I had followed him.
Women’s intuition was wholeheartedly a powerful emotion. It overcame me, and before I knew what I was doing, I was watching him get out of his car and into another woman’s arms. I watched them all morning.
Tears burned the back of my eyes.
Why?
Where had we gone wrong?
Since when did the safe choice turn into your worst nightmare?
“Eden?” Tristian called down the hall.
I took a deep breath, replying, “Your office.”
Footsteps sounded. I blinked, and he was standing there, filling up the doorway.
The man who used to be my best friend.
The man who had said he’d love me in sickness and in health.
The man who had claimed to be the better choice.
The man who had promised never to let me go.
The man who had hated the person his brother had to become for The Family.
The man who no longer had my heart.
The man who had singlehandedly crushed my soul.
“Why are you in my office?” He braced his hands against the door frame, his biceps visible through the black button-down shirt. His black slacks were tight against his thickly corded thighs.
He’d been working out a lot too.
I should have known. All the signs were there. I saw it with my own two eyes.
“Why am I in your office?” I repeated in a condescending tone. “I sent Naz to my dad’s for a sleepover.”
He scoffed. “Still doesn’t tell me why you’re in my chair.”
“A question for a question?”
From the moment I learned the truth of what he was doing, it felt like I never existed in his life; it was as if my memories of him, of us, were just a figment of my imagination.
Our connection.
Our family.
Our love.
Meant nothing to him in the end.
The man who had wanted me.
Who had been raised with me.
Protected me against all else.
Cheated on me.
Two wrongs didn’t make a right, but in that exact moment, I left behind the woman he married.
She was gone, and I had no idea where she was anymore, or if she truly ever existed to begin with. I’d once thought she would be with him forever. Tristian looked at me in the same way he always had. Bringing back hope and fear like she was still there…
Living.
Breathing.
Lurking under all that resentment.
Waiting to be brought back to life after his betrayal.
He looked at me like nothing had changed between us.
When in my reality, everything had.
I had to keep reminding myself of the way he’d treated me; otherwise, I’d fall for his words, and then what?
More lies?
More pain?
More bullshit that would never end.
It was a vicious cycle we were spinning in.
He still looked at me like I was his whole fucking world, while I stared back at a man who had become nothing but a stranger now.
It was all overwhelming.
More than anything, it was undeniably confusing.
I couldn’t decipher what was the truth and what was more lies anymore. He would say anything to get what he wanted.
Me.
I had to stay strong.
No matter what.
We. Were. Done.
He cursed. “Really, Eden? It’s been a fucking long day, and you’re sitting there trying to flirt? Can we talk tomorrow—”
“I saw you. At your office. With her.”
His face paled. “What?”
“The woman who wears the same perfume you got me for our anniversary last year. I saw her. Kissing you. I saw you stripping her. I saw you…” Tears filled my eyes. “Fucking her like any good cheater does to his mistress.”
“Eden, listen—”
“NO!” I jumped to my feet. “You listen! I gave you everything, and you cheat? What the hell, Tristian—”
He burst out laughing and clapped his hands. “Wow, I should pay you for your performance. Everything? You? Are you fucking kidding me right now? Is this a joke? You came to our marriage bed fresh after fucking my brother!”
“That was years ago, and I apologized again and again. I’d been drinking and—”
“Nice.” He held up his hands. “Whatever, I’m going to bed—”
I finally snapped. “I’m leaving you.”
He froze halfway to the door, still turned away from me.
“I can’t be with you if you’re cheating. I won’t. I’m better than that. Naz deserves better than this. You’re never home; you’re literally fucking a woman under my nose. I can’t. I won’t.”
He turned to face me, lips twisted in a snarl, fists clenched. Rage evident on his handsome face. “You think I’ll actually let you go? After all of this?”
“You think you actually have me still?” I hissed, ready for a war.
He barked out a laugh. “I’ve always had you, and I’m fucking keeping you. You’re just tired. Go and—”
“No.” I grit my teeth. “I’m taking Naz, and I’m leaving.”
His nostrils flared, and he was in my face before I got the last word out. “Like hell, I would ever let you take my son from me!”
Maybe I’d been pushed too far.
Maybe I was just exhausted.
Hurt.
Done.
But I finally spoke the truth, yelling, “He’s not your son!”