2

Chapter 2

Aria Blake

~•~

Tears rolled down my face as I scrolled away and dialed his number. This time it didn’t go to voicemail, the phone was ringing.

But Julian was ignoring me intentionally.

My chest was tight.

After everything we had been through, I couldn’t believe that he would do something like that to me.

At least, he could have had the decency to tell me he was done before messing around with his ex-girlfriend.

I felt so embarrassed and humiliated. I couldn’t even read the comments on that post. I didn’t want to see anything that would make me feel worse.

After several failed attempts to reach him, a broken scream tore out of me as I threw my phone across the room.

Heartbroken was an understatement. It felt like someone was ripping out my heart from my chest.

Julian left me for his ex-girlfriend.

God. It still felt like a terrible nightmare.

I needed to wake up from it.

I kept crying and was lost in my thoughts until I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to a strong stench of alcohol hitting my nostrils. When my eyes fluttered open, I saw Julian standing in front of me.

He looked… disheveled.

“Where are you coming from?” I asked as I sat upright on the bed.

My heart was racing as I waited for his response.

“I was out with a few friends, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you that I would be spending the night outside.”

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “A few friends?” I repeated slowly. “Or you spent the night with your ex and you’re lying to me right now.”

His expression crumpled immediately.

“What are you talking about?”

I let out a humorless chuckle. “Oh, you haven’t seen the news? You have no idea that you and your ex are trending right now?”

His eyes widened. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath but it was loud enough for me to hear. “It’s not what you think it is.”

I pushed the blanket away and stepped out of the bed. “You’ve been acting distant lately, and it’s because of that same person you told me that I didn’t have to worry about,” I said, my voice breaking slightly.

“It’s not because of her,” he replied through gritted teeth.

Did he think I was a fool?

He was still lying to me after I’d caught him red-handed.

When Julian and I met and we started dating, I always felt insecure because people online compared me to his ex-girlfriend.

Some of them even called me a rebound.

But Julian tried to assure me that I didn’t have to listen to them because they had no idea what they were saying.

He told me that he loved me genuinely and that his ex-girlfriend was his past and he would choose me over her anytime.

I forced myself to believe him even though I still felt like I didn’t deserve Julian. I mean, he was a billionaire while I was a regular person.

Why would he want to be with someone like me?

But throughout our marriage, he treated me with love and respect. Until recently when he started acting like I was invisible and we were just strangers living under the same roof.

“Don’t lie to me, Julian,” I replied firmly. “You forget about our anniversary and act like it was a normal day, only to be seen with her!”

He let out a deep exhale. “You also forgot about our anniversary, so don’t act like everything is my fault.” His voice became defensive.

“I didn’t forget about our anniversary.”

“But you didn’t do anything about it.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “And that’s because you’ve been acting distant and treating me like I don’t matter at all because of that woman.”

“It wasn’t because of Angel.”

Her name sounded like a piece of glass cutting through my chest.

I stared at him for a long moment, holding back my tears. “Let’s not forget the time you accidentally called her name while we were having sex. You’ve never been over her, and you didn’t ever want to admit it.”

Julian’s expression faltered for a moment. “I was over her.”

My lips parted and I blinked.

Did I hear him correctly?

“Was?” I asked, stunned. “So you’re trying to say that you’re not over her anymore?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. That’s not what I said,” he retorted. “And stop talking about her. This has nothing to do with her.”

I sat down on the bed.

I already felt too weak.

He didn’t see a problem with what he was doing.

“And about the name part, it was an honest mistake. It happened before we even got married, so I don’t know why you always bring it up whenever we have an argument,” he continued, unable to hold my gaze. “I already apologized about that part and you told me you forgave me.”

A low breath escaped my lips. “Okay, explain the part where you were spotted with her last night. What was that about?”

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it immediately. I was sure that he didn’t have a lie to say to justify his actions.

And he still didn’t have the guts to tell me that he wanted to get back together with her.

Silence stretched between us.

“Who did you get the silver necklace for?” I finally asked after a few minutes breaking the awkward silence. “Was it for her?”

He didn’t respond immediately.

He dragged a hand over his face.

Then he turned around and walked over to the nightstand. I remained quiet while he searched for something inside the drawers.

About a minute later, he pulled out a brown envelope and threw it to me. It landed on my lap but I didn’t touch it.

My brows furrowed in confusion as I looked at him.

“W—what is this?” I asked silently.

I hoped it wasn’t what I was thinking.