Chapter 3

Nicole couldn’t believe that she had heard those words from Ashley. Suddenly, fear was all over her.

It was clear that he was mad. Ashley couldn’t accept the fact that she no longer wanted to be with him. For the past couple of months, her world was him. But their situation had changed. No matter how much love she had for the man, her conscience wouldn’t be able to take the fact that she was going to ruin a family.

So, as early as now, she should be firm with her decision of disassociating Ashley in her life.

In fact, he had no right to be angry at her. If there was someone who should be angry, that was her. He was the one who deceived her and not the other way around.

“Hey, don’t mind him. He already lost his mind,” Marie said which brought her back to her sanity.

Nicole was unable to control herself. Earlier, she was looking tough but all of a sudden, she broke down in tears.

She thought that she could hold these for long but just seeing her best friend made her cry. She felt her best friend’s hug. Finally, she cried and let out all the emotions she had inside her heart.

She was just in that position until she felt her best friend’s hand rubbing her back. Nicole couldn’t imagine herself without Marge in her life. At the darkest moment of her life, the woman was always there for her. She was like a sister to her. A sister that she never had. For her, Marge was her sister from another mother.

“Shhh… It’s going to be okay. I am just here and don’t worry, soon, you will move on. All of these shall pass. You will find the right man for you. The man that God has perfectly made for you alone,” her best friend said to calm her down.

“M--- Marge, can I stay here? J--- just for a while,” she asked her best friend even if she was ashamed. Leaving Ashley meant that she had nowhere to go. But she could take that more than to be his mistress forever. There’s no way that she would be enjoying everything that the man was giving her and in exchange that was her dignity and her conscience. Until now, she couldn’t think of any reason how Ashley was able to hide everything to her for the longest time. If it wasn’t for the photo that she had seen, she would never have an idea that Ashley was cheating on her.

He was always there for her. He never made her feel unloved. Ashley was always with her and never missed any special occasion so how could she think that he was already married.

“Of course. You can stay here as long as you want.”

“Thank you, Marge. I am sorry---”

“Hey, don’t say sorry. What are friends for?” Marge said as she cut her off in the middle of her sentence.

Nicole couldn’t help but smile. At least, she had someone like Marge in her life.

They hugged each other and then she stood up. She walked and headed to the room she used to occupy in that house.

As soon as she got inside, she felt like she was at home. Though the room she was occupying along with Ashley in his house was bigger compared to this room. It was spacious. She could put everything she bought there. It felt like she was the luckiest woman on earth until she found out the truth. The truth that she was the other woman.

She shook her head. She became someone that she hated and that was because she became gullible. Nicole hated herself. She was smart and yet Ashley was able to deceive her so easily. Maybe, she just wanted someone to love her and she found that kind of affection from the man. Ashley made her feel so special and gave everything that she wanted and everything that she needed. Even before she could even ask for it, Ashley would give anything that she laid her eyes into.

Nicole took a deep breath and then she went to the bed and laid down. Her back was facing the ceiling and then her vision became blurry again. She couldn’t help but feel the pain. It was as if there were needles being buried inside her chest. She couldn’t fake it. She was hurt. She had loved Ashley with all her heart and the betrayal she had experienced from the man brought a pain in her being that she couldn’t describe.

In spite of the pain that she had, Nicole felt like she was still a hero because of being able to save a broken family. A family that was about to get broken because of her. If Ashley would have a relationship with another woman, she was no longer at fault. At least, she had made a decision and cut everything that connected her and Ashley.

For her everything already ended. A period had been placed to this chapter of her life.

Suddenly, she felt like she could hardly breathe. She was getting suffocated because of her stuffy nose.

Nicole quickly stood up and then headed to the washroom. Thankfully, her bedroom had it’s own bathroom. She opened the shower room and then put her body underneath the running water. She let the water flow down her body. Just like how her tears continuously dripped down from her eyes.

She thought that she was tough but after all, she was just a human. And, it was normal for her to feel the pain of Ashley’s disloyalty.

She turned off the shower when she felt like she was shivering because of the coldness of the water. She stepped out of the bedroom. And as soon as she got out, she heard there were people talking in the living room.

“Marge, who’s with you?” She said and she was shocked to see the woman who was sitting with Margie on the couch.

“Oh, Nicole,” the woman greeted her.

“Gosh, Marietta. When did you arrive?” She asked, full of surprise. She had no idea that another friend would be there for her tonight. Though she was not sure if Marge already told her about her situation.

Nicole didn’t want to be pitied by the people around her. She knew that she would be able to get everything through. Though she was just a human, and the wound was still fresh. She was still hurting and that was something that she couldn’t help.

“Just yesterday. But before any further questions, why don’t you get dressed and let’s have a party. Since we are complete. It’s all on me,” her friend said with a smile from ear to ear while Marge started to push her back to her bedroom.

Marietta and Marge were twins. They were her best friends. Everything about her life was like an open Diary to the twins.

It didn’t take long, and she found herself along with the twins heading to the nearest club to dance their hearts out.

It was as if nothing had happened to her at all. It was like just a normal club night for the three of them.

She felt like it was just fine since she had to divert her attention. She didn’t want to spend her whole night thinking about her situation.

And because she was heart-broken, she made herself busy drinking. She was drowning herself from alcohol. She drank one after the other as if there was no longer a tomorrow for her.

“Hey, girl. What are you doing? Are you alright?”

“Don’t mine her. She will be fine,” Marge answered the question of her twin sister instead.

Marietta’s eyebrows were drawn together as if she was wondering what exactly was happening to her.

“Alright, come on, let’s dance,” Marietta pulled her sister instead to the dance floor.

Nicole was just looking at the twins while she was drinking another glass of wine. She was thankful that Marietta didn’t ask any other question.

But before she could put her glass down, her attention was caught by the man who was standing in front of her.

Fear suddenly spiked inside her chest. She could see the bloodshot in his eyes. How she wished that the ground would open and just eat her up.

“Okay, so, this is what you want to do Ni---” but before Ashley could even finish his words, she ran away. She ran as fast as she could as if she was running for her life. Ashley failed to reach her. She went inside of a car when she saw the man opening the driver’s seat.

She quickly hid on the backside of the car and silently wished that Ashley didn’t see her at all. The sound of the closing door brought her back to her senses. Though she could still feel her heart hammering inside her.

It was as if there were butterflies inside her stomach.

“If you are looking for the man, he just left. Now, can you leave my car?” The man said in a domineering tone which made her lift her head.

But Nicole ignored his attitude.

“No, please. I cannot. Don’t let me out of your car,” she said in a low voice still scared that Ashley would hear her. She was thinking of leaving the bar but she didn't have a single cent with her and her phone was not even with her. “Can you just ask anything in exchange for this? Just don’t let me out of this place, please?”

She saw the man smirking after hearing what she had said.

“Seriously? Anything?” He said full of amusement. It was like he couldn’t believe that she said those words to him. She was in a desperate situation.

Nicole couldn’t imagine what Ashley could do to her.

“Are you game if I say that I want you to be in bed with me in exchange for letting you inside my car and escape the man who’s after you?” The man asked again.

Nicole swallowed a lump of her throat. She didn’t know if the man was serious. She couldn’t figure out if it was right that she was inside the man’s car and asking for his help to be away from the place.

But before she could even know the answer to her questions, Nicole found herself nodding.

“Ye--- yes, I said anything. I promise to do whatever you want me to do,” she said as she realized how desperate her situation was.

Andrew was surprised when he saw the woman suddenly got inside of his car. He wasn’t able to speak yet when he saw that there was a man after her. He was there at the club and having a good time with his employees. He just left them before he could get himself totally drunk. If that happened, he couldn’t drive himself back to the mansion which he couldn’t allow to happen.

He promised his grandmother that he was going to sleep at the mansion tonight and that he would be joining her for breakfast tomorrow.

But he couldn’t understand what on earth he was doing and he was listening to the woman’s request. He was dumbfounded when he heard her answer. She was willing to do everything that he wanted. All he had to do was just to let her inside his car.

Then, as if there was a light bulb lit inside his head, an idea came through his head. He turned his head in front of the car and then started the engine. He drove away from the place.

Just after a few minutes of driving, he stopped the car.

“Where are we?” The woman asked, full of wonder in her voice.

“Does it matter to you where we are? Do you remember that you promise that you will do anything I ask you to do? It’s time for you to honor your words.”