All Chapters of My Best friend's Brother : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Sloane was at her desk when the receptionist buzzed."There's someone here to see you," she said. "A man. He says his name is Ashton."Sloane's heart stopped.She hadn't seen him since that night. Hadn't spoken to him. Hadn't even known his name until he'd left the note on the nightstand. She'd spent the past week trying to convince herself it had been a mistake. A one-night thing. Something she could bury and forget.She should tell the receptionist she wasn't available. Should hide in her office until he left.Instead, she said, "Send him in."****He walked through the door like he owned the building.Dark jeans. White shirt. His hair was messy, like he'd been running his hands through it. He held a coffee cup in each hand.Then he set one on her desk. "I didn't know if you liked sugar."She stared at him. "How did you find me?""You told me your name. And I found your work online." He shrugged. "Wasn't hard.""You shouldn't be here.""I know.""I could call security.""You could."

Sloane drove home in a daze.The city passed by in a blur. She didn't see the buildings. Didn't see the people. Didn't see anything except Ashton's face. The way he'd looked at her. The way he'd said he'd wait.She pulled into her driveway and sat in the car. Her hands were shaking. She didn't want to go inside. Didn't want to face James. Didn't want to pretend everything was normal.But she had to.The house was quiet. Too quiet. She walked through the door. The living room was empty. The kitchen was clean. No bottles. No mess.She walked upstairs. The bedroom door was open. James was sitting on the bed. Waiting.He looked up when she walked in. His eyes were red. He'd been crying."Where were you?" he asked. His voice was calm. Too calm.She didn't answer.He stood up. Walked toward her. "I called you. Ten times.""I know.""Where were you?"She looked at him. At his eyes. At the man she'd married."I was with someone," she said.The words hung in the air. Heavy. Final.He stared at

Sloane woke up to an empty house. James had already left for work. The coffee pot was cold. No note. No apology. Just silence.She sat at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of tea she didn't want. The text from Ashton was still on her phone. She'd read it a dozen times. "I saw you today. You looked beautiful."She should delete it. Should block his number. Should forget he existed.She didn't. Instead, she finished her tea. Got dressed. Went to work.~~~The office was quiet. Mondays always were.She sat at her desk, staring at her computer screen. Spreadsheets. Emails. Reports. She went through the motions. Answered questions. Attended meetings. Pretended everything was fine.No one noticed anything was wrong. She was good at pretending.At lunch, she sat alone in the break room. Picked at a sandwich. Scrolled through her phone.Another text from Ashton."How are you?"She stared at the screen. Her heart was pounding."I'm fine."Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again."Liar.

Sloane woke up to sunlight streaming through thin curtains.For a moment, she didn't know where she was. Then she remembered. The motel. The fight. The words James had thrown at her like knives.She sat up. Her head was pounding. She hadn't slept well. The bed was too hard. The walls were too thin and the silence too loud.She reached for her phone. Three missed calls from James. Two from Lucy. A text from Mason.She didn't respond to any of them. She got up. Showered. Dressed in yesterday's clothes. Walked to the motel office and paid for another night.She had nowhere else to go.**She spent the morning walking.The town was small and quiet. The kind of place where everyone knew everyone. She passed a bakery. A library. A small park with a single bench.She sat on the bench. Watched the people. The mothers with strollers. The old men playing chess. The teenagers, laughing.Normal lives. Normal problems. She wanted to be one of them.Then her phone buzzed. It was a text from Ashton.

The coffee shop was quiet and almost empty with a few students in the corner. An old man reading a newspaper. The barista wiping down the counter.Sloane sat at a table near the window. Her hands were wrapped around a mug of tea she hadn't touched. It had gone cold twenty minutes ago.She'd arrived early. Too early. She'd wanted to be here first. Wanted to watch him walk in. Wanted to be prepared.She wasn't prepared.The door opened. He walked in. Tall. Dark hair. His eyes found her immediately.He didn't smile. Didn't try to charm her. Just walked over and sat down across from her."You wanted to talk," he said.She looked at him. At his eyes. At the way he was watching her. Waiting."About Tasha," she said.He nodded slowly. "What did she tell you?""That you used her. That you hurt her. That you're dangerous."He didn't deny it. Didn't flinch. Just sat there."She's right," he said.Sloane stared at him. "You're not going to defend yourself?""No." He leaned forward. "I was young.