CHAPTER 5

Amanda's POV

The door remained open for several seconds before I finally turned my head toward it. My heart was still racing from everything that had happened, and my mind was struggling to catch up with reality.

Damien was beside me, equally silent, his expression changing the moment we both recognized the woman standing in the doorway.

Vivian. She stood completely still, staring at us with an expression I had never seen on her face before. Her eyes moved from me to Damien and then back to me again. Shock appeared for only a moment before anger replaced it.

"So this is what you have been doing," she said quietly.

Her voice was calm, but there was something dangerous beneath it.

I pulled myself together and sat upright, suddenly aware of how compromising the situation looked. The shame came almost immediately. I lowered my eyes for a moment, unable to meet hers, while Damien moved away from me and straightened himself.

None of us spoke. Vivian stepped into the room and slowly closed the door behind her.

"I knew something was wrong," she said. "I just never imagined it would be this."

"Vivian..." Damien began.

"Don't!" she shouted. Her sudden outburst made me look up.

"You don't get to explain anything to me."

Damien remained silent. Vivian pointed toward me. "And you, Amanda. You are married to Nathaniel. Yet here you are, in another man's house, doing this."

My face burned. I knew she had every reason to be angry about what she had seen, but the accusation coming from her made something inside me snap.

"You have no right to judge me."

Vivian stared at me in disbelief. "No right?"

I slowly got off the bed. My legs were still unsteady, partly from the alcohol and partly from the emotions overwhelming me.

"You were sleeping with my fiancee."

The words came out before I could stop them. Vivian's face changed immediately.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

"I have never slept with Nathaniel."

"Don't lie to me!"

My voice rose as the memories of everything Damien had told me came rushing back. The betrayal, the secrecy, Nathaniel's absence when I was in the hospital, and the suspicion that had consumed me for days all collided inside my head.

"You think I don't know what happened between you two?" I demanded. "You think I am stupid?"

Vivian shook her head slowly. "You are drunk."

"I may be drunk, but I am not blind."

She stepped closer. "You have completely lost control of yourself."

"Because of people like you!"

"People like me?"

"You and Nathaniel betrayed me."

Vivian's eyes widened. "I just told you I have never slept with your husband."

"Then why were you always around him?"

"Because of business." She paused for a seconds before she added, "And the secret meetings?"

"What secret meetings?" I laughed bitterly. "You expect me to believe that?"

Damien suddenly spoke.

"She is telling a lie."

I turned toward him. "Exactly!"

Damien looked directly at me. "Vivian slept with Nathaniel."

My chest tightened.

"How would you know?" Vivian barked at him, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Because I know what happened." Damien replied her.

Vivian folded her arms and looked at him with an expression that suggested she was already tired of the entire situation.

He looked at me with a mixture of concern and frustration.

"You are accusing the wrong person."

My eyes filled with anger.

"So now you are now acting smart for me as if you did nothing wrong?" I snapped. My voice very firm.

"I am innocent of the allegation."

"You're not!" I shouted, stood my ground on the claim.

Damien sighed. "You are angry with Nathaniel. I understand that. But Vivian isn't the person you should be attacking."

Vivian suddenly laughed without humor.

"Finally, you have now said something sensible."

I turned toward him. I was so surprised the sudden defending of her.

"Don't start."

"No, Amanda. You started this."

She stepped closer, her voice becoming louder.

"You came into my life, accused me of sleeping with your husband, and now you are standing here acting as though everyone else is responsible for your choices."

My hands trembled. "You don't know what I have been through."

"And you don't know what I have been through either!"

The room fell silent. For a moment, Vivian looked less angry and more wounded. But whatever emotion had appeared on her face quickly disappeared.

"You want to know the truth?" she asked. "Fine. Nathaniel and I have had disagreements. We have had conversations. We have argued about business and other things, but I never slept with him.”

"Then why did Damien tell me that you did?"

Vivian's eyes immediately shifted toward Damien.

"What?"

Damien's expression hardened.

"I didn't say that."

"You did!"

"I told you Nathaniel betrayed you. I said it.”

"You said they were together."

"I said they had something to hide. That doesn't mean what you are assuming."

Vivian looked from him to me. "You two are unbelievable."

She turned toward Damien.

"And you," she snapped, "don't stand there pretending to be innocent. You knew she was married, yet you still allowed this to happen."

Damien's face tightened.

"You have no idea what happened here."

"I know exactly what I saw."

"Then stop pretending you know everything."

Vivian's anger exploded. "You always think you are better than everyone!"

"Vivian."

"No! You don't get to shut me up." She pointed angrily at him.

"You have been interfering in other people's lives for too long. Now look at you. You have taken advantage of a woman who is clearly not in her right state."

Her words struck me. I looked at Damien. He did not answer. For the first time since Vivian entered the room, the shame returned with greater force.

Vivian noticed it. She looked at me and shook her head.

"Do you even understand what you have done?"

I swallowed. "I know what I did."

"No, you don't."

"I was hurt."

"And that gives you the right to destroy everything?"

"I didn't destroy anything."

"You are married, Amanda!"

"I know!" My voice broke.

"I know I am married!"

The room became silent again. Tears gathered in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

"I was betrayed," I whispered. "I was lying in a hospital bed, wondering why my husband didn't come to see me. I was hurting, and nobody cared."

Vivian's expression softened slightly, but her anger remained.

"That still doesn't make this right."

I looked away.

Damien moved closer to me.

"That's enough."

Vivian immediately turned on him.

"Don't tell me when I have had enough!"

"You are making things worse."

"I am making things worse?"

She laughed bitterly.

"You are the reason this situation exists."

Damien's jaw tightened.

"Watch what you say."

"Or what?"

She stepped toward him.

"Will you throw me out?"

Damien said nothing.

Vivian looked back at me.

"I will tell Nathaniel everything." My heart dropped.

"Vivian, don't." I begged her as though she was very innocent on her own part.

"Oh, now you are worried?"

She moved toward the door.

"I will make sure he knows exactly what happened here. Maybe then he will finally have a reason to divorce you."

The word divorce echoed inside my head. I moved toward her.

"You can't do that." I boldly confronted her.

"I can, and I will."

"Please."

She stopped and turned. "You should have thought about that before coming here."

My anger returned. "You are acting as though you are innocent."

"I am."

"You slept with my husband!"

"I DID NOT!" Her scream shook the room. I stepped backward.

Vivian's breathing became heavier. She looked around the room as though searching for something, and then her eyes landed on a heavy object near the side table. Before I could understand what she intended to do, she grabbed it.

"Vivian!"

She raised it and moved toward me. I instinctively lifted my hands to protect myself.

"Don't come near me!"

She ignored the warning. Everything happened too quickly. Damien rushed forward and grabbed her arm, trying to stop her before she could swing the object at me. Vivian struggled violently against his grip, shouting and cursing.

"Let me go.