Chapter 67 A Life Traded Away
Liam’s face went pale.
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Getting the money was one thing. Being asked to cough it back. up? That was worse than a death sentence.
Celeste, always the bolder of the two, jumped in. “You’ve lost your mind,” she snapped. “You were a kid. Where would you get that kind of money at sixteen?”
Alistair looked at her coolly and said, every word clear and deliberate, “Where do you think it came from? You sold me.”
He let the word hang.
“Sold” wasn’t metaphorical. He meant it. Every day he’d spent working himself into the ground for Rebecca. That was the price.
And they’d taken it.
Across the gathering crowd, murmurs started rising.
“What do you mean, sold‘?”
“Did I hear that right? Two million? Alistair dropped out because of
that?”
Chapter 67 A Life Traded Away
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“Wait, wasn’t that around the same time they upgraded to a new
house and sent that Caleb kid abroad?”
“Oh hell,” someone muttered. “I remember wondering how Liam
suddenly came up with so much cash. Brand–new place, tuition
overseas… Don’t tell me he actually—”
“Sold his own kid,” someone else finished grimly.
Outside the wedding venue, the gossip was flowing freely.
The groom, quiet until now, suddenly spoke up, “So that’s why Alistair dropped out back then…”
People leaned in.
The groom had always had good social skills. He wasn’t great at school, but he knew everyone.
He even had a buddy who went to high school in New York- same year as Alistair.
At the time, he’d asked his friend to keep an eye on Alistair, bragging a little that they had gone to the same school.
That friend had confirmed it–Alistair was in the class next door. Top student. Sharp, quiet, impressive. Nothing like the spoiled rich kids who’d bought their way in like him.
Chapter 67 A Life Traded Away
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It had made the groom genuinely happy to hear Alistair was doing
well. They’d never been close, but Alistair had helped him through school by letting him copy homework more times than he could
count. He’d always hoped Alistair would go far.
But right before the SAT, the friend called and said Alistair had dropped out. His homeroom teacher had been livid.
Rumors flew. Later, the adults in town said Alistair gave it all up for
love.
Yeah, most people had done dumb things when they were young. Even someone like Alistair can get reckless.
Sometimes the straight–A kids burned out.
And sometimes the screw–ups turned it around.
Life was weird like that.
Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was the collective itch of an audience desperate to finish a half–spilled story, but the groom pulled out his phone right there and called that friend.
“Yo, remember that guy from school–Alistair Harlow? You still remember him?”
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Chapter 67 A Life Traded Away
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He put the call on speaker.
What came through the line stunned the whole crowd.
Someone whispered, “Top ten out of two thousand students? Are you serious?”
Alistair had been top ten in the entire grade before he dropped
out.
Back then, his disappearance had caused a stir. Some people had even assumed the worst–that he’d died.
No one just walked away from the SAT, especially not someone from a modest background with that kind of talent.
The SAT was his shot. The only shot.
Why would anyone throw it away–unless something major had happened?
The groom asked his friend if Alistair had ever dated anyone.
The voice on the phone laughed. “Nah, man. He was single. I sat next to this girl who had a huge crush on him. She was gonna confess after the SATS. She said she didn’t want to distract him. But then… well, he was gone.”
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Chapter 67 A Life Traded Away
People looked around, unease settling in like fog.
“Maybe what he said is true after all.”
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“If it is… God. He really gave up college so Liam could buy a house and send his stepson abroad?”
“I used to think Liam was just a heartbroken dad investing in a more ‘promising‘ kid… but now it looks like he just used one son to buy a future for someone else’s.”
“I think he’s had a mental breakdown! Liam, you should call a psychiatric hospital and have him locked up immediately!” Celeste snapped.
The thought of people looking at her with suspicion and scrutiny was more than Celeste could bear.
She knew the caring mother’image she’d carefully cultivated over the years was now in shambles.
With no one else around, she finally dropped the act—and the bitterness on her face said it all.
Alistair took a slow sip of coffee, then looked across the table at Liam, whose face had darkened.
“You really gonna let her strut around and make my life hell?” he said flatly.
