As I was getting ready to make love with my boyfriend, a lace panty suddenly fell out of his suit pocket. It clearly wasn't mine.
I immediately slapped Blake across the face!
"What the hell is this?" I roared.
"It's no big deal, Ava You know, an open relationship. I suggest we try it," he said nonchalantly.
I was stunned - after eight years of love and preparing to marry, Blake had betrayed me. How had I never realized he was a jerk?
Just a few hours ago -
We had attended Blake's father's wedding to his second wife Isabella. Isabella is a lovely woman, and I really like her.
At the altar, as Isabella was about to toss her bouquet, she walked towards me amidst the eager gazes of all the women.
I started feeling nervous. I looked at Blake, and he was gazing at me tenderly as if it was what he had been hoping for.
"Eva, dear," Isabella said as she handed me a bouquet of white roses and lilies. "I can't wait to see your wedding with Blake."
As I received the bouquet, a flush of warmth rose to my cheeks. My gaze turned back to Blake, and he leaned in, his lips brushing my ear as he murmured, "Looks like I'd better hurry to the nearest jeweler and get you a ring before someone else beats me to it." He winked, his tone both teasing and tender.
"Shut up," I joked, giving him a playful slap.
This was actually quite amusing because after being together for eight years, Blake and I had never been in a rush to get married. We always said we would marry when the time was right. But standing here, holding Isabella's bouquet, it felt different. This was the first time I had caught...I mean, received the bride's bouquet. So it felt like a promise of a beautiful future.
A few minutes later, I told Blake, "My feet are killing me."
"Want to go upstairs?" he said, caressing my lower back, then giving me a wink.
I knew what he meant - he wanted to make love, and I desired him just as much. Especially after accepting his proposal, I really wanted him to pound me hard right now.
"But the party isn't over yet. What if Isabella needs help?" I hesitated.
"Darling, there are indeed a hundred workers here now," Blake said directly, sweeping me up into his arms, his voice thick with lust as he continued, "And right now, the person who needs attending to is me. My dick is so hard it's about to explode."
My fingers brushed against the hardness beneath his pants, and I could feel my core was already soaked! I couldn't help but moan.
"Don't worry, the hotel suite is nice and you can be as loud as you want later," he teased.
He spoke as he forcefully kicked open the door, then swiftly pinned me against it, ripping open my blouse so my breasts bounced free. He grabbed them, licking and sucking on my nipples with his tongue.
I moaned uncontrollably as his hands went to my skirt, bunching it up forcefully. The sound of ripping panties soon filled the air.
"Damn! You're soaked!" Blake growled, plunging his fingers inside me.
I moaned again, wanting more, tearing at his suit jacket. Suddenly, Blake's phone started ringing.
He was inclined to ignore it, but it persisted. "Shit!" Blake cursed, grabbing the phone. When he noticed the screen, his expression instantly darkened.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Honey, there's an emergency at the company I have to deal with," Blake said with a frown after hanging up.
I knew how important the company was to us, so I nodded, retrieving a fresh set of clothes for him as our earlier actions had left his crumpled.
Without asking, Blake swiftly dressed and hurried out.
But the very next second after he left, I noticed something on the floor.
As I stared at the piece of fabric on the floor, a crease immediately appeared on my forehead. My brain refused to process what I was seeing. I picked it up gingerly between just my thumb and forefinger.
A black lace thong dangled in front of my face.
"What the hell?" I muttered a curse. There were familiar stains on it, my face flushing hot - not from embarrassment or excitement, but from the anger boiling inside.
How could my boyfriend have a woman's panties in his pocket? I clenched my teeth, furious, about to charge after Blake's retreating back.
Eight years. Eight fucking years. Blake couldn't possibly be what I was suspecting. Was I really going to waste all those years over a misunderstanding? My chest felt tight, but I forced myself to take deep breaths. We were talking about Blake here. Cheating? That was too ludicrous.
I immediately thought of that phone call earlier. I grabbed a navy blue cocktail dress from my luggage so I would look more presentable if I ran into guests. I quickly brushed my hair and then rushed out.
When I reached the adjacent balcony, the entrance door was half open, so I peeked inside. The sight that greeted me made me dizzy. Blake's dick was inside another woman's vagina.
How could he do this? Just moments ago, his fingers had been inside me, and I felt sick instantly.
"I bet fucking next door to your fiancée makes it even more exciting," the woman said, her voice making me freeze again.
And the lady was none other than his married ex-girlfriend, Chloe! The same Chloe who'd left him when his family went bankrupt, while I picked up the remaining pieces of his life? My knees nearly gave out, and I had to lean against the wall to stay upright. A cold numbness spread through my chest, replacing the burning anger from before. How could Blake even do this to me?
When I met Blake at Harvard eight years ago, I was the rich girl who had everything, while he was the brilliant scholarship student with nothing but debt to his family’s name. His father's bankruptcy had left them scraping by, but Blake never let it dim his ambition. When my parents died in that terrible car accident, he was my rock. He helped me through the grief and the complicated business matters that followed. I gave him everything; my trust, my love, my family's insurance payout to clear his family's debts and I even stepped back from running my father's company so Blake would take control.
All these years, I thought we were building something together….
“I can't actually believe my eyes right now,” I scoffed.
Both of them froze when I walked in, but I didn’t see any hint of shock in their eyes.
“So this is what you've been doing?” I shook my head at Blake.“I can't believe I've been making a joke of myself all along. Eight years of fucking lies! You've been fucking your ex this whole time, huh?!”
I saw Chloe's mocking expression, but the one who betrayed me today was Blake. I glared at him furiously.
"Eva! Calm down—" Blake approached me, naked.
"You stay the hell away from me!" I snarled at him.
He raised his hands, then shrugged and said, "Come on, it's not that big a deal. You're not unfamiliar with the concept of an open relationship, right?"
open relationship? My stomach felt like it had been punched with nausea. "You disgust me," I said with revulsion.
"Hey..." He reached out to me again. "You're overreacting."
“Don't you even dare,” I snarled.
Blake came closer to me, staring me down with a condensing smirk. “You know, you’re luckier than Chloe. I actually have a thing for you, and I’ll make you my wife soon enough so don’t fuss like a child now.”
My hands had been twitching the whole time he spoke, but shutting that disgusting mouth of his was the first thing I wanted to do.
I slapped him hard, cursing, “Asshole,” before rushing out of there.
I massaged my cheeks. “I think my face might be permanently frozen in a smile. Who knew happiness could be this physically exhausting?”Alexander poured some champagne into our glasses and chuckled. “One last toast before we officially end this day?”I clinked my glass against his. “To us. Finally.”“To us.”“Did you see my granny trying to teach your cousin how to do the electric slide this morning? I laughed.“Not as memorable as Cedric face-planting after his fourth whiskey,” Alexander countered.We traded stories and observations from the wedding, decompressing from the intensity of being the center of attention for so many hours.I set my glass down. “I want to check something upstairs real quick.”Alexander raised an eyebrow but nodded. “I’ll lock up down here.”I made my way upstairs, passing the decorators I had hired to decorate our bedroom without Alexander’s knowledge. They were just finishing up.“Thank you guys,” I whispered.They smiled knowingly, tiptoeing out with thei
AVAJANUARY 28th“I, Alexander Morrison, take you, Ava Esther Winter, to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward…”I could see emotions swimming in his eyes. His hands trembled around mine, and I squeezed them gently in reassurance. We even rewritten our vows three times in the month leading up to the wedding. The first was too formal, then the second too casual. We eventually settled on something that felt uniquely us.“In all the chaos of the past year, you became my true north. Before you, I thought I understood what love was. I was wrong.”A soft ripple of laughter moved through the congregation.My eyes never left his face as he continued to say his vows.When my turn came, I took a deep breath.“I, Ava Winters, take you, Alexander Coker Morrison, to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward…”I had worried I would cry and that emotion would overwhelm my ability to speak, but as I stood in front of him there was this strange calm. This moment had been
AVATWO MONTHS LATER“Hurry up!” Alexander shouted from the front door.I called back, “Coming,” adding one more pin to secure my high bun. I gave myself a quick once-over in the mirror, with my navy blue dress, pearl earrings and subtle makeup, before grabbing my purse and hurrying down the stairs.Alexander was tapping his foot even though his mock annoyance couldn't hide the softness in his eyes as he took in my appearance.“You look beautiful. Isabella would approve.”I wiped an invisible dust from his charcoal suit jacket. “So do you. You know how particular she is about dress codes.”It was Isabella’s forty-first birthday today and despite the fact that she still wasn’t awake, Alexander and I decided to celebrate it with her. It would be something she would have wanted…no, something she would want. The doctors have been using words like “persistent vegetati
AVAThe hospital room was unnaturally quiet, the only sounds the steady beep of monitors and the muffled activity from the hallway outside. Blake looked different than when I’d last seen him. He looked thin and pale.We stared at each other. Eight years of history culminating in this room.“I heard from Jason that you were awake,” I broke the silence.Blake nodded, his fingers picking absently at the edge of his blanket.“Thank you for coming.”He then looked at me. “I also heard that you came to visit. Before. When I was still…”“I did,” I confirmed. Although not elaborating on that brief, impulsive visit when I’d rushed here thinking he was dead…or was going to die.I moved closer to the bed. “I have questions.”Blake’s eyes dropped to where his legs created small peaks beneath the hospital blanket. “I know.”
A Table Set For HealingAVA“Why didn’t you tell me?” Granny’s voice quavered. Her hands were shaking even as she held on to the newspaper in her lap, where the front-page headline had the news written in bold letters.THE WINTER COUPLE MURDER CASE CLOSED; SUSPECT DIES BEFORE TRIAL.The first and last time I had seen granny in tears was at my parents’ funeral. I never expected that I would see her hurt like this again, especially over a trauma that she had managed to endure for many years.I knelt beside her chair even as tears filled my own eyes.“I was going to tell you, Granny. I swear I was…” I said, gently taking the paper away from her and setting it aside.I sighed. I just…I...I didn't know how..”How could I explain that her daughter and son-in-“law whom she mourned, thinking they died of a mere accident were actually murdered and that I’d been hunting the man responsible. How do I tell her that I'd put myself in danger, even nearly died multiple times all to bring him to just
We walked hand in hand through the winding paths of the cemetery, past a couple of other carefully tended gardens around other graves. The grounds were peaceful at this hour because of use mode of the day visitors were gone—not that it would be particularly noisy if they weren’t. But the night was still young enough that we had the place to ourselves.I glanced up at Alexander, noticing the slight furrow between his brows and the distant look in his eyes.“Hey,” I squeezed his hand gently.“Are you okay? Something’s bugging you.”He sighed, but his gaze was still focused on the path ahead of us.“Talk to me,” I said.“I'm thankful you wanted me to meet your parents. It meant a lot to me.”“But?” I prompted.Alexander gestured his free hand around our surroundings.“But being here...the air in this place. It makes me anxious.”We walked a few more steps in silence before he continued.“My mind keeps going to Isabella,” he admitted. His voice was more strained now.“The thought of somed