
He buried his face in my shoulder, voice shaking.
“I almost lost you. I’m sorry.”
“I was an asshole to you because I thought I’d just let you down.”
“I pushed you away because I was scared.”
“But now I regret it. I can’t–I won’t–push you away again.”
“I’m selfish. So damn selfish.”
“But please–please let me protect you.”
I rode in the ambulance with him.
He never let go of my hand.
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Just a Stand–In?! My Billionaire Hubby’s OTHER Wife
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Chapter 4
Even when the nurse teased us, asking if I was his high school sweetheart, I was too flustered to deny it.
I sat outside the operating room, pleading with the doctors to save him.
To keep him alive.
They took me seriously for all of five seconds–then the whole ER burst into laughter.
Turns out, the wounds weren’t that bad.
Just a few deep cuts.
After that night, something changed in him.
He worked his ass off.
He kept saying he had to get into the same college as me, that he couldn’t let anyone take me away from him.
The guy who once picked fights to impress his friends-
Now he was fighting for me.
But the person who once shielded me from the world-
He’s the one hurting me the most now.
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