Page 261 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

Anna hung her head and tears spilled over onto her cheeks. Jack spoke the truth. She didn’t want to look at Ben. She didn’t want to see the disgust on his face. Imagining it had been terrible enough.

Ben growled. “Haven’t you done enough to her? Why are you saying those things?”

“Because they’re true.” Jack shrugged. “Tell him, Anna.” He kissed Anna’s ear. “Tell him how you kneeled between my legs on Friday and sucked me off so good I almost screamed.” Jack looked at Ben with raised brows. “Please tell me you’ve experienced one of her incredible blowjobs. Doesn’t she have the most amazing mouth?” He tipped her head up and traced her lips with his finger. “I taught her everything she knows.”

Anna jerked her head away and glanced at Ben before looking down at her hands. Ben’s face was contorted with anger and repulsion.

“Anna, tell me what he said isn’t true. Tell me he’s lying.”

She couldn’t bear to look up. The tears continued to stream down her cheeks. “It’s all true.” Her shoulders slumped under the weight of her confession.

“You told me you were spending time with a family friend on Fridays.”

She gave a tiny shrug. “Devin is a family friend. He knew my parents. I’ve known him my whole life.”

Jack laughed. “She just spends time with him and a hundred of his friends. And she fucks most of them.”

Anna winced and closed her eyes. Her hands were clenched so tightly in her lap her arms were beginning to ache.

Jack chuckled and stood. “Enjoy your evening. I think I’ll call Devin. He’ll get a kick out of this.” He strolled away, laughing.

“I’m so sorry, Ben,” she whispered, daring to open her eyes and look up at him.

He stared at the wall behind her for a long time. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” His eyes finally met hers, filled with a hardness she had never seen before. “You go off on Friday nights and fuck other men?”

Her mouth moved, trying to form words. “I don’t do it because I want to...” She pressed her lips together. Her heart felt as if it had been torn to shreds by wild animals. He was so right to be furious.

“You’ve been doing it the whole time we’ve been together?”

She looked at her hands in her lap. “I have to. Devin... punishes me if I disobey him.”

His brow twitched. “Punishes you? How?”

“He . . . hurts me . . . however he wants to.”

“You’re trying to tell me that if you don’t have sex with him, he punishes you?”

Anna nodded. “I’m his slave. I have to do as he tells me.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

Ben’s lip curled. “This is a free country. Slavery is illegal. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“You don’t understand . . . Devin . . . he owns—he controls everything . . .”

He snorted. “That just sounds like a really bad excuse. You must like it or you wouldn’t go to him.” He stood. “I can’t believe you’ve been lying to me this whole time.” He shook his head. “I can’t be with someone who lies and cheats. You do realize you’ve been cheating on me?” He paused and tilted his head as he looked down at her. “Or were you cheating on Devin?” His eyes grew cold. “You were never mine to have, were you? If you belong to Devin, as you say, then you were never—‍” He ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t believe I was deceived by you. I should have known you were too good to be true. Is this how you get your kicks? By making men fall in love with you?”

“Ben, please... I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, but I just couldn’t bear—‍” She swallowed. “I love you. With all my?—‍”

He put his hands up. “Save it.” He chewed his lip and stared at the wall behind her, then sighed. He looked down at her with a pained expression for a long minute, then reached out and gently stroked her cheek.

She leaned into his hand, hope lighting in her heart that he’d changed his mind and would forgive her. “Ben, please... I wish I didn’t have to... have this other life. I’d give anything to be yours and yours alone.” She took his hand in hers and clung to it with both of her own. “Please believe me.”

His eyes softened. After a long moment, he spoke. “I don’t know, Anna. I... I need time to think about all this. I’ll call you later.” He turned and walked away without another word.

Blinking away more hot tears than she thought she had inside of her, she watched him disappear through the bar door. Her lungs tightened and she stared at the floor, praying he’d return. Every time the door opened, she snapped her head up, hoping it was him. But, after a while, she had to accept that he wasn’t coming back.

She slowly bent down to pick up her purse and made her way out of the bar. She trudged down the sidewalk to her car and sank into the driver’s seat, bursting out into loud sobs. It had been foolish of her to hope he would forgive her for her deception. That she could have possibly had any sort of normal life.

Chapter 123

---