Chapter 38 “Chandler, Help Me”
Ginny’s eyes were red with anger.
Lucky Draw
“I was wrong before,” she said. “I shouldn’t have been so naïve to think that feelings could grow just from time spent together. If I couldn’t manage that myself, how could I expect it from you?”
Chandler didn’t catch all her words, but he could see the disappointment in her eyes, the quiet sorrow that clung to her like smoke. Only then did he realize he might have said the wrong thing.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked, voice unusually soft. “I just wanted you to stay, that’s all. If I said something that upset you, tell me. I didn’t mean to.”
He let go of her wrist and sat up, as if to give her space. But just as he moved, she reached out and gently held onto his arm.
“We’ve been married five years,” she said. “In all that time… not once have you felt lucky to have married me?”
Her eyes clear, beautiful–searched his face with painful sincerity, as if trying to read the answer he couldn’t say aloud.
But time passed. Chandler’s expression remained unchanged. He didn’t speak. And the silence slowly chipped away at her patience.
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Chapter 38 “Chandler, Help Me”
Lucky Draw Lucky
away,
She was about to pull her hand back, to get up and walk when he leaned back over her, eyes locked on hers with an uncharacteristic seriousness. For a second, Ginny thought he might actually answer.
Then a voice came from the side of the bed.
“Chandler, why did you suddenly call me?” Melody said through the phone. “Don’t worry, I’m already outside your building. I’ll be right up.”
The call ended. Ginny and Chandler both froze. For a beat, neither moved.
Then Ginny blinked, as if waking from a trance, and stared at him, disbelieving.
“You said you didn’t want me to leave,” her voice flat, cutting, “and yet you called another woman to come here. Why? Chandler, why would you humiliate me like this?”
Her last words came out in a sharp, broken cry, She shoved him aside and bolted from the bedroom.
Chandler moved to follow, to explain–but by the time he reached the doorway, she was gone.
He was confused too. He hadn’t called Melody. Why would she say he had?
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Chapter 38 “Chandler, Help Me”
Lucky Draw
He grabbed his phone, flipped through the call history–there it was. He had called her. He must’ve accidentally hit it when Ginny grabbed him.
He headed out to find her, to clear things up. But before he could, the doorbell rang.
Ginny had intended to avoid the scene, to calm down on her own. But her anger bubbled just beneath the surface, ready to burn. And now Melody had come to her door like some gift–wrapped insult.
She marched downstairs, her steps quick and sharp.
The moment she opened the door, Melody didn’t even acknowledge her. She tried to walk right past.
Ginny stepped sideways and blocked her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked flatly.
Melody feigned confusion. Ginny didn’t have time for the act.
“Chandler isn’t downstairs. No one’s watching, so stop pretending.”
The façade fell in an instant. Melody’s face shifted into something smug.
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Chapter 38 “Chandler, Help Me”
Lucky Draw
“Chandler missed me,” she said, voice laced with triumph. “I came to see what was wrong.”
Then she gave Ginny a once–over condescendingly.
“You can’t even hold onto your man. So what if you’re pretty or
smart? What does it matter?”
Ginny had only planned to get a few things off her chest, maybe throw a few barbs. But seeing Melody so smug, so pleased with herself, something inside her snapped.
The memory of all the times she’d been manipulated, humiliated
every ache, every insult–came rushing back.
She looked Melody dead in the eye.
“If he missed you so much, why didn’t he go find you? If he cared about you like you say, why hasn’t he divorced me and married you yet?
“I may not be as ‘capable‘ as you, but at least he married me. You? You’ve been clinging to some vague idea that he cares, but he’s never once given you a real promise. That kind of ‘care‘… is that really something to brag about?”
Her words hit hard.
Melody’s expression twisted, her face flushed. She looked like she’d just been slapped.
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Chapter 38 “Chandler, Help Me”
Lucky Draw
She was angry because Ginny had hit the one nerve that never healed.
Truth was, she’d only come because she happened to be nearby. And because she’d overheard Chandler’s call earlier.
She had heard their entire exchange–heard him apologize, heard him comfort Ginny.
That wasn’t like him. He never explained himself to anyone. Not even her.
And when Ginny asked him that question–Have you ever felt lucky to have married me?-she panicked. Panicked that his answer wouldn’t be what she wanted to hear.
So she interrupted the call. Then rushed over like she had a right to be there.
She thought she’d hidden it well.
But Ginny had seen right through her.
And now she had said it aloud–laid it all out bare.
Embarrassed and cornered, Melody didn’t know what to say.
She was about to lash back when she caught sight of Chandler approaching.
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Chapter 38 “Chandler, Help Me”
Lucky Draw
In a heartbeat, she clutched her chest, gasping for air like she couldn’t breathe.
“Chandler… help me.”
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