I Wasn’t Your Endgame
1/2
Chapter 1
The 95th love letter had been burned on the day of an auction.
Samuel Lynch accompanied Catherine Jackman to bid a keepsake from her mother, Alice Smith. It was a sapphire gemstone necklace Alice had treasured a lot before she passed away.
Not long after the auction began, Samuel saw Natalie Sullivan working as a part–timer there.
Just because Natalie had stolen a few glances at the necklace, Samuel raised his paddle and bid it at an astronomical price. Then, he gave the necklace to her in front of everyone.
“I’ve bought it because you like it. You like that?” His voice was deep.
Natalie, wearing the attendant uniform, shoved Samuel’s hand aside righteously and replied, “Sir, I told you that I’m not interested in rich families. I don’t want to be your sugar baby. It’s not going to work, no matter what you give me. Please take the necklace back and don’t bother me while I’m at work.”
With that, holding the empty glasses, she spun on her heels and left.
Instead of getting infuriated, Samuel chuckled and ran after her.
Catherine felt her heart tightening. She froze for a bit before she dashed out of the venue.
The cold breeze blew from the sea to the deck, and Samuel was still pestering Natalie. Seeing that she refused to accept the necklace, he raised his arm and casually tossed the valuable sapphire gemstone necklace into the sea.
“Since you don’t like it, I’ll pick again until you’re pleased,” he said in an exceptionally gentle voice.
Then, he left with Natalie without looking back.
He didn’t notice that Catherine, without a second thought, had climbed over the railing and dived into the cold waves in the dark.
As the sea water gushed into her nose, Catherine suddenly recalled that he had proposed to her on a cruise five years ago.
He had said, “Cathy, even if you ask for the stars next time, I’ll get them for you.”
But now, he had casually thrown Catherine’s mother’s keepsake into the sea.
Catherine only got out of the icy water after a whole night.
She gripped the necklace tightly, the gemstone shining after getting soaked in seawater. But her fingers were all numb from the extreme cold.
On her way home, she scrolled her social media feeds.
“Mr. Lynch has fallen so hard this time. Everyone knows he’s courting an attendant.”
“I don’t think he caused such a big stir when he pursued his wife last time, right?”
Catherine’s fingers paused. She felt suffocated, as though something was clutching her heart.
They were right. Back when Samuel was courting Catherine, she had only agreed to be with him after he had written 99 love letters and confessed 99 times.
They had been dating since high school until they got married, and it had been a blissful marriage. Everyone thought Samuel was deeply in love with Catherine.
In the fifth year of their marriage, he had gone to the hospital for an IV drip and met a clumsy houseman there. She had injected him incorrectly numerous times, causing him to be in so much pain. The back of his hand had been bruised too. However, he hadn’t lost his temper and merely smiled upon seeing how anxious she had been.
After that, he spent a lot of money to buy her a car and a house, trying to make her his woman. Yet, she had turned him down without hesitation. “Mr. Lynch, I’m not interested in rich families. Please behave yourself.”
Besides, she had even gone to Catherine and said, “Please control your husband and tell him to stop pestering me.”
Samuel would’ve been infuriated if it had been someone else.
He wasn’t mad at her, but instead, he pursued her more aggressively.
When Catherine questioned him, he replied nonchalantly, “She’s pretty interesting. I’m just fooling around with her, and I’ll be back with you when I’m done.
“Cathy, I love you a lot, but it’s just so hard to love only one person in life. You have to give me the chance to make different choices.”
Catherine was in agony, yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave him.
Hence, she took out the 99 love letters and decided to give him 99 chances. [1]
She would burn one letter every time he hurt her.
The day when all the letters were burned, she would give up on him completely.
And so, she lit up the lighter and bumed the 95th letter.
As the flames engulfed the paper, she thought, “He has only four chances left.”
The car arrived at the villa, and Catherine had just entered the house when she saw Samuel standing on the staircase, looking down at her. “You’re back. I need to talk to you.”
Catherine nodded. Just like she always did in the past, she ascended the stairs without suspecting anything.
Little did she expect that he would suddenly reach out to push her down.
hapter 1
“Ah!” Catherine shouted and stumbled down the staircase. The back of her head hit right against the step. Warm blood dripped down from her head, blurring her
vision.
She was in so much pain that she couldn’t stop trembling as she stared at Samuel in disbelief.
He gradually walked down and crouched down in front of her, then wiped the blood off her face. “Cathy, just bear with it. She’s looking for a caregiver job. She can only move in when you’re injured.” [1
