Page 44 of Choose Me

"Excuse me, but I need to get back to my friends." I turned away from her and started walking toward the stairs but stopped when she called out behind me.

"James took advantage of me." She said sweetly with a hint of malice in her voice.

I turned around slowly and stood rooted in my spot. "Excuse me?"

"The whole team was celebrating Brock's promotion at one of the local bars, and he got really drunk. We were dancing, and it was innocent...until it wasn't. I tried to fight him off, but he was so intoxicated."

"You're lying. James wouldn't do that to me." I seethed.

"I wish I was." She stated ominously. She pulled out her phone and clicked something before shoving the screen in front of my face.

A video started playing. I recognized some of the agents laughing and joking, and loud music blared through the phone speaker. The camera panned around the club and onto James and the woman kissing. The video cut off, but there was no mistaking that James had his lips on another woman.

She played it again.

My heart sank into my stomach as I watched it play for a second time, unable to process what I had seen. I felt my world crashing down around me, the floor beneath me giving way. The woman's voice filled the air again, but I was barely aware of what she was saying. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I just thought you should know who you're dealing with. James is a liar, Ava. He's not the man you think he is, and you deserve better than him."

She sounded almost sincere.

I didn't respond. I was too numb to speak. My world was spinning, and I couldn't find my footing. I felt my knees buckle, and I stumbled back against the wall. The woman rushed forward and steadied me, her expression filled with an odd combination of pity and triumph.

"Ava, are you okay?" Everett stood in front of me. His voice was filled with concern, and he looked at the blonde woman with suspicion as he reached out to steady me. "What's going on? Are you in pain?"

I looked at him, my vision blurry with tears, "James cheated on me in Miami with this--I'm sorry I didn't get your name."

"Sydney."

"What? What is she talking about?" He demanded, staring at the blonde woman with suspicion even though his concern was clearly for me.

She turned her phone to play the video for him. The shock and hurt on his face mirrored my own.

"Did you know?" I asked him.

"What? Of course, I didn't know."

James and Brock appeared in the hallway, and when James saw us standing there, his expression immediately changed, and he ran toward me.

"Ava, what's wrong?" he asked, trying to pull me toward him. I yanked my arm out of his grasp and stepped away from him.

I held up a hand, stopping him in my tracks. "I know, James," I said, my voice trembling with anger and betrayal.

"I told her, James. She deserved to know." Sydney interjected.

"Told her what?" He spat at her. "Ava, I don't know what she told you, but it's not true."

"I saw the video!" I yelled at him.

"Video?" He looked between Sydney and me, confusion marring his handsome face.

"She deserved to know," Sydney told him.

"What did you do, Sydney? What did you tell her?" He growled.

"I told her the truth, James. She deserved to know." Sydney played the video for James and Brock.

"How could you do this to me? To us?" I asked, tears streaming down my face.

"It's not what it looks like," he said, desperation creeping into his voice.

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