My Fiancée Chose Blood Money over My Family

My father is seriously injured while working at a construction site, but because he never signed an employment contract, his employer refuses to compensate him. Desperate, I contact my fiancee, Sabrina Voss, a highly sought-after attorney, and beg her to take my father's case. She coldly tells me she's overwhelmed with other cases and doesn't have time, leaving me with no choice but to seek legal aid. But on the day of the hearing, I'm stunned to see Sabrina walk into the courtroom in a tailored suit, representing my father's employer. She expertly cites one law after another, mercilessly challenging every claim we make. While I spend every day worrying about my father's condition and the lawsuit, I come across a post on social media that stops me cold. Sabrina's junior associate, Rowan Mercer, is showing off a brand-new luxury watch with the caption, "Thanks to my favorite person for spending that 100-thousand-dollar legal fee on my gift. This case was definitely worth it." It turns out Sabrina took the money she earned defending my father's employer and used it to buy Rowan an expensive watch. Whatever I still feel for her dies in that moment. I take off my engagement ring, drop it into the trash, then like Rowan's post and leave a comment. "Glad you're happy." Chapter 1 Callum's POV I'd barely posted the comment when Sabrina Voss called. "Callum, what was that supposed to mean? Rowan posts one update, and you have to leave some snide comment under it? What is your problem? "And I just got out of court. I'm heading to the firm's mid-year review right now. This performance review is going to determine who's considered for partnership this year. "Rowan even helped me prepare my presentation. Everyone's already talking about celebrating afterward. When are you getting here? I saved you a seat near the front." Her accusatory tone barely registered. I felt nothing. I'd already cried until there were no tears left. Ever since Dad's case was thrown out, it felt as though all the color had been drained from my world. "I'm not coming," I said quietly. "Go celebrate without me." Sabrina's voice shot up. "Callum, you'd better think carefully about this! Every partner at the firm is going to be there. They're announcing the next round of promotions today. "If you're seriously going to skip something this important over some petty little disagreement, you're going to regret it." A cold laugh escaped me. "My dad is lying in a hospital bed, and no one even knows if he's going to make it. You call that petty?" My grip tightened around the phone. "What exactly am I supposed to celebrate, Sabrina? That you got the person who put him there off the hook?" Her voice softened slightly. "Callum, your dad had an accident at work. That's all. He's going to be fine. Just come over, okay?" I closed my eyes. "Sabrina, we're done." For a full ten seconds, she didn't say a word. In the seven years Sabrina and I had been together, we'd had our share of arguments and rough patches. But neither of us had ever once suggested breaking up. She clearly couldn't believe those words had come from me. Then Rowan Mercer's voice drifted through the phone. "Sabrina, I made a few more changes to your speech. Can you come take a look?" "Sure." She didn't hesitate even for a second. Then her voice turned cold again. "Callum, you said it, not me. If you want to break up, fine. Just don't come crawling back when you regret it." She hung up. I let out a long breath and lowered the phone. The sharp smell of antiseptic filled the hospital corridor, while the sterile white lights overhead somehow made everything feel even harsher. I sat alone on a bench outside the ICU, staring through the glass at Dad. Machines surrounded his bed, keeping his failing body alive. He hadn't regained consciousness since the accident at the construction site. The doctors had already warned me that his chances were slim. I looked at him through the glass, my vision slowly blurring. Then the line on his heart monitor went flat. For one terrible moment, the entire world seemed to stop. I couldn't breathe. All I could hear was the long, piercing tone of the monitor. A doctor eventually stepped out of the room and removed his mask. Beads of sweat covered his forehead. "We did everything we could. I'm sorry." He lowered his head solemnly. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the deathly pale face on the hospital bed. Dad's eyes were closed. The fear and pain that had been etched into his features after the accident were gone now, replaced by an awful stillness. I couldn't believe it. Not long ago, he'd been sitting across from me at dinner, smiling as he put another piece of roast chicken on my plate and telling me to take good care of Sabrina. And now he was gone. Chapter 2 Callum's POV My hand trembled as I reached for him. His skin was already cold. Whatever strength had been holding me together vanished. I collapsed against his chest. "Dad… Please open your eyes. Please, just look at me one more time…" I clutched his hand, shaking it desperately as the tears came harder. "You said you'd be there when I got married… You said you'd help me raise my kids someday… You promised me. How could you just leave?" Eventually, I cried until my throat was raw and all that came out were broken, breathless sounds. My knees gave way, and I sank onto the freezing hospital floor. I didn't remember how I made it through all the paperwork that followed. I didn't remember how I walked out of the crematorium either, carrying that small wooden urn in my arms. The sunlight outside was painfully bright, but I couldn't feel any warmth. The urn seemed impossibly light, as though my father's entire life had been reduced to nothing more than a handful of ashes. And yet it was so heavy that it felt like the weight of it could crush me. The funeral was small and quiet. Dad had lived a simple life. He'd never had many friends, and over the years, most of our relatives had drifted away. So in the end, I stood alone before the new headstone. The photograph showed him wearing the same slightly awkward smile he always had whenever someone pointed a camera at him. I stared at it until the last bit of strength holding me upright seemed to disappear. Then my phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. Numbly, I pulled it out. Sabrina's name flashed across the screen. I declined the call. Then I opened my messages and saw she'd left me a voice note. Her irritated voice came through the speaker. "Callum Wren, what is your problem now? You won't answer my messages, and you won't pick up your phone. Do you have any idea how much I've had to deal with over here?" She kept going, too wrapped up in her own frustration to notice my silence. "Rowan's been having stomach problems again, and he's been miserable, so I've been here taking care of him. Once I've got him settled, I'll come find you. Tell your dad to hang on a little longer and wait for me." A faint smile crossed my face. Wait for her? It was too late. For reasons I couldn't explain, I opened Rowan's social media page. He'd posted more than ten updates in the past few days alone. The first was a complaint about his hospital stay. The caption read, "Who knew a minor procedure could be this miserable? Good thing I've got you here, @Sabrina." Attached was a photo of Sabrina sitting beside his hospital bed, her back to the camera as she peeled an apple for him. I kept scrolling. Another post was far more smug. It read, "Someone once swore she'd never cook for a man. Guess rules really are made to be broken." The photo showed Sabrina in an apron, busy at the stove in Rowan's kitchen. Then I reached his latest post. A brilliant blue ocean stretched beneath a cloudless sky. In the foreground, two hands were clasped tightly together. The caption read, "To the person who ditched an important meeting just to sneak away to the coast with me for the afternoon, thank you. I'm so lucky to have met you." The comments from their mutual friends were even harder to look at. "Okay, you two are ridiculously sweet. So when's the wedding?" "Didn't someone once say her hands were made for legal briefs, not cooking?" And Sabrina had actually replied to that one herself. Her answer carried a warmth and indulgence she'd never once shown me. She replied, "He's different." Different. Of course he was. When Dad's life was on the line, she'd been cold and calculating enough to help the other side get away scot-free. But for Rowan, she could skip an important meeting and break every rule she'd ever set for herself. My phone rang again before I could close the page. It was Sabrina. I stared at her name for a moment before finally answering. "Callum, can you please be reasonable?" Her voice was calmer this time. "I know you're angry about what happened with your dad, but you need to understand the position I was in. "I knew from the beginning that the defendant in that construction accident case was your dad's employer. But Rowan needed that case. If he'd lost, he wouldn't have made it through his probationary period at the firm." A bitter laugh escaped me. "So you were willing to sacrifice my dad just to help your junior associate keep his job?" "Callum, don't put it like that." Sabrina sighed. "Your dad was injured at work. That's terrible, and I'm willing to compensate him myself. I'll cover whatever he needs, so you don't have to worry about the money. I can afford it." She paused. "But Rowan is different. His entire career was riding on that case..." My fingers tightened around the phone. "So every argument you made in court was deliberate," I said, my voice beginning to shake. "Every piece of evidence you challenged, every claim you got thrown out… You knew exactly what you were doing." Silence ensued. For several seconds, Sabrina said nothing. Chapter 3 Callum's POV "Callum, I'm sorry. But what's done is done. We can't change the past. All we can do is move forward. The firm has already told me they're promoting me to partner. Things are only going to get better for us from here." "There's no 'us' anymore. We have nothing left to talk about." With that, I ended the call. By the time I got home, there was only one thought left on my mind—pack my things and get out of the place that held far too many memories. The moment I opened the front door, I heard water running in the bathroom. Before I could make sense of it, the bathroom door swung open. Steam spilled into the hallway, followed by laughter. Rowan stepped out first, shirtless, with a barely dressed Sabrina in his arms. They were still laughing when they saw me standing by the door. Both of them froze. "C-Callum?" Sabrina's eyes widened. She scrambled for the clothes she'd left on the couch and hurriedly covered herself. "What are you… Why are you back?" Her voice came out strained as she desperately searched for an explanation. "This isn't what it looks like. Rowan's water heater broke, so he came over to use the shower. I was just… helping him wash his back." I said nothing. I simply looked past them and walked into the bedroom. I opened the closet, pulled out my suitcase, and began packing my things, one shirt and one pair of pants at a time. My movements were almost mechanical. There was nothing left here worth fighting for. "Callum, let me explain." Sabrina followed me into the bedroom. The moment she saw the open suitcase, her tone changed. "Where have you been the past few days? Why haven't you answered any of my calls? And now you're packing? What exactly are you trying to do?" I ignored her and kept folding clothes into the suitcase as though she weren't even there. By then, Rowan had gotten dressed. He appeared in the doorway, looking uncomfortable. "Sabrina, maybe I should just go. This is my fault. I didn't mean to upset anyone." "You don't have to go." Sabrina caught his hand before he could leave, then turned a cold look on me. "Callum, haven't you taken this far enough? It was one case. How long are you planning to keep punishing everyone over it?" Rowan went back to the living room and sat down on the couch. Sabrina followed him, picked an apple from the fruit bowl, and carefully peeled and sliced it. Then she held a piece to his mouth. "Ignore him. He's always like this. Give him a little time, and he'll get over it." Rowan took a bite. "I just don't want him getting the wrong idea about us." "The wrong idea about what?" Sabrina laughed dismissively, deliberately raising her voice so I could hear. "Let him throw his tantrum. Give it three days, and he'll come crawling back. Where else is he going to go?" I kept searching through the bedroom. There was one thing I couldn't leave without—the locket Mom had left me. She'd given it to me shortly before she died when I was ten, and for the past 20 years, I'd treasured it more than anything I owned. I searched one drawer after another. There was nothing. Then a familiar flash of green caught my eye. I froze. The locket was hanging around Rowan's neck. "My locket!" I rushed toward him and reached for it. "Give it back!" Rowan immediately ducked behind Sabrina. His expression turned wounded. "Sabrina, didn't you say this was for me? You told me it was a token of—" "Sabrina Voss, that belonged to my mother!" Sabrina frowned and grabbed my wrist. "Callum, what is wrong with you? It's just an old locket. I'll buy you a better one." I tore my arm free and reached for it again. In the struggle, the chain slipped from Rowan's neck. The locket hit the hardwood floor. I stopped breathing. The locket I'd kept safe for 20 years, the only thing Mom had left me, shattered into several pieces at my feet. For a moment, I could only stare. Then I dropped to my knees. My hands shook as I reached for the broken pieces, but before I could gather them, Sabrina grabbed my arm and hauled me back up. "Look what you've done!" she snapped. "Callum, you're getting more unreasonable by the day! Rowan was only borrowing it. Did you really have to make such a huge scene?" Her voice grew sharper. "I already told you I'd go see your dad in a couple of days. What more do you want from me?" I slowly raised my head. The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over. "My dad is dead, Sabrina!" My voice broke. "He's dead. You're never going to see him again!"