Chapter-3

JANE

Evening fell and Amber was back. Tonight was Sheena's bachelorette. Josh had already left for Sheeba's husband Christian's bachelor party, while I was getting ready with Amber. 

The whole day, I stayed on her couch, overthinking and crying in self-pity. My mind was full of questions with not a single answer.

Did I overreact? Should I have listened to him? But what could he possibly have to say? He killed my father and didn't even regret it? My father wasn't from the mafia world. What could he have done that he had to kill him? 

Wait! How did they know each other? And Rosario? How did my family come in contact with Rosario? I had never thought about this before.

A flick of a finger in front of my eyes made me snap out of my train of thought, and I realised I had stopped midway while styling my hair.

"You are zoning out. What happened? Did your boyfriend do something? Tell me. Just tell me and I am gonna go and punch him in his face.," Amber shouted, her eyes big and round and her lips pressed in a thin line. 

Suddenly, her expression shifted as if she realised something.

"Wait. We don't even know who your boyfriend is. What's there to hide? Why haven't you told anyone about him?" she was speaking non-stop, forgetting her make-up brush that she threw on the dresser.

"Amber. Amber. Take a deep breath." I raised my palms and gestured to her to calm down. "It's okay. Don't get hyper on behalf of me."

"But…"

"Amber. We broke up, okay? Now, stop. I don't want to talk about it." I forced a small smile while she watched me, dumbfounded.

"What?" She stood up abruptly, pushing her chair back with a loud screech and her shrill voice echoed around the room.

Thank God her kids aren't home. They would have been scared to death.

I rolled my eyes at her and turned to the mirror before picking up the comb.

"Don't overreact, Amber. Just sit down and finish your makeup. We are getting late."

"I am not overreacting." She turned my chair around to face her. "Look at you." She moved her hand from my head to toe. "What type of blind man could dump such a sexy and a beauty like you?"

I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Come on Amber. I am an average girl next door. And he didn't dump me. I dumped him."

I turned back to the mirror and went back to styling my hair, when the doorbell rang, interrupting Amber's next ambush of questions.

She left to open the door, and by the time she was back, I was ready for the party in a silver sequined off-shoulder bodycon, a pair of long rhinestone earrings that touched my shoulders, a messy bun with a few strands of hair framing my face and silver pencil heels. 

Amber walked in, followed by Sofia and Sheena. They were all in different types of silver sequined dresses, except our bride-to-be Sheena, who wore a golden sequined long gown with a thigh-high slit on the side.

"Hey, girls," I greeted, trying to sound enthusiastic but instead sounded like a depressed woman. 

Sofia and Sheena's smiles vanished as soon as I spoke as they frowned.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Sofia asked, like a concerned elder sister or a mother would ask. She had always been like that. She was the mother of our group.

"No. She isn't okay," Amber spoke up before I could answer.

"Amber!" I whispered but she wasn't having it.

"She and her boyfriend broke up on her birthday night. And now she is sulking all day. Can you believe it?"

Both the girls looked at me with their mouths hung open and I let out a defeated sigh.

"Girls. It's okay. Life happens."

"Oh my god. Why didn't you tell us? We could have rescheduled this party," Sheena spoke, walking up to me.

She and Sofia hugged me from both sides and Amber joined. As the four of us were huddled in a hug, I spoke,

"Girls. Please. I am fine. Don't let this spoil the night. And Sheena, what would you have done? Would you rather have your bachelorette after you get married? You have your wedding in a few days, for god sake."

"Doesn't matter. I am already married on paper. And Bachelorette isn't that important. We could have stayed in with you and watched Netflix, had pizza and ice cream and then some alcohol. Best night, isn't it?"

A genuine laugh escaped my lips this time as a warmth spread over me. No matter what, my family and friends would always be with me.

"Okay. Now leave me before I get crushed."

We pulled out of the hug and Sheena looked me up and down.

"You look gorgeous. Who is that crazy man who even thought of dumping you? Look at those boobs." She pointed at my boobs and my eyes widened.

"How could he let these big boobs go?"

I snorted before all of us laughed out loud, doubling over as we clutched our stomachs. We laughed as if everything was alright until my laugh subsided, replaced with a painful squeeze of my heart.

I took a deep breath and smiled as wide as I could, so that tears wouldn't spill out of my eyes. They stopped laughing and watched me in silence.

"Come on. Why does everyone think he dumped me? He can't possibly let these boobs go." I forced out a chuckle. "I broke up. Don't worry about it. I'll be alright."

They still didn't smile.

"What? Don't look at me like that. Do you people want me to cry?"

"Are you sure you're ready for the party? We can still cancel," Sofia spoke.

"No. I am very sure. It'll be a good distraction for me. Now, let's go." I turned and walked out before I could break down. They followed.

Soon, we were outside the building and got into the limo waiting for us. As soon as all of us were seated, I spoke,

"No sulking tonight. We'll enjoy this night like it's the last night of our lives. We can sulk together tomorrow. Promise?" I held out my hand and they placed theirs on top of mine.

"Promise," they spoke in unison.

The limo started rolling as we settled in, ready for the night ahead. 

I had told Mom that I had to go out of the city urgently, to meet a client and couldn't come home. So, she packed a few pairs of clothes, toiletries and other necessities for me and sent them to me.

I had decided to stay at Sheena's penthouse for a few days, which happened to be in the same building where Amber lived. No one lived there right now and Sheena said I could stay as long as I wanted.

We didn't take our bodyguards with us tonight as we wanted to enjoy the night in privacy. We had

to try very hard for their husbands to agree, because of the threat looming over us.

Rosario.