002

Loud music was deafening as I pushed through the crowd in the bar.

I opened door after door, searching for their private lounge, while my heart pounded, threatening to combust.

“One week!”

“No way, five days!”

I froze mid-walk.

Slowly, I retraced my steps toward the mocking voices. I peered into the lounge through the space between the door, my legs feeling like lead as I realised what was going on.

Jace wrapped his arm around Asher. “Three days. A cripple like her, who can't even hold anything properly? What else could she do besides cling to Asher?”

“Just let it go, Asher. Your marriage has been broken for a while anyway. Just get the divorce over with.” Lovie spoke up.

“You’re right, baby.” Asher sighed, taking a shot of his whiskey, “I’m so sick of living with that cripple.”

“Watching her hand tremble makes me nauseous,”

Bruce burst into laughter as Asher mimicked my trembling hand, leaning back smugly.

I glanced down, watching my right hand tremble.

That was all I was to him.

A cripple.

But this, this entire condition was an extension of my love.

When I learned that the hall he was in caught fire, I didn't think twice before risking my life to save him.

If that ceiling hadn’t fallen on my hand, I wouldn’t be in this condition.

Yet, in Asher’s eyes, I was just a cripple?

How could I have loved someone so despicable for seven years?

The ache in my heart suddenly morphed into something harder, louder.

Since I was nothing but a cripple, it was time to show them what this cripple could do.

I pushed the door open.

They all froze as I marched inside.

“Oh no, we all lost the bet!” Jace sneered. “She’s here already. Loren, you’re even more desperate this time, you can’t let Asher go, can you?”

My gaze found the brooch on Lovie’s neck, my stomach twisting all over again.

“It’s barely been an hour and you’ve come to beg. Don’t you know this is considered stalking someone?”

I ignored his taunt and grabbed Lovie, my grip on her collar tightening as I asked. “Who gave you the right to wear that brooch?!”

“Loren!” Asher barked, standing up. “Let go of Lovie right now.”

“Answer me!” I yelled, startling her.

Asher pulled her back, “You—“

“It’s okay, Asher. Loren is always upset with me,” she murmured. “And Loren,” our eyes met, her lips curling into her smile behind Asher as she went in for the kill.

“You shouldn’t get so upset, it’s old junk anyway,” She took it off. “Besides, Asher was the one who gave it to me, right, Asher?”

“Yes,” Asher spat, “I gave it to her, so what?” he continued. “Stop creating a scene just to get my attention!”

“That is my mother's brooch!” I snapped. “It isn’t junk, and it certainly wasn’t yours to give away.”

“Your mother has been dead for ages, and it’s a cheap brooch, If she likes it, just let her have it. It belongs in the trash anyway.”

My body was shaking so hard I struggled to form words.

I stretched my hand toward Lovie “Hand it over, right now.”

Lovie sat on Asher’s lap instead, tossing the brooch up and catching it several times before she spoke up.

“Fine then, but you have to do something for me.”

“Stop that–“

“First agree to what I’m asking.”

“Stop her, Asher!”

“Hey, you started this drama, remember? Don’t drag me into it.”

Lovie threw the brooch up one more time, and my knees almost buckled as it almost hit the ground.

It was Jace who caught it this time, handing it to Lovie,

She tried to throw it one more time before I yelled.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do whatever you want.”

Lovie chuckled, “Great then,” She pushed a bottle of whiskey toward me. “Drink it all. Now.”

“Wait, Lovie, isn’t she allergic to alcohol?” Bruce asked.

“She’d die for him, remember?” Jace chimed in, “What’s a little alcohol? Give your best, Loren. Asher’s watching.”

Lovie leaned back against Asher’s chest. “Go on, Loren. Don’t you want the brooch?”

Asher stood up. My heart swelled with hope.

Maybe he had finally snapped out of his stupidity and was going to return it.

He was everything, but he couldn’t be so—

“Everyone is asking you so nicely,” He pressed the bottle against my chest. “Do you always have to embarrass me?”

I stumbled back, the world around me shrinking as he stepped closer.

Looking at him now, it felt like I had been blind to love him for seven years.

“That’s enough,” He opened the bottle and I gasped as he grabbed my cheeks, pouring it down my throat.

I flailed my hands, pushing him away.

Just as it burned my throat, I pushed him without thinking.

Asher groaned, stumbling back.

“Oh my gosh, Loren!” Lovie stood up, kicking my foot.

I lost my balance and crumbled to the ground face first, my right hand unable to break my fall.

“You’re making it seem like we’re bullying you.” She tossed the brooch beside me. “Take it, I don’t want your junk anyway.”

I reached for the brooch, tears pricking my eyes.

Just as my fingers grazed it, someone kicked it off.

I raised my head to meet Asher’s eyes.

His green eyes darkened. “If you were going to ruin the entire party for a stupid brooch,” his gaze shifted to it, “then no one will get it!”

“Hey!” I cried out as he stomped on it.

The sound of my mother’s brooch breaking sliced through my heart.

A sob finally escaped my lips, my trembling hands picking up the broken pieces.

“Come on, Lovie, let’s go,” Asher said, strolling off with his friends.

My tears fell onto the brooch and I held the pieces against my chest, sobs racking through my body.