Chapter Five

Mitchelle

The elevator doors hadn't even closed behind me when I turned to the nearest maid and spoke.

"Take everything upstairs to the master bedroom."

She blinked at me like I had spoken in another language, but I didn't repeat myself. I knew she heard me the first time, and within seconds she was scurrying off with my luggage while I made my way through the marble foyer.

I needed to see it with my own eyes.

The master bedroom door swung open under my hand, and rage flooded through me so fast I had to grip the doorframe to steady myself. Chloe's clothes were spread across my bed like she owned the place, designer shoes lined up by the closet, makeup scattered across my vanity, and that cheap perfume she always wore hung in the air like a territorial claim.

Chloe had moved into my bedroom amidst my warnings.

I walked straight to the closet and started pulling her dresses off the hangers, letting them fall to the floor in expensive heaps of silk and lace. A maid appeared in the doorway with wide eyes, and I pointed at the growing pile.

"Box all of this up and take it to the guest room," I ordered. "Every single thing that belongs to her needs to be out of this room in the next ten minutes."

"Yes ma'am," the maid whispered while rushing to gather the clothes.

I helped her clear the vanity and the dresser drawers, throwing Chloe's things into boxes without any care for whether they got wrinkled or damaged. When the room was finally clear of her presence, I dismissed the maid and headed straight for the bathroom as I needed to wash this entire day off my skin.

The shower was scalding hot and I stood under the spray until my muscles started to relax and my mind started to clear. I was just beginning to feel human again when I heard voices in the bedroom, and I froze with my hand on the faucet.

"I promise you, babe, it's just thirty days and that miserable woman would be gone, I promise," Jason's voice drifted through the bathroom door.

"You're sure?" Chloe asked in that whiny tone she used when she wanted reassurance.

"I'm sure baby," Jason replied. "Thirty days and she's out of our lives forever."

I heard giggling and the sound of them kissing, and I turned off the water as quietly as I could while reaching for my towel. I dried off quickly and wrapped myself in the towel before padding silently to the walk-in closet that connected to the bathroom.

I pulled the black lingerie from the bag where I left it and slipped it on while listening to them move around the bedroom. I was just adjusting the straps when Chloe's voice changed from flirtatious to shrill in the span of a single second.

"My Gucci purse!" Chloe screamed at the top of her lungs. "My Givenchy, my Prada, everything is gone! Jason, that bitch stole my things, she's a thief!"

"Chloe, calm down," Jason urged while his voice took on that patronizing tone men use when they think women are being hysterical. "I'm sure there's an explanation."

"An explanation?" Chloe shrieked. "She came in here and took all my designer bags, my shoes, my jewelry, everything I own!"

"Wait, I hear something in the bathroom," Jason interrupted. "I think she's still in there."

Footsteps rushed toward the bathroom door and then Chloe started pounding on it with her fists.

"Come out you thief!" Chloe screamed while banging hard enough to rattle the hinges. "You daughter of a bitch, how dare you come in here and take my stuff!"

The words “daughter of a bitch” hit me like a physical blow and suddenly I wasn't thinking about strategy or revenge anymore. I was thinking about my mother who died when I was younger, she loved me unconditionally before my father married that witch who raised Chloe.

I threw open the bathroom door so hard it slammed against the wall and before Chloe could even register what was happening I slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I had. The sound echoed through the bedroom and Chloe stumbled backward with her hand flying to her cheek.

"How dare you," I stated while advancing on her. "Don't you ever in your miserable life speak about me or my mother like that again."

Chloe stood there with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide with shock, and for once in her life she was completely speechless.

"Mitchelle, how dare you slap her!" Jason roared while stepping between us. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on Chloe!"

I looked at him and laughed, really laughed, because the absurdity of him calling my hands filthy after everything he had done was almost too much to bear.

"You're pathetic," I declared while laughing even harder. "Both of you are absolutely pathetic, and I want you out of my bedroom right now."

"Your bedroom?" Chloe found her voice again while tears started streaming down her face. "This is our bedroom and you have no right to throw us out!"

"I have every right according to the documents your boyfriend signed, I told you earlier. Stop acting dumb, both of you, I hate to repeat myself." I reminded her.

I let the my robe slide off my shoulders and pool at my feet, and suddenly I was standing there in nothing but the black lingerie that left almost nothing to the imagination. Chloe's tears stopped immediately and her face went from hurt to furious in the time it took her to register what I was wearing.

"Get out," I commanded while pointing at the door. "Both of you, get out of my bedroom and shut the door behind you when you leave."

Chloe turned toward the door with her fists clenched at her sides, but then she noticed Jason wasn't moving. She followed his gaze and saw exactly what had his attention frozen, saw the unmistakable bulge in his pants that proved he was more interested in what I was wearing than comforting his pregnant mistress.

"Are you serious right now?" Chloe demanded while looking between Jason's face and his obvious erection. "So you still have a thing for her, really Jason, really?"

"Chloe, it's not what you think," Jason stammered while trying to adjust himself discreetly.

"It's exactly what I think!" Chloe screamed while storming toward the door. "You're disgusting!"

She slammed out of the room with enough force to shake the paintings on the walls, and Jason stood there for another few seconds looking at me like he was trying to reconcile the woman in front of him with the wife he had spent three years ignoring.

"You should go after her," I suggested while picking my robe back up. "Wouldn't want her to think you're choosing me over her."

Jason opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but then he thought better of it and followed Chloe out of the room. I waited until I heard his footsteps fade down the hallway before I allowed myself to smile.

I walked over to the vanity and picked up my phone, and Danika answered before the second ring.

"Right on track," Danika announced with satisfaction dripping from every word.

"How did you know that would work?" I asked while falling back onto the mattress.

"Because men like Jason always want what they can't have," Danika explained. "For three years you begged for his attention and he treated you like furniture, but now that you're confident and untouchable he can't stop thinking about you."

"He had an erection," I admitted while starting to laugh. "Chloe saw it and completely lost her mind."

"Perfect," Danika declared. "Now she's going to spend the rest of the night questioning whether he really loves her, and he's going to spend the rest of the night wondering why he ever let you go."

"I don't want him wondering," I argued. "I want him suffering."

"Trust me, Chelley," Danika insisted. "This is how he suffers, don’t forget girl, tomorrow we get to work."

“Yes…tomorrow we get to work.”