Beranda / The Best Friend's Betrayal / Bab 1 - Bab 9

Semua Bab The Best Friend's Betrayal: Bab 1 - Bab 9

9 Bab

Chapter 1

The plane touched down at nine p.m. on the dot.Perfect timing for a date.I headed straight to Jack's place and rang the bell."Took you long enough."Jack's lazy voice drifted from inside. The moment he opened the door and saw me, every drop of color drained from his face."L-Lane?""What the hell are you doing back?! Weren't you supposed to be out of town?"He stared at me like he'd seen a ghost. I didn't say a word, just let my eyes trail down to the robe he was wearing.A charcoal gray velvet number, the belt tied loose, the V-neck plunging damn near to his navel. And from the looks of it, nothing underneath.I'd gone shopping with him last week. When he bought this thing, he'd grinned and told me, "A guy's gotta have some game, man. This robe is my secret weapon."And now my secret weapon—the one I'd helped him pick out—was about to be used on my wife.I tried to smile. My eyes stung instead.Jack and I had been ride-or-die since we were kids.Seven years old. Some older kids fro

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 2

My father moved fast.I'd barely made it home before the divorce attorney was on the phone, and three gigabytes of evidence hit my inbox. Photos. Hotel records. And a video account I'd never seen before.Eighty-three clips. Every single one featured my wife.I learned that their first kiss happened on my twenty-third birthday. I'd gone upstairs to grab the cake. They were in the living room, going at it like teenagers. The caption on the video Jack posted that day was one word: Thrill.I learned that their first time was during that city-wide blackout. Jack's building was in a rough part of town, and I was worried about him. I drove through the storm, water up to my knees, soaking wet, to check on him.His door was locked.He was in California with Emily. Three days, two nights. Never told me.I stood in the dark, knocking for thirty minutes like an idiot, terrified something had happened to him.Meanwhile, he and Emily were in a hotel suite, having candlelit dinner and their first "re

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 3

Martin nodded.That was all I needed.I pulled out my phone and started making calls.First: my father. Emily's boss. Senior partner. He'd been set to promote her after Labor Day—VP of Marketing, a spot she'd been gunning for three years. Not anymore.Second: Jack's parents. They'd gotten back together, living in New York again. Jack had spent years dreaming about proving himself to them, making them regret throwing him away. I wanted to see their faces when they found out what their son had done.Then Emily's parents. Her cousins. Her whole damn family.I called everyone I could think of.Martin and I drove to Jack's building. I sat in the car for twenty minutes, waiting for them all to show up. And thinking.About the first time Jack met Emily. He was in a navy suit, all attitude. She was in red, all sass. They both told me they couldn't stand each other. Begged me not to force them together.And I believed them.So I played middleman for years. Told Emily how Jack thought she was br

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 4

The elevator was packed. The air was thick with awkward excitement.Jack's parents were still kissing my ass. "Lane, Jack never stops talking about you—says meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to him.""He's right! You've been more of a brother to him than we ever could have been. We can never thank you enough."Emily's parents elbowed their way in. "Lane, don't listen to them. Emily loves you more than anything. That VP promotion—she's been working so hard, and with your father's help, it's finally happening. We're just so grateful you married our daughter."My father stood behind me, one hand resting on my shoulder. I could feel the weight of it, the heat of his barely contained fury.He was holding it together. So was I.But my stomach was on fire. A knot of acid climbing up my throat, burning all the way.Ding.The elevator doors slid open.I walked to Jack's door. The same door I'd knocked on so many times over the years. I pulled out my phone and called him first."

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 5

I pushed the door open slow and quiet. The apartment was dark except for the hazy glow of Manhattan's skyline slipping through the curtains.The bedroom door was closed. Holding secrets.Behind me, the parents were holding their breath. I could feel the tension ratcheting up with every second. I turned, put a finger to my lips, and kicked off my shoes.Barefoot. Quiet as a ghost. I crossed the living room, got to the bedroom door, and turned the knob.Click.I shoved it open. Hit the light switch.Bright, harsh light flooded the room. It hit the bed—and the two bodies tangled up in it.Jack and Emily. Naked. Asleep in each other's arms.The gray robe I'd helped him pick out was crumpled on the floor. Emily's lace underwear was right next to it. A trail of clothes leading from the door to the bed.The air stank of sex. Perfume. Colognes. That sour, heavy smell that makes you want to gag.And me? I didn't feel heartbreak.Just cold. Dead cold. And something else—a terrible, clean satisfa

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 6

But they didn't yell at her. They came straight for me."Lane—Lane, this is a misunderstanding! Please, you have to understand—"Emily's mother was pushing her daughter toward me, forcing her to her knees. "Get over here! Beg him! NOW!"Emily was crying, snot-nosed, scrambling forward. She tripped over her own clothes, fell flat, and crawled to me grabbing my legs, wailing."Lane, baby, I'm sorry! I'm SO sorry! He—he seduced me! Jack did this! I was weak, I was stupid—"She slapped herself. Twice. Hard."I made a mistake. A terrible, horrible mistake. I'll never do it again. PLEASE. Please forgive me."Her parents flanked her, piling on. "Lane, you've been together for years. She's human, she's weak, but she loves you. She's learned her lesson. You have to give her another chance."Then Emily's mom whipped around, spat toward Jack, and sneered: "Look at him—bottom feeder. Garbage. Who does he think he is, touching our daughter?"That did it.Jack's dad ripped his wife away from their s

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 7

I let the memories come. I couldn't stop them."You were seven. Some kids took your glove, pushed you in the mud. You were crying. I chased them off with a bat. And I told you—I said, 'I got you, man. Always.'""Fifteen. Different schools. You called me from the locker room. I grabbed a mop, ran across town, and I fought off a whole football team to get to you. I told you—'Nobody's gonna touch you.'""Seventeen. Junior year. Your parents were gone. You were down to one sandwich a day. You called me crying, said you were done with school. I went home and begged my parents on my knees to pay your way. For two hours. Because I wasn't gonna let you quit."My voice cracked on the last word. I steadied myself."And my wedding. I walked through the crowd and handed you that bouquet myself."I stepped closer. Tears streaming now."When you yelled in my ear that you wanted me to be happy forever... was that a lie too?"Jack crumbled.He dropped to his knees, sobbing so hard he couldn't breathe.

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 8

I called Martin as soon as I hit the street."Draw up the divorce agreement. She walks away with nothing. And start a recovery team—every cent they took from me, I want back."I'm a Sheffield. We don't lose.The reckoning came faster than I expected.Emily's office knew within hours. The looks, the whispers, the snide comments in the hallway. The promotion vanished. Two days later, she got the termination letter.My father made sure of it. He burned every bridge she had in this city. Emily's career in finance was done.Jack didn't last much longer. The bank president was my dad's golf buddy. One call, and Jack was out the door. His apartment was repossessed. His stuff was dumped on the curb.He went back to his parents. They fought constantly. They blamed each other. They blamed him. He couldn't take it—packed a bag and went back to the Midwest, where he swore he'd never set foot again.Last I heard, he was working at an auto shop, scraping minimum wage.Emily didn't go quietly. She sh

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 9

We divorced. She left.And I was free. But I was hollowed out.I needed to get away. Everywhere in New York—the café downstairs, the jewelry store, the pizza place Jack used to love, the beach restaurant where Emily and I went after the engagement—every corner of the city had their fingerprints on it.So I packed a bag and went to Europe.First stop: Iceland.The air hit me like a slap when I landed. Cold as hell. I stood in Reykjavík, staring at the gray-blue Atlantic, the low sheet of winter sky—and I cried.Not from pain.From relief.The weight of three years—six years—twenty years of carrying people who didn't deserve me—it just... lifted.I stayed ten days. Saw volcanoes. Glaciers. The aurora. Turned my phone to silent and ignored every ping from back home.Then I moved on. Norway. Switzerland. Italy. Spain.City after city. One bag. No plan. Just places I'd never been, full of strangers who didn't know my story.And I realized: when you cut dead weight, the world gets bigger. Th

Baca selengkapnya

Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi