"Why would you try to hurt her?" Victor shouted back. His voice was cold towards me, as he held onto Lily's hand. "So you're just going to believe her over your own wife?!" I fired back. Victor ignored my words and drew his attention to Lily and the broken glass. I watched as he carefully collected the pieces and threw them away. "Are you hurt anywhere? Did the glass get you?" Victor asked softly, giving her hand a light squeeze. "No, no. I'm okay now that you're here." Lily's smile was small. "Please don't leave me alone with her again..." **** I, Emelia Russo, once thought I was a woman who had it all—a successful career, and a loving husband. But when a "childhood friend" by the name of Lily Marino re-enters my husband's life, everything takes a turn for the worse. All of a sudden, my once faithful and loyal Victor was lying for her, favoring her, and trusting her word over mine. I became the outsider in my own marriage. When I finally had enough of his secrets and mistreatment of me and called for a divorce, he begged me to stay. "Please, let's go back to how the way things used to be! I'm begging you! Don't leave me!" Victor pleaded. But what happens when I tell him "It's too late."?
Lihat lebih banyakI was totally confused when my best friend, Alexis, texted me and said that she saw my husband and I at a restaurant.
Because I was at home currently. On the sofa. In a robe with a mask on my face.And my husband, Victor, was supposed to be at work. At least, that was what he texted me a few hours ago.
Ding!
Alexis: I see you and Victor in the restaurant :P You two are just the sweetest couple!
Me: Um, you might wanna get your eyes checked, bestie. :P I'm at home right now!
I sat my phone down and laid back against the sofa while I let my face mask settle. But my phone kept buzzing anyway.
Ding! Ding!
Alexis: I know what Victor looks like! But if that woman turning the back on me isn't you… there might be some trouble!
Alexis: OMG!! Listen to this NOW!!
Ding!
It was an audio message. That made me sit up on the sofa immediately. I pressed play without hesitation.
"Oh, Victor, I know you still think of me.” The unknown woman's voice chimed in.
“I have always been thinking of you.” Victor's voice came through as clear as day.
"You're so kind, just as you always have been. It's like you're the only person who tries to understand me, and who really does."
"And you say I'm kind?" Victor laughed and it sounded so musical.
The woman giggled. "Because you are! Even though you used to always treat me like a child, it's because you were worried about me. I always felt so safe when I was around you back then—and even still now."
Her voice almost sounded… flirty… the way she said that, too.
“Madam,” another voice came through. It was perhaps the waiter. "If you don’t mind, may I ask how long have you two been married? You two have such good chemistry together!"
“Wow, so you think we're sweet?” The unknown woman sounded like she really enjoyed his question, “our relationship is as always.”
The audio cut out with her loud laugh, before I caught the response from Victor.
Hearing how he spoke to her... It made me feel conflicted.
Our marriage wasn't something that came out of love. We were introduced by his grandfather, and set to wed that same week.
While it was odd living under the same roof with a stranger who was meant to be my husband, it wasn't awful. We spent time getting to know each other and in time, I fell in love with my husband.
Victor had always been so thoughtful. He was a man of few words, but I could feel how much he cared through his actions.
But now...why Victor so...treasured her? Even his laugh was so carefree and happy that I had never heard before.
How long had they known each other? How come I've never heard of them before?
A sense of doubt made my skin crawl.
It took me years to build something intimate with Victor, and he'd never spoken to any other woman the way he was speaking to this one.
I had to know what was going on. Or at least get to the bottom of who this person was.
I clicked on Victor's number out of my Favorite Contact list, and he picked up after the fourth ring.
"Hey, Emelia. Is everything okay?” Victor greeted me in a rushed voice.
I took a deep breath and pretended nothing was wrong. “Hey. Yeah, I just wanted to know when you'd be home for dinner? Are you still at your office?”
“Yeah, I'm busy at a work meeting right now. Now's not a good time.” Victor stated.
Liar.
"I'm sorry." I kept my voice steady and even as I tried to find out more details. "You usually call me when you're going to be late at the office, and I thought you'd be home by now. Is everything okay? Why didn't you call?"
Instead of acknowledging anything I said, or even giving me some type of "call you later," he hung up on me.
Just like that. He hit the end button on his phone and completely ignored everything I had to say.
What the hell was that?!
Victor's POVMy work office was becoming more of a sanctuary than my own home. How pathetic was that? To be run out of the place that you bought with your own hard-earned money by people who merely saw you as a pawn than for someone to love?My life had already fallen apart the moment Emelia decided to divorce me. It wasn't until now that I'd noticed that I'd been walking on broken glass shards the entire time.For the last two years, I'd carried this pain with me, but I thought seeing her again meant that I could begin to heal again. But I was still just as broken as the day when she left.And now everything around me was breaking apart and cutting me up in the process.This was probably what I deserved after all the hurt I'd caused Emelia. This was my karma for putting the woman I was supposed to protect through the most unimaginable pain possible.But enough had to be enough at some point, right?Before I could sink even further into my despair, my phone went off.It was my grandfat
Lily's POVAfter what I'd done to Victor, the last place I should've fled to was his house. But with his mom there, I knew I could count on her to keep me safe. She loved me like a daughter.Things would've been okay.Except, I wasn't expecting Victor to come home as soon as he did.I'd just stepped out of the shower when I heard his voice boom throughout the whole house. I scrambled quickly to get dressed, doing so quietly and hoping he wouldn't come into the bedroom we now shared.I held my breath as my heart stopped beating. When I pressed my ear to the door to listen in on their conversation, I couldn't believe that I was going to hear what I did next:"But my marriage to Lily? It's OVER. Especially since she's UNFIT to be a mother anyway!"The world around me was reduced to nothing but static noise as I dropped to my knees.Victor was really going to divorce me! I thought it was a bluff back at the store! But now…Panic began to rise in my chest, but I couldn't afford to make a sc
Emelia's POVA tightness coiled itself inside of my chest to the point that it was almost making it hard to breathe. I didn't feel like this because his sorrow was making me feel bad.No.This was just sheer discomfort.If anything, I only pitied him because he'd held onto this for so long. I thought two years would've been more than enough time to get over us; especially, given the distance between us. I wanted him to move on in the same way I did; to find happiness elsewhere since he clearly hadn't found it in our marriage.But to hear him beg and plead for another chance… To hear the anguish and regret in his voice…It was saddening.Too bad it wasn't my problem to fix."I have to go…" I finally broke the silence after what felt like forever. "I need to go. I want to go, Victor. There's no point in me staying here any longer."Victor couldn't even bring himself to meet my eyes. His lips parted, but then closed again. He knew there was nothing else he could say to keep me in this roo
Emelia's POVThe ambulance whizzed its way through rush-hour traffic to get Victor to the hospital. I sat in the back with my eyes mostly fixated on the small back window, but every so often, my gaze would drift back to him.The initial shock of everything that happened and he was more or less asleep. I was told that his vitals were stable, and that the wound didn't appear too deep or serious, but he still needed to be seen by the doctors anyway.As for Lily, they never found her. The shift manager for the store sent me a text and told me the police were still searching. How she managed to evade them was beyond me, but I honestly didn't care.Once all of this finally settled, I was going to pursue legal action anyway. Lily was going to pay one way or another; and she couldn't go far without Victor's money.The emergency personnel took us to Greenport Mercy Hospital. I thought to myself that once Victor was settled, I'd go check up on my dad since I was here. Luckily, it didn't take us
Emelia's POVThe feeling of being put on the spot was nerve-wracking. Every muscle in my body tensed up, and my heart stopped beating for only a split moment. All the yelling and chaos was reduced to nothing but a distant hum since there were only two things in my mind that played on repeat.One: "Lily… I want a divorce."Two: "Emelia… Does this make us even now?"I couldn't find the words to respond as I stood there with my mouth agape. Some imaginary spotlight shone down on me and it was making me hot. But that was probably just the feeling of everyone's eyes on me while they waited for some kind of response.What the hell was I supposed to say?And what did he mean by making us even?There was nothing to keep score of!This wasn't a game—this was simply life moving forward after facing the consequences of one's actions.If he thought that this was supposed to magically fix things between us, then he sure as hell thought wrong!"I can't believe it…" Lily's soft voice rose from the si
Emelia's POVI had to shake my head to force myself out of the shock of Lily's wrath. Once I'd come to my senses, all I saw was red. The flames of my own rage fanned in my chest, but I had to exercise some caution.Lily could do whatever she wanted to dig her hole deeper, but I needed to handle this like an actual adult.No matter how much I wanted to slap the absolute hell out of her."I hope you're ready to pay for all of this." I stated coldly. "Everything you've broken, and all the slander you've attempted against my employees and company—I'm pursuing legal action for it all."Lily thrashed against the security guards who held her arms. "If anyone's paying, it's YOU!" She shouted. "I am Victor Russo's WIFE! Do you think you can get away with mistreating the wife of the most powerful and influential CEO in all of Greenport? No one treats ME like this! I WILL RUIN YOU!"Extra security had come in at this point as they formed a barricade between us and the rest of the crowd. Their mur
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