Stranded My Boyfriend Stole My Car and Left Me on the HighwayChapter 1

Two days before New Year's, my boyfriend and I were driving to his hometown to spend the holidays with his family.

We got into a fight over how much to give his sister as a gift. She was seventeen this year, and we'd originally agreed I'd buy her the latest iPhone.

But halfway there, Leo Sullivan suddenly changed his mind. "Forget the phone," he said. "Just give her seventeen thousand dollars instead. Think of it as a little something from her future sister-in-law, to celebrate her moving to the city."

I frowned and argued with him, but before I could get two words out, he hit the gas and pulled over on the highway, leaving me stranded on the shoulder. The cold cut right through me. I was shivering so hard my teeth chattered.

I called him countless times. Sent text after text. He didn't respond to a single one.

Half an hour later, I calmed down and dialed the highway patrol. "Hi, my car was stolen. I'm on the interstate heading toward his hometown."

……

I was thirty years old. Leo and I had been together for four years.

He was my second boyfriend, and being with him was the first time I'd ever truly wanted to settle down.

Things between us had always been good, so we'd decided to meet each other's parents over the holidays and lock down a wedding date.

Before the trip, I'd already bought gifts for his family: two bottles of premium whiskey, two cartons of high-end cigarettes, plus supplements like high-grade vitamins and health tonics.

To show my sincerity, I'd gone top-shelf on everything. It cost me a small fortune.

But I'd been happy to spend it.

I thought I'd covered all my bases. I hadn't counted on forgetting a gift for his sister.

Leo had explained, somewhat awkwardly, that his sister Libby Sullivan had bombed her SATs this year. Their parents planned to move her to the city so she could retake them next year.

I'd chosen my words carefully. "When I was your sister's age, the thing I wanted most in the world was a phone. For kids these days, a phone isn't just a toy; it's a study tool. How about I get her one?"

Leo had agreed. But then, out of nowhere, he'd changed his mind. He said his sister didn't want a phone anymore.

Better to just give her seventeen thousand dollars as a gift.

Thousand? I'd blinked. For a seventeen-year-old girl, that was an astronomical sum.