جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 5

Lavanda They say once a cheater, always a cheater. I believe in second chances. I stayed back to prove them wrong.I scribble the word _CHEAT_ on my husband's desk. Red lines slash across his documents. Then I slip back to my desk.Watching. Waiting for him to walk in. I pick up my phone and send him a message: Happy anniversary, Desmond.I imagine his facial expression. He was good with words but bad at hiding emotions.It ticks double blue. He's online. That's a good sign. I pretend to work on my laptop until I hear his door slam shut. I put my ear to the wall. I don't hear screams.I stand and snoop toward the corridor. His secretary isn't at her seat. Alvarez Software Company was one of the first in the tech industry and the market. I build software and my husband protects them. Except now, what I do is mostly paperwork.I check my watch again. She's supposed to take the contract from him now. Unless... I grab my phone and bag and head straight for his office

Lavanda I wanted an end. A quiet, dignified ending. But years of being treated like the problem hardened me. I pick up my phone. My decision is clear. Only one way out. I dial Red. "Hello?" His voice, warm and familiar, curls through the receiver. "It's me, Lavanda." "Lavanda..." His tone lifts, bubbling with excitement. "It's been a long time." "Send me whatever pictures or videos you have," I say. I know he has something. A pause. "Why do you need them?" he asks. "Red, do you want your money or not?" "Sorry," he mutters before ending the call. I take a breath. Freedom has a taste. Sharp and dangerous. And I want it. Red wasn't just my investigator. He was Desmond's old friend, a relentless flirt, a man who tried again and again to bed me. I always said no, clinging to the foolish idea that I was married. When Desmond traveled to Paris on one of his "suspicious" trips, I hired Red to follow him. To catch him. To strip away every lie. Now, Paris would become my salva

Lavanda I wonder if anyone is asking about my whereabouts. I hardly take a day off at work. The maids pack the dishes from the table. My stomach lurches. I haven't eaten. I sneak off to the kitchen. I pull the door handle. It doesn't budge. I try again. Nothing. I'm about to pounce on it when I hear the jingling of keys. "Are you hungry, sister?" Her cruel smile fills her stupid face. I curl my nails. She's doing this on purpose. "Do you want this?" Her red nails play with the keys.Three painted in gold. The other steel. That's the one I need. "Can you see how much your beloved husband wants me?" I dig my nails deeper. My stepsister was always the planner. "I only see an unloved bastard," I spit, noticing her red hair packed into a simple bun. "Playing the submissive wife already, sister?" She fumes. "You never shared your toys with me. And now I have what belongs to you." I laugh coldly. "He loves you because of that thing in your womb. Not you." "Then why did h