Triple Decker

Laura

Anniversaries were meant to celebrate marriage milestones— not mayhem wrapped in diamond rings.

I stood in the golden-lit ballroom of the most opulent villa in Lotus City, but it felt like sitting in the sun: scorching, endless, with my sanity ripping apart, piece by piece.

The lights burned into my skin, the floor trembling beneath my feet, and the ventilator's hum stung like an arctic blast.

And then he spoke, “A paper has no soul, Laura. That's why I never felt a damn thing.” he paused, his gaze calculating. “You filled the void in her place, nothing more!”

My chest tightened, every word twisting my chest like a merciless blade.

Yes, he was right; a paper has no soul. But after a one-year contract marriage, the agreement morphed into something more soulful than ink on paper, blooming into three years of real marriage, built on honesty, peace and maybe… love.

And then, just one night everything fell apart.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my hand resting on my belly. “This is just a nightmare, Laura. He wouldn't dare do this to us.”

My hope shattered as his bass came through. “We started as a contract, we should have ended a contract. But no…”

He shook his head, huffing a forced laugh. “You chose to play grandfather’s puppet, following his lead, and trying your luck with a man's heart who refused to love you.”

“Look around you, sweetheart. Where's your puppeteer?” Taking a mocking glance, he continued. “Nowhere! Oh, I know. In a cancer center, awaiting his last days, while you suffer the consequences of your greedy desires.”

My nerves went alight, magma brimming in my gut, and rising up my chest.

From the way I'm seething, I know this rage isn't healthy, but if I'm to explode, one thing's for sure— they're f**king going down with me.

He grabbed the homewrecker by her arms, tugging her to himself with a lover's pride.

My fists snapped into tight knots, fire curling beneath my palm as he spoke, “You thought I loved you?”

He scoffed. “I have standards, Laura, and you aren't one of them.”

“She's always been the one. My better half. The bane of my existence and most importantly,” he smiled at the demoness, his dimples popping out in admiration.

The pain tore through me, welling up tears in my eyes.

He never smiled that broadly for me. He never showed me his dimples. Christ! I've been really blind. I never knew him. I never…

My eyes drifted to the homewrecker, radiating delight with a hand circling her stomach, and the anniversary ring made for me glinting on her fingers.

Blood sister, my foot! All I could see was a parasite feeding on other people's happiness.

He pulled her into a deep kiss, her hands tightening around his neck and gripping her waist as if she were fragile glass.

The display burned like acid, searing me from the inside out.

He never kissed me like that.

He pulled back, both their lips swollen from the kiss, before uttering the bomb. “The mother of my unborn child.”

My breath whooshed out, fire raining in my lungs. My hands moved on autopilot and landed with a deafening bang.

I didn't know the target, until a high-pitched wail confirmed I'd smacked the she-devil’s face.

“You were supposed to be my sister, not whoring around with my husband,” I choked out, tears sliding down my cheek.

Disgust steered my hand, driving it to the same spot. “How could you?!”

She yelped, cheeks burning red, as she fell into his chest.

His gaze twisted, fire and ice burning in his eyes; with trembling lips he turned to her. “Hey, look at me, I'm sorry—”

“She shrugged him off, going feral. “How dare you raise your hand to me, you rabid?. I didn't put a collar around his neck and shove his d**k into my p***y. He did it himself!”

She seethed, chest heaving. “He came to me every night, begging me to let him in, taking out his frustration of years on me. You were never enough; he never loved you, it's always been me. I’ve had to cope with that… not anymore.”

My ribs shattered, the bones dipping into my gut and slicing into spleen.

I staggered with a hand to my mouth and turned to him. Words stood on my lips but never saw the light.

She betrayed me, but he killed my soul, and I'm confident that this scar won't heal. Not in this lifetime. No.

She tugged at his sleeve, face tight. “Don't just stand there, do something.”

He moved toward me, something flickering in his eyes, fast and dead. Then—

Bang!

I tumbled backward, fire licking at my skin; the betrayal burned deeper.

He'd never raised his hands to me, or any woman I could think of, now he struck me with such disdain.

The hole expanded in my chest.

Aaron Kai - My husband, Lotus City mogul… now a puppet for a mistress, not just any mistress but my sister.

I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat, but it refused to go down.

“Tyga, it's time,” she said, voice dipped in venom, and he replied with a satisfied smile. “Sorry, baby, I almost forgot.”

He rummaged through his jacket, producing a file and the same pen I'd used to sign our marriage certificate.

“Sign it!” His voice was final.

My mom was a lawyer and I recognized that file instantly.

Terror zipped through me, bile rising up my throat, but I couldn't act vulnerable.

“So I help you climb to the top, and you leave me rotting below,” I said, voice deadly. “No, it's for better or worse, you signed up for it.”

His jaw ticked, fists clenched at his sides.

“I’ve never experienced a father's love. My babies won't suffer the same fate.” I stepped further, shoving the file into his chest. “I won't sign it. Not until grandpa tells me to.”

I spun, but he grabbed my wrist, his grip steely like his eyes. “You'll end it here and now. Pick up the pen and sign the damn papers.” His hold tightened. “I'll hate to assault that face a second time.”

No, no, god! This wasn't happening, please.

As wounded as I was, I was ready to move on and call this a mistake, if only he would apologize.

I sucked a deep breath, the dam in me threatening to break.

“Like I said, I won't sign anything, not until—”

Copper exploded in my mouth, the slap burning my cheek, as I tumbled halfway across the room.

“Sign the divorce papers, get rid of those things in your stomach and get the hell outta of my house!”

The words stabbed me in the gut, and I slapped him hard across the face, the sound profound like my wounded heart.

“How dare you call our children things!” I grabbed his collar, rage fanning my nerves. “You weren't stone cold! What changed?”

A shove shifted my being in reply, and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor, a heavy weight smoldering in my belly.

Iron reeked through the air, and I died a million times as I caught my reflection in the mirror.

“No, no, not you,” I cried, chanting like a mantra, but the deed had already been done.

Warmth engulfed me, horror churning in my stomach, as I grabbed my red blooming dress.

Blue eyes stared at the mirror, tensing for a second, before a shadow fell upon them.

“You see? That's fate's way of keeping us apart,” he deadpanned, and my heart died again. “Sign it.”

Hate ambushed my soul like a tyrant, blackening all lights in its part and sentencing my emotions to death. I let it consume me like a black hole until I'm dark inside out.

My eyes whipped to hazel ones, gleaming with venomous pride as she typed into her phone.

My phone chimed; with trembling hands I entered the message and my blood ran cold.

“I knew the poison worked magic, but damn! Dress bloody. Face pale. God! Did you see your face? You'd make a fine actress. Now, leave us alone else, there won't be anything left of you.”

My vision burned black.

I've been drinking the poison she'd been brimming right under my nose. I killed my baby with my own hands.

With shaky hands, I snatched the papers from him and slammed my signature on it.

I broke the pen, heat flushing through my bones. “You demons. Mark my words. You'll pay for this.”

I stormed out of the hall, heels hammering on the marble floor.

.

.

.

.

I fixed my gaze on the floor, avoiding every pair of eyes as the whispers grew louder with every step.

Suddenly, a harsh light flashed in my face, blinding and hot as a car horn blared, vibrated through my skull.

My heart pounded.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact.

But it never came.

“Have you lost your mind, princess? F**k off the road!”

A masculine voice shouted from behind me, his footsteps drawing closer.

I turned.

His deep blue eyes locked onto mine, and his jet black hair hung over his shoulders, accentuating his perfectly tailored suit. The scent of lavender filled the air, the moonlight making him look sinisterly hot.

“Your nose, You're bleeding!”

My vision blurred and I slumped into his arms.

I tried to run, but my body betrayed me. His arms wrapped around me like iron bars, and I wasn't sure I wanted to escape.

“Don't die, Cute Bug.”

Was the last thing I heard, before the darkness took me.