"You fucking bastard! So you've been cheating on me with my best friend this entire time?"I never thought I would say those words in my life. The idea that Marcus would ever cheat on me never even crossed my mind. We were always so happy together, or at least we used to be in the beginning. Now, I don't even recognise my husband anymore. I first started to suspect Marcus of cheating on me about six months ago when he returned from Hawaii. He had been growing even more distant, and I just couldn't figure out what had changed between us. Was it something I said? Was it something I did? No matter how hard I tried, my husband had completely given up on our marriage, and there was nothing I could do to fix it."Maybe he's just going through a midlife crisis," Emily had told me when I mentioned it to her. Emily was my best friend since elementary school, and we had always been as close as sisters. We grew up right next to each other, and we were like two peas in a pod. It was always Olivia
MARCUS"I want a divorce."I never thought I would hear Olivia utter those words. As she walked down the hallway without even looking back at me, a strange numbness washed over me. For a while, I couldn't even think straight. I couldn't properly understand what she was saying, until I allowed the words to wrap around me like a warm blanket. And then I felt relief. I'd been waiting for an opportunity to end things with her for a very long time. It had been six months since the idea first came to me, and I knew that it would be the best way to end this sham of a marriage. And I was going to do it, until about four months ago when I got a phone call that sent me down this road. "Come home right now. I need to speak with you."A call from my mother was rarely good news. Even after all these years of retirement, she still liked to keep an eye on things. At first I thought it was something to do with the company. Maybe she wanted to talk about our latest project, or maybe she had learne
As soon as I got back home, I started to pack my things. I forced myself not to cry, focusing instead on the task at hand. The image of Marcus and Emily was burned into my memory, and I knew that I would remember it for the rest of my life. But I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry. They could jump off a fucking bridge for all I cared. After spending so long wondering what exactly I had done to deserve this cruelty from my husband, it was satisfying to finally have an answer. He was more interested in fucking my best friend than fixing our marriage. I could picture the two of them right now, and even the thought of it made me want to sink to the floor and cry until my tears dried up. I couldn't bear to think about what happened, or the sad reality of what my life was about to become. I didn't know what I was going to do now, but I sure as hell wasn't going to stay in this house. For so long, it had felt more like a prison than anything else. I had no memori
MARCUS"Carlos!" I yelled as soon as I woke up, groaning when the pounding in my head continued. "Get me some fucking aspirin! Now!"The room was too bright, and I pressed the button to shut the curtains before I rolled over and pulled the sheets over my head. Thank goodness today was a Sunday, and I didn't have to go into the office. My head was pounding, like a herd of elephants were desperately trying to stampede their way out of my skull.Maybe I shouldn't have had so much to drink. But last night was a cause for celebration, and I wasn't going to waste such an opportunity. After four years of misery, I was finally free. And I'd celebrated by fucking Emily's brains out four times, one for each miserable year of my marriage. I half-opened my eyes and saw that the bed was empty, which brought a smile to my face. She was truly gone, and I was free. No more worrying about what she was going to say or do. No more stressing out over the fact that my marriage wasn't as perfect as I wan
"I'm sorry, Mrs Reynard, but it appears that your bank account has been frozen.""I'm sorry, what?" I stood in the doorway and stared at Mr Wallace in confusion as he handed me back the cheque I'd issued him just this morning. I'd managed to get a small apartment in the village, and the owner almost fell over his feet when I arrived here last night, looking for a place to stay. He recognised me immediately as Marcus Reynard's wife, and he couldn't wait to give me the apartment. In hindsight, maybe I should have gone for a hotel. But I didn't want to go anywhere that would attract too much attention. And almost every hotel in Manhattan knew exactly who I was. A small, modest apartment should have been the best option. But somehow, Marcus had frozen my account already. "I'm so sorry," Mr Wallace said, almost as if he was ashamed to even look up at me. "Surely there must have been some kind of mistake."I nodded absentmindedly as a hollow feeling settled in my chest. Marcus. This had h
"Thank you for seeing me, David," I said, sliding into the seat across from him. Even though the cafe was crowded, we'd managed to get a table at the far end of the floor, so we were secluded from everyone else. David leaned back and raked his fingers through his hair. There were more grey hairs on his hair than last time I'd seen him, and he was starting to grow a stubble. David was a buff guy, but not so muscular that he would seem off putting. He looked like he came from old money, with his expensive suits and flashy Rolex watches. "I'm not gonna lie, Liv," he said, sitting up straight. "This is going to be messy. Like Rebels versus the Empire messy. I've known Marcus for over two decades now, and he's going to come for you with everything he's got.""So I've been told," I said. "That's why I came to you. You're the best at what you do. And if there's anyone who can make sure I don't get screwed over, it's going to be you."Maybe I was stroking his ego a little bit, but I had to
Ciara Walters looked like she belonged on a runway that in a courtroom. She was absolutely stunning, her dark skin and luscious, jet-black hair making her look more like a wealthy heiress than a cutthroat lawyer. She was wearing a navy blue suit, and her Louboutin heels dangled off her feet as she sat across from David and me. Her piercing green eyes settled on me, and I felt small and insignificant in front of her as she stared into my soul. "So, let me get this straight," she said in a crisp English accent. "You want me to take on what could turn out to be the biggest and messiest divorce case in the country, without even getting paid?""A settlement can be agreed afterwards," David said. "You owe me, Walters. Don’t forget that."She glared at him as he said this, and something about the way she looked at him made me feel uneasy. But I knew David wasn’t that kind of man. He would never cheat on Brenda. No matter how hot Ciara Walters might be. “Well I’ll be damned,” Ciara chuckled
I was fully prepared for the uproar that the divorce would create. I prepared myself for the shitstorm that was headed my way, and I thought I would have it all figured out. But all of that changed the moment the news got out. Suddenly, I was being hounded by paparazzi everywhere I went. I thought it was stressful before, but that was when I was always being followed by the Reynard security personnel. With that layer of security gone, I was left standing naked against the storm, as a hurricane blew through and ripped me apart. And I had to somehow find a way to survive the sea of questions they hurled at me. “WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR YOUR DIVORCE WITH MARCUS?”“ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUE REYNARD TECH AS WELL?”“DID MARCUS CHEAT ON YOU?”“HAVE YOU SEEN MARCUS RECENTLY?”I wished I could just stand there and answer all their questions. I wished I could stand there and give them all the details they needed, and tell them about how heartbroken I was when I found out he was cheating on me.
I still couldn’t believe that Ethan had bought the mansion just like that. He made it seem like it was a pair of shoes or a painting he liked. It all happened so fast, and I just couldn’t believe it. The first week was entirely chaotic. We spent our evenings shopping for furniture, arguing about the best fabric for the couch and whether a vintage record player was essential or rubbish (I won that round of arguing). I spent most days over at the house, telling the delivery men where to put things, and helping out where I could. Ethan suggested hiring an interior designer to handle everything, but there was something so cozy and comforting about doing it myself that I just wasn’t ready to give up. Besides, it wasn’t difficult at all. But the hardest part came the night Rachel flew back from her trip, and I had to tell her that I was moving out.From the moment she walked into our apartment and dropped her bags at the door, her face fell when she saw the boxes in the living room.There
MARCUSI didn't want to do it initially. He didn't deserve a quick death, after all. But sometimes, when someone pisses you off too much, you just have to take care of things. And when you find out that the bastard who tried to harm the woman you love was only going to a mental institution instead of the jail he deserved, you just have to take care of things yourself. I stood on the balcony and stared down at the city sparkling beneath me while a cold breeze swept past. The sun had already set, but Manhattan was still as loud as ever, with horns blaring down below, people yelling constantly , and the wailing of a siren in the distance. No one would notice me up here, staring down at them and savoring my latest victory. I took a slow sip of my whiskey, letting the warmth roll down the back of my throat as I leaned on the cold steel railing. The evening was perfect, and I couldn’t have been happier after getting the call. Chris was dead, just like I intended. The report said he’d be
From the moment we pulled up in front of the mansion, my mouth fell open and it stayed like that permanently. The house looked like something out of a movie. It was so huge, and my eyes nearly rolled back into my skull as we walked in. There was a grand staircase which swept upward like it belonged in a castle, and sunlight streamed in through the large windows which made everything look so bright and golden."You've got to be kidding me," I whispered, taking in the beauty of the house. "This is actually insane.""Wait til you see the kitchen," Ethan said as he walked up behind me and took my hand in his. "You could set up a football game in it"When we walked into the kitchen, I knew he wasn't exaggerating. There were two kitchen islands which were so far apart that you probably couldn't even smell what someone was cooking from across the kitchen. There were so many shelves and drawers that it looked more like a convenience store than a home kitchen. Every room we walked into fel
Ethan was discharged the very next day, and I took him back to my apartment. Rachel had traveled down to Miami for a conference, so it was just the two of us in the house. After he’d taken a shower and eaten the lunch I prepared, he immediately sat down to call a real estate agent. “Is that really necessary?” I asked as I packed up the plates from the dining table. “Shouldn’t you be getting some rest?”“I’ll rest once we have our new home,” he said. “Buying a house usually takes a very long time to process, and I don’t have the time nor the patience to wait too long. The sooner we get started, the quicker we can be done with this.”I left him to his phone call, while I washed up in the kitchen. I could hear him talking in a sharp tone, using his CEO voice where he made it obvious that things were going to go his way, no matter what. I could have sat down and stared at him for hours when he talked like that, but I had other things to do. Like calling Richard Jones and telling him wha
I'd thought about seeing Marcus face to face again for a very long time now. I'd imagined standing across from him, looking dead into his eyes and showing him that I wasn't afraid of him anymore. I'd thought about how I was going to stand my ground, and not let him see the fear he'd once inflicted upon me. But standing right there in front of him, looking into those malicious eyes that had tormented me for years, I just couldn't do it. My knees began to shake, and I almost buckled to the ground in terror as the world fell away and it was just the two of us.And then he started to walk towards me. It took every bit of strength in me to not turn around and flee. I visibly shrank the closer he got, and a wave of panic washed over me as I realized that I had nowhere to go. If I turned and ran now, then I would be running for the rest of my life. And that was the last thing I wanted. So I stood my ground, stuck out my chin defiantly, and looked him dead in the eye. I took a deep breath
For a while, I just sat there and stared at Nate. I couldn't process the fact that he was here, and as my brain slowly booted up again, I felt Ethan tense beside me. "Nate, what are you doing here?" I asked. "Offering my condolences," he said. "I heard about the accident, and I just knew I had to come here as soon as I returned."He was more tanned than the last time I'd seen him, and his hair was a little bit longer. He looked like he'd come straight from the beach, in his plain white shirt and khaki pants. It was so different from the man in the tailored suit who strutted about like he owned the building. And yet, even now, there was an air of confidence about him as he stood in the middle of the room and stared at us. “Why the long faces?” he asked. “Did someone die?”“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ethan asked, attempting to stand up before I held him down. “I heard you were sick,” Nate said. “Oh, I mean shot. It’s all over the news. I just got back from Paris, so I though
Ethan ended up taking longer than we expected to get discharged, and he ended up staying in the hospital for two weeks. During that time, he had to get a lot of therapy so he could move his left arm again, because some nerves had been damaged and they needed to heal properly. I stayed with him the entire time, only leaving to shower and get a new batch of clean clothes when I had to. But otherwise, we just sat together and talked. He wasn't in too much pain, so mostly we had enough time to just sit and talk about life. It was on the thirteenth day that we spoke about what he told me in the cabin. He didn't want to talk about it when I brought it up, but I managed to convince him that it was necessary. This was the only way to clear his conscience, so he could finally be free of the guilt that he had carried after all these years. "But what if we find out that I was the one who killed him?" he asked quietly, staring out the window. "What if it's confirmed that I'm a murderer?""I kn
MARCUSI swear I could smell the pig even from outside the door. My blood was boiling even before I walked into the room, but it took a monumental effort to keep myself in check. I had to be quick. It shouldn't take longer than five minutes. Thankfully, the cop standing by the door didn't say anything as I walked in. He just gave me a polite nod, and he stepped aside as I walked in and shut the door behind me.Chris looked like a man who’d gotten into a cage fight with a gorilla. He was bruised all over, and several parts of his face were swollen, with one eye almost completely shut. His bottom lip was split open like a rotten fruit, and both of his hands were cuffed to the bedrails as if he was some sort of rabid animal. It was an amusing sight, which perfectly suited the bastard who’d tried to take Olivia from me. He shifted slightly when he saw me, then he flinched in terror. I saw the recognition in his bloodshot eyes, then confusion as he blinked several times, then something
The first thing on my mind when I woke up was Ethan. I bolted out of bed instantly, and I had to grip the bed frame as I swayed and nearly toppled to the ground. I felt like my brain was trying to explode from my skull, and the ringing in my ear was constant. I had to sit down on the bed once again, and it took me a few seconds to regain my breath and take in my surroundings. The room was eerily quiet, so much so that I could only hear the low humming of the air conditioning. I shifted slightly on the stiff bed, and I cursed aloud as my joints aches from how long I'd been curled up. My mouth was incredibly dry, and my skin felt so clammy. Every inch of me felt like it was protesting the simple act of waking up, and it was like I hadn't slept at all.But the guilt cut through the fog. How long had I been out? What if Ethan had woken up already? And I was just sitting here like a ditz and worrying about something ridiculous like hunger. Slowly, I dragged myself to my feet and made m