Page 26 of Shattered Union

The doorbell rings just as I’m turning off the lights. I frown. Who the hell would be here at this time of the night?

Walking to the door, I’m shocked to find Chloe’s mam standing outside. I quickly pull the door open. Yet again, she’s dolled up to the nines. Her hair tied up this time in a long ponytail, she’s in a black dress and heels this time and a matching clutch.

“Is Chloe all right?” I question, wondering why else she’s standing on my doorstep.

She looks me up and down, her nose turned up in disgust. “So, you’re the woman that’s sleeping with my husband.”

I blink at her as all the air leaves my lungs. It’s as though someone has punched me in the gut. “I’m sorry, what?”

She raises a brow. The haughty look on her face makes me want to slam the door in her face. “Oh, this is priceless. Didn’t you know?” She pouts at me, a smug smile on her lips. “Poor little whore,” she taunts. “Now, you have a choice. You can walk away like a woman or you can try to win him over, and sweetheart, you’ll not win.”

I stare at her in shock. How the fuck is this happening?

She snaps her fingers in my face. “Are you listening to me?”

I lick my lips, my throat is completely dry. “I don’t understand,” I whisper, feeling totally out of my depth. It’s as though I’m having an out-of-body experience.

She throws her head back and laughs at me. “You’re seriously naïve. The man you’ve been shacking up with, he’s my husband, has been for the past twenty-two years. We have five children together. Our youngest is almost two months old.”

Bile rises from my stomach, burning my throat.

She pulls out her phone from her clutch. “Here if you don’t believe me.” She swipes at the screen and then pushes the screen into my face.

My heart drops when I see the man I love holding a beautiful, tiny baby in his arms. He’s wearing the pale blue shirt that I had bought him when I went shopping a few days after buying him the sweatpants.

“If I find out you’ve carried on this disgusting affair, I’ll destroy you,” she sneers at me.

My legs buckle beneath me and it’s only because I’m holding onto the door, or I’d have fallen to the floor. “Don’t worry,” I tell her. “I’ll not be seeing him again.”

The triumphant smirk she has makes me want to punch her.

“Goodbye, Callie, oh and stay the fuck away from my daughter.”

I can’t stand to hear anything else she has to say. I slam the door, hearing her laughter as she walks away. I sink to the floor and the tears fall freely.

God, how much of a fool have I been? I knew there was something off about our relationship. But never once did I think he was still married.

Bile once again crawls up my throat. This time, I’m unable to swallow it down. I’m up on my feet and running toward the bathroom. I fall to my knees as I throw up into the toilet bowl.

Tears cascade down my face as I sob. I honestly believed he loved me. How fucking stupid am I?

He played me from the very moment we met. I fell hook, line, and sinker for him. God, he played me good.

How? I don’t understand how someone can pretend for such a long time. We were dating for almost four months. How the hell can this happen? Was it easy for him to pretend that I mattered to him? That he loved me?

I sob harder, my body buckling beneath the strength of my sobs. I’m crying so hard I’m heaving. My body is spent, I have no energy left, nothing in my stomach to throw up.

I’m heartbroken. I never thought anyone could hurt me as much as Keith did, but Denis proved me wrong. He’s completely shattered me.

I curl into a ball on my bathroom floor, my eyes drooping as my body shivers with a chill I know will never go.

The last thought before I fall asleep is just how much I truly loved him. How I’ve lost the love of my life and realising he was never mine to love in the first place.

8

Denis

God, this fucking day! We shouldn’t be here, hell fucking no. But yet, here we are.

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