_______________..."This seems like a very bad idea!" Ashton murmured as we got out of the car."Are you kidding me?" Kevin grinned. "I always wanted to beat up Trent Martin!"I gave both of them a look and then turned to Eric, who had been silent the entire ride."What crawled up your ass?" I asked as I walked over to his side and slapped his shoulder.He looked over at me with a look that I could not completely comprehend. But his words were crystal clear."Rory never liked to talk about Trent, Rowan. You could very well be opening up really old wounds. Deep ones.""She will never know we were here. But she doesn't know can't hurt her." I said with conviction.I had thought this through, of course. After I had that conversation with Rory, I felt like an idiot.Everything that went wrong in our relationship was because of that one misunderstanding. I was not going to dust it off and pretend to be innocent. No, I had fucked up really badly as well. But I supposed that things would h
________________________...My eyes twitched as I waited for my husband to get home. The rest of the boys had come home and Zoe had gone home with Kevin. Eric and Ashton had lingered for a while before I finally got tired of them and kicked them out of the apartment. But I knew that Ashton was at Eric's apartment, the two of them ready to intervene if something happened. They really seemed like they expected me actually to backhand my own husband. Men were so dramatic. "Rowan not back yet?" Gabby walked out of her room with her phone and an empty jug. "He said he is with Frank and Frank confirmed." I shrugged. "But I wonder what they are so busy discussing." "Huh."Something about that tone did not settle well with me."What?""Nothing." Her reply was sing-song. "Talk to him."For some reason, I felt as if my sister was scurrying back to her room to safety.I sighed.It sucked to not have any memories of the past years. If only there was a way to save it.Huh... Of course there
______________________...Ki woke up in the dead of the night. I stumbled out of bed and onto the nursery, but Gabby had beat me to it. She was cooing to her niece, saying sweet nothings. "I want you to be at your best behavior now, Ki." She murmured. "Your Mommy is going through a terrible time." I remembered how Gabby said that she would always be on my side no matter what happened. I wonder why she would then hide the truth from me like the rest of them. The same I needed to ask of my mother, my father, and all my other friends. I hoped they all had some reason that I could learn to forgive because right now, I couldn't help but despise all of them the same way I despised Rowan. But I did not want to do that to them. I did not want to push away everyone I ever loved even though that's what my brain was telling me to do. I sighed and left, not wanting to disturb the niece and aunt's time. Also, because I was exhausted from everything I had learned today....A week had pass
_________________________ . . . "Rory, do you even hear her?" Sonya yelled as she came down the stairs, stomping her thigh-high boots. I looked up from my laptop and lifted my hands, shrugging. "I didn't. What's going on?" I asked as I closed my laptop and got up from the living room couch. "She's being disgusting. That's what! I am sixteen years old. What does she take me for?" Sonya came to a stop in front of me and pointed at the stairs where I saw no glimpse of her mother. I knew better than to listen to a sixteen-year-old's one side story so I waited for her mother and my mother-in-law, Elizabeth Keller, to come down the stairs. "What's going on, Beth?" I asked her, a small smile playing on my lips. Teens and their mothers made up for some fascinating drama, and I missed that experience with my mother because I was in a boarding school on another continent, but watching Elizabeth and Sonya fight over the smallest things was very endearing. "You need to come upstairs and
~2 years ago~"This is such great news!" Bianca Stanley, my best friend, squealed as she jumped around in our apartment. I rolled my eyes, sitting back on the couch and resuming the movie I was watching."I know." I smiled. "Dad finally thinks I am ready to face the world."Bianca stopped hopping around and looked at me with a wide smile on her face and pride in her eyes. "My baby is all grown up." She sniffed dramatically as she wiped away invisible tears making me roll my eyes. "You make Momma hen so proud.""All right drama hen. Sit down!" I patted the spot next to me on the couch. She sat down excitedly and gave me a side hug, not failing to rearrange a few bones in the process. She had too much strength that she wasn't aware of."We will go clubbing!" She exclaimed. "I will inform all our friends and we will go clubbing to celebrate you finally getting the job that you wanted in your dream company."She was already on her phone as she spoke and I knew better than to try to talk h
_________________________...~The present~"I want a divorce.""What?" "Is there any connection problem, Rowan? Did you not hear me clearly? Should I text you instead?" I sass, rolling my eyes. "I think there is, Aurora. Because you clearly could not have just said what I think you did." Obviously, what I said must have gotten rid of all of his sleep because his voice is clear and alert now."Try listening more carefully now Rowan. I said I want a divorce." "Excuse me?" The indignancy in his voice makes me almost want to snort. He is reacting as if he did not see that coming despite his actions."You heard what I said, Rowan." I roll my eyes again as I take the turn to our penthouse. "I am going into the apartment and packing my bags right now.""We signed a contract!" There is shuffling on the other side and panic in his voice. He cannot get a divorce now, because if he did, then Simon will pull out all the investments he has made for the new project.It is one of the reasons
_________________________...Bianca and Roselyn wanted me to move in with them until I find a place for myself. They said that it is my apartment and Bianca and I used to share the place before my marriage. But I refused, feeling that I should not invade the privacy of the married couple. And also because I may be the landlady but they are tenants who pay their rent on time.My first thought was to stay at a hotel until I found a place, but then I realized – why should I pay to stay somewhere when I have a friend with a uselessly big condo all to himself?Eric is out of town due to a conference but on calling him, he informed the security guard to let me borrow the spare key he had. The idiot asked me to try to clean up the place while I am staying over, but I have a feeling that he was saying that just to lighten the mood.He might be a monkey and a complete womanizer – worse than my ex-husband-to-be – but he is an amazing friend and he knows to respect people, unlike my ex-husban
_______________________...I wake up to twelve missed calls and twenty-nine new messages. Wow, this is probably more than all the calls and messages he has made to me in the last two years.I am contemplating whether to call back and see what he wants or let him worry some more about the fate of his company when the doorbell rings.I stand up from the couch and with my hand wrapped firmly around my phone, make my way to the door, pressing on the security cam button.I raise a brow when I see that it is Joshua Steelman, Rowan's secretary. The dude is so desperate to get in contact with me now that he sent his secretary looking for me huh?I open the door."Joshua." I smile at the middle-aged man but get no smile in return. Like Boss, like secretary!"Mrs. Keller." He addresses me, his lips in a thin line. I have told him one million times that my name is Ms. Lewis, not Mrs. Keller, but the man just does not learn.This dude is a total ass-kisser and does whatever Rowan wants him to.