Page 44 of Trash the Dress

“Didn’t tell you he talked to me, did he?” She bends a little to be eye level with me. “Like I said, you’re just a phase. Somethingto fill the gap until I came back. So, I think maybe you better leave. After all, you’re in a very delicate condition. Wouldn’t want to upset you too much,” she says with a cruel glint in her eye.

How could Zander have ever loved someone like her? And after the way he says she hurt him; has he really been hooking up with her on the down-low?

I place a hand protectively on my belly. “This baby is his, and we’re happy. I don’t know where you came from or why you came back, but he doesn’t love you anymore. He loves me,” I tell her. Even as my heart is quivering with fear, I believe he loves me. But is hein lovewith me?

“I’d never guess he had someone in his life. I mean, look around,” she says while holding her arms out. “There are no pictures of you, or of the two of you together. No evidence in this house that he cares about you or has someone else in his life. The only thing he changed was trying to erase me. But I’m back to remedy that. I made a huge mistake and it’s time for me to come home to him where I belong.”

I scoff. “He doesn’t want you back. You’re lying. You haven’t been with him since you broke up. We’re having this baby together and we’re going to be a family,” I say as a tear drops off my chin, betraying my emotions and the sliver of doubt swirling in the back of my mind.

“He never wanted kids. I hate to break it to you. So, if that baby you’re carrying is actually his, he’s only doing the honorable thing. He doesn’t want it. People change, but not something like that,” she says while patting my shoulder. “And the pressure will push him right back to me. It may take longer than I anticipated, but he’ll come back.”

I knock her hand away from me and she laughs. “Have you ever been in his office? That’s where you’ll find all the evidenceof me and how he feels. But what you won’t find is anything about you,” she says, enjoying this entirely too much.

I don’t say anything because he told me in the beginning, before we got close, to stay out of his office. It was the one place he wanted to keep for himself. And I never questioned it, nor have I thought about it again until now. I simply assumed it’s where he kept his art, his photography, his paintings. There’s nothing wrong with keeping some things for yourself. Art is and can be extremely personal. But now, I wonder what he’s keeping hidden in that room.

Our early dinner rolls in my stomach and I know I’m going to throw up. I rush past her and into the bathroom, then empty the contents of my stomach. When I’m done, she’s not in the bedroom anymore.

I walk back into the front of the house and find her sitting on the couch. “You should probably go back home, sweetie. We wouldn’t want the stress of being here to harm your baby.”

I don’t know and don’t care who she thinks she is. She’s the one leaving. At least for now. This time I walk over to where she sits and bend to eye level with her.

“He asked me to move in with him. I’m not going anywhere. You, on the other hand, are going to get up and walk out of here. Whatever is between me and Zander is none of your damn business. I’d almost feel sorry for you if I didn’t know what you did to him. Love is raw and real. It means growing together. And we certainly have all the above going for us. I don’t know if I’m his future, but I do know that you’re his past and Iamhis present. I know that we’re both hoping to be each other’s future, and I know that this is—at least for now—my home. So, get the hell out before I call the cops,” I tell her.

She holds my stare before moving, so I step back to allow her to get up. She stands and walks to the door without anotherword, letting it slam so hard I jump as she exits. I wait until she leaves to fall apart.

Later, when I’ve watched the sun completely set through my tear-filled eyes, I grab a blanket and pillow from the couch, then curl up on the floor. I don’t want to touch the furniture she touched, so the couch and our bed are off-limits.

My first instinct after the most uncomfortable encounter of my life—more so than my ruined wedding day—was to bolt even though I defended our love and this new little family we’re becoming. But something still kept me anchored here. I think it was because I know I owe it to him to hear what he has to say.

I may have had my heart tossed into a blender, but I feel the intense need to protect his, and my son’s.

I’m not sure what time it is when Zander says my name effectively shaking me from a restless sleep. “Scarlett, why are you on the floor?”

I turn to look at him. His worried eyes are accentuated by furrowed brows. “Scarlett. Talk to me, please. Is everything okay?”

I don’t get up, instead I bring myself to a sitting position, still covered by the blanket as if it can somehow shield me. I’m not sure how to start, so I just blurt out what comes first. “Have you seen Vivian since you broke up?”

His eyes narrow in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean has she been sneaking into your house and into your bed over the years?”

“Hell no, she hasn’t. Why would you ask a question like that?” There’s an edge to his voice making me doubt his answer, but his eyes reveal nothing.

“Have you seen her recently?” I ask, rewording the question. She said she saw him at High Road Bar the other night.

His jaw clenches but he remains silent.

It’s all I need to know the answer. Of course he saw her the other night. And if that’s true, then maybe the other part is too. I start to stand, and he reaches out to help me, but I push him away. I walk down the hall toward the bedroom intent on gathering my things.

“What’s going on, Scarlett?” he asks as he trails behind me.

“You’ve seen her. And I’m not okay with that or the fact that you hid it from me,” I say through the tears that have started to fall again. I grab a bag and start throwing stuff in it.

He moves to stand in front of me and takes my wrists in his hands to stop me. “I’ve not beenseeingher, Scarlett. You know what she did to me…the way she broke me. I’d never let her back in my life.”

“Not even to have sex? They say angry sex and makeup sex is pretty spectacular,” I quip, before catching a salty tear with my tongue.

“Scarlett, I don’t know why you think?—”

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