Ex-Wife Moving Wife Giving Birth? Congratulations, You’re Single Now novel Chapter 88

Chapter 1

The second Nathon’s words sank in, it was like someone ripped the ground out from under me.

My chest went tight. My hands went numb. It felt like drowning–but worse, because I was still standing there, still breathing, still forced to hear

him.

No wonder he’d been dodging my eyes all damn day.

After I kept pushing–demanding answers–he finally cracked and admitted it. He’d lied. Straight to my face. And then he had the audacity to stand there and justify it like it was no big deal.

But Common App had locked an hour ago. There was no fixing this. No going back.

I still couldn’t process it. My voice came out shaky, barely holding together:

“Even if Harper didn’t want us at the same school–why couldn’t she change her application?

“If she wanted to stay in New York so bad, there are dozens of other schools. Why the hell did you have to trick me into going to Miami?”

Nathon’s face twitched. He shifted his weight–still in his grass–stained practice jersey, his duffel bag slung over one shoulder like he’d just come from the field. Out of habit, he reached out to mess with my hair, that stupid move he always pulled when he thought I was overreacting.

I slapped his hand away.

His jaw tightened. He pulled back, rubbing the back of his neck like I was the one being difficult.

“Alina, come on. Don’t blow this out of proportion.

“Everyone knows Harper’s had her heart set on NYU since forever. She’s not giving that up.

“So why are you being so stubborn about this? You spent days going back and forth on your decision anyway–it’s not like you were dead set on NYU.”

I laughed. A harsh, bitter sound that didn’t even sound like me.

Oh, so my dream doesn’t matter?

“I worked my ass off for that score. I earned it. Why shouldn’t I apply to NYU?

“Does her family own the damn school? Is NYU only accepting one student this year?

“If she’s so special, maybe she should get them to close applications to everyone but her!”

Nathon’s expression darkened. His fingers drummed impatiently against his gym bag strap–the same restless tic he had before a big game. But this wasn’t a game. This was my life.

“Alina, stop twisting this into something it’s not.

“She was trying to avoid drama, okay? NYU’s campus is tiny. She didn’t want you two running into each other constantly and making things worse. I figured this way, everyone wins.

“And anyway, she applied first. You were still waffling about it for days, so clearly you weren’t that sure.

“But Harper? She only applied to one school. She didn’t have a backup. You really gonna tank her shot at college over this?”

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Ex–Wife Moving > Wife Giving Birth? Congratulations, You’re Single Now

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Chapter 1

Something inside me snapped.

My voice cracked, louder than I meant it to–almost hysterical:

“I was being careful because I was weighing all my options! That doesn’t mean I didn’t want it!

“And who the hell gets into NYU and just–doesn’t go?!

“And you, Nathon-”

My hands were shaking now. I could barely get the words out.

“Last night you sat there and convinced me we’d both switch to Miami. Together. You watched me submit it. You promised we’d go together.

“But then this morning you switched yours back to NYU and didn’t say a word to me. Do you have any idea how that feels?!”

He exhaled sharply, like I was exhausting him. Like this whole conversation was cutting into his evening workout or something.

“I told you–I didn’t plan that. My parents found out and lost their minds. They said I’m not leaving New York, especially not with a football

scholarship on the table here. They switched it back before I could stop them.

“I was gonna tell you, I just-”

“But you didn’t!” My voice cracked again, embarrassingly close to breaking. “You let the deadline pass. You let me sit there thinking we were in

this together while you-”

I couldn’t finish. My throat was too tight.

The silence between us felt suffocating.

Finally, Nathon let out this long, frustrated sigh–like I was the problem here. He adjusted the strap on his gym bag, glancing toward the parking lot like he had somewhere better to be.

“Alina, look. Harper doesn’t have your grades. She barely scraped by with cheer captain bonus points to get into NYU. Without that, she

wouldn’t have made it at all.

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