You Shipped Me Off I Married Your Boss Chapter 33
The police came. Cleared out the parasites.
Natalie finally seemed to understand. She had no cards left to play.
She demanded a fortune.
The day she showed her true face, Brian felt like he was meeting her for the first time.
Cold. Calculated. Greedy. Twisted. That beautiful face, so ugly now.
When he handed over the money, he wanted to laugh at himself.
Laugh at his own stupidity.
The familiar becomes invisible. Day after day, year after year, the colors fade.
But a real man resists the lure of something new.
A real man tends to the one he loves until she blooms brighter than ever.
And he—he was a complete and utter bastard.
Later, Skylar’s husband arranged for her horse to join her in Chicago.
Brian went to the equestrian club. Her horse was gone.
Only his remained. Standing alone in the stall.
Brian led it out. Swung into the saddle. Rode hard into the wind.
Lap after lap. No stopping.
Finally, he closed his eyes. Let go of the reins.
He shattered his leg. But he didn’t die.
His parents wept at his bedside, heartsick and terrified.
And in that moment, Brian Crawford finally grew up.
He endured the pain. Comforted them.
And thought: the rest of his life couldn’t go on like this. Couldn’t be this wreckage.
Not long after, Natalie terminated the pregnancy.
Then she was convicted on extortion charges. Sentenced.
Her father and brother—the ones who’d made the biggest scenes—went down with her.
The rest of the family scattered.
They’d gotten some money. Not as much as they wanted. But enough to take back to their Midwestern hometown.
Natalie and the others? Not their problem anymore.
Only Natalie’s mother stayed. Cried herself half-blind over her son in prison. Cursed Natalie’s name.
All of it—LA, the old faces, the old pain—it faded.
Like photographs left too long in the sun.
And Skylar’s new life had only just begun.