Chapter 3

Laughter erupted inside the room.

I waited in silence until I heard Ashton answer. “Yeah. I don’t want to lose Chloe. But I also don’t want to let Kimberly down.”

Everything around me seemed to go quiet. Too numb to feel much of anything, I smiled numbly and walked away.

Then I took out my phone and booked a flight.

“Better to cut your losses now,” Rachel said.

She was hardly surprised when I told her I was leaving with her.

Rachel had seen what was happening all along. I was the one who had kept holding on to hope.

I told Ashton I felt unwell and would not be coming to dinner.

He thought little of it. As far as he was concerned, I had put Kimberly out of my mind and would not bring her up again.

Three days later, Ashton called as usual. He told me that my altered wedding dress had been delivered to the house and that I should come home to try it on.

I felt no excitement. When I opened the front door, I found Kimberly trying on my dress.

“What are you doing?”

I stepped toward her in shock. Kimberly scrambled to take it off and accidentally tore the fabric.

My face went cold.

The dress had been made from my late mother’s wedding gown. It was one of the few things she had left me.

“Get your hands off it!”

I rushed over and pushed Kimberly’s hands away, but before I could examine the damage, someone stepped between us.

It was Ashton.

“Chloe, Kimberly didn’t mean to do it.” He stood in front of her and watched me warily.

“I’ll have someone fix it. You’re scaring her.”

Under the light, he was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, while Kimberly, draped in the wedding dress, nestled in his arms.

They looked like the happy couple whose wedding we had been planning.

The hurt and bitterness I had felt before gave way to disappointment.

“Ashton, you know what this dress means to me. And this is the first time you’ve taken another woman’s side against me.”

I said nothing more and turned to leave.

Ashton panicked and followed me out.

“Chloe, why do you keep picking on Kimberly? She hasn’t done anything!”

“Then why do you keep treating her like she’s special?”

My voice was steady, but Ashton let go of my arm.

He stared at me, irritation finally showing in his eyes.

He said sternly, “I’ve explained it to you. I just don’t want her to suffer the way I did. You have no idea what those twelve years were like.

“If you’d given me even the slightest sign that you felt the same way, I wouldn’t have been so miserable!”

I stared at him in disbelief.

When he had confessed his feelings to me, he had said that loving me had been his choice. He had said that he had never regretted it.

But suddenly, I was somehow to be blamed for all the years he had spent loving me?

“If you regret choosing me, you can choose someone else.” I forced a smile. “Ashton, we’re both adults. No one is stopping you from making your own decisions.”

I turned and walked away. Ashton did not follow me this time.

Ashton stopped speaking to me.

Within a week, he gave Kimberly a permanent position. He started bringing her to the house regularly and put her in charge of his daily needs. He no longer bothered to hide it from me.

I had no interest in watching them together. I packed my bags and was about to leave for a hotel.

Kimberly blocked my way and dropped to her knees.

“Mrs. King, please don’t leave. There’s really nothing going on between Mr. King and me! I’ll keep my feelings to myself. I won’t come between you. If you’re angry, take it out on me. Please don’t put him in the middle!”

She raised her hand and began slapping herself hard.

Ashton appeared behind her at just the right moment.

“Chloe, you’re bullying her again!”

I had not even touched her.

Ashton shoved me aside without hesitation and pulled Kimberly into his arms.

“She’s bent over backward to keep the peace. How much more are you going to put her through?”

They walked away together.

I fell to the floor. A dull ache spread through my lower abdomen. I had a sinking feeling; I knew why.

Sure enough.

“Ms. Norman, congratulations. You’re eleven weeks pregnant.”