Page 65 of Trash the Dress

“You were watching us?” I ask as a shiver runs down my spine.

Her grin widens. “I know that property. I know the house like the back of my hand. I told you before, it was meant to be ours. I know how to move around undetected. But I didn’t watch for very long once he said he’d choose you and you started going at it. I might be crass but I’m not a monster. Besides, I’m not sure how he got anything out of it moving around your very large, pregnant stomach. A woman has to stay fit, you know. Men lose interest if you don’t give them what they want…what they need.”

“How did you hear what he said when we were inside?”

“A window was raised in the kitchen. He likes to air the house out in cooler weather,” she says.

Those words about him losing interest hit an open wound. A doubt. I’ve questioned if I’d ever be good enough again. I wasn’t enough for Eric. What if Zander sees me the same way after the baby is born? What if he’s pretending like she says just to keep me close for the baby?

“Go to hell,” I tell her as tears collect in my eyes.

“Oh, honey. Did I hit a nerve? I heard about your botched wedding and how his mistress ruined it all. That must’ve been tough. But you have to know this baby is the result of revenge. A rebound. You don’t love each other,” she says coming closer to me.

She hands over the papers in her hands. It’s pictures of the two of them from years ago. Zander is smiling so big I can see his premolars. It’s in his body language how much he cares for her and how happy he is. She hands me the picture of us the other night on the porch.

“How do you have this?” I ask as a tear drops on it.

“I know how to remotely log in to his computer. He never changed his passwords. Or his locks it would seem,” she says with an arched brow probably recalling her waiting on our bed the night I found her there.

I stare at the picture of us…a moment frozen in time I thought was real. I can’t tell anymore.

She points to the picture of us. “You see in this picture; he’s not looking at you. He’s focused on where his son is. He’s not looking at you like you’re his world. He’s looking at your stomach like that’s his world.”

“Why do you care? Why are you doing this after everything you did? You gave him up! You threw him away like yesterday’s trash!” I shout.

She recoils slightly but corrects quickly. “I made a mistake. But I know that now. He’s it for me. I got distracted by pretty words and empty promises.”

“With his best friend! You can’t betray someone much worse than that!”

She squares her shoulders even though I know I struck a nerve with her too. She pulls her phone out and hits play. She plays a voicemail on speaker. Zander’s voice fills the room. “I’ll always love you, Vivian. You were it for me.”

My gaze snaps to hers as she ends the voicemail. “I’m trying to save you heartache.”

“That wasn’t recent. I can hear the pain in his voice.”

She guffaws. “Maybe not. But he still meant it, and I’ve held on to it all this time. I’ve played it over and over every day. And I finally realized how badly I screwed up. Love like ours doesn’t die,” she says.

I get in her face and look her straight in the eye. “It does if you kill it, and you did.”

I walk out the front door and hear Vivian trying to make more excuses and saying something about how she’ll never stop trying to get him back. If he truly wants her the way she claims to want him, I’ll set him free. But he’s going to have the balls to tell me to my face. I won’t be the last one to find out I’ve been taken for a fool again.

I glance at the clock on my radio when I pull up to our house…Zander’s house. It’s been forty-five minutes. I know he’ll start calling, but I just need a few minutes to think. I get out and walk inside the house. My lower back is hurting, and I feel a little woozy.

I grab a bottle of water out of the fridge. I need to eat. And the baby has been sitting low, so I’m sure that’s where my back pain is coming from. After I drink the water, I walk into his office and glance at all the pictures he hung recently.

My heart is telling me everything I feel, everything he says he feels is real. His actions prove it too. But maybe my bullshit meter is broken. I need to be sure of what I’m doing.

I have to pee, so I go use the bathroom and see blood when I stand up to flush. Then something warm runs down my legs and hits the floor. I sit back down but it’s not stopping. I grab my phone from the counter and hover over Zander’s number. A tear slips down my cheek as I scroll to Dr. Leah Barnette’s number instead.

“Hey, Scarlett,” she answers.

“Can you come get me? No questions asked. I’m at Zander’s.”

“Is everything all right?” she asks hesitantly.

“Please come. Fast.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

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