by Tessa Teevan
I can’t deny that the correlation of the dates is interesting, but I refuse to believe what Megan’s saying. The woman she’s describing isn’t Ariana. It can’t be.
And even still, her words seep in, and I have to wonder… No, fuck that. Why am I even listening to this shit?
“You’re wrong, Megan. That isn’t what happened.”
“Then what did? Why did they break up?”
“They weren’t in love,” I say, remembering Ariana’s own words. “He didn’t love her.”
She shakes her head, rising from her chair. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, and I don’t blame you, but think about it. The proof is right in front of you. And if you don’t believe that, then listen to him.”
Dread wells up in my stomach as she moves to the door and opens it, beckoning for someone to come in. I recognize him from the wedding announcement. Benjamin fucking Cunningham.
Anger floods his face when he spots me, and he starts forward until Megan stops him in his tracks. “Did you two plan this?” he seethes, catching me off guard. “My company wasn’t enough? You had to take my fiancée, too?”
What.
The.
Fuck.
As he rails on about losing everything, the pieces start to fit together in the worst way.
Megan interrupts Cunningham’s rant and gives me a sad smile. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.” Her tone sounds sincere, yet I can hear the underlying glee. I know that, deep down, she’s loving every second of this. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.”
As she closes the door behind her, the room descends into silence. The only sound is his heavy breathing, and the fury on his face is palpable as he focuses his gaze on me.
Holding my hands up, I try to diffuse the situation. “Look, I don’t know what the hell you think I planned, but I had no knowledge of the acquisition of your company until five minutes before my ex-wife walked in. I don’t keep tabs on the Atlanta division, and I sure as hell don’t use my personal life to propel my career. It’s unnecessary.” I see his shoulders slump as he takes the seat Megan recently occupied. “Now, start from the beginning. Why the hell are you here?”
He plays the distraught, heartbroken, jilted fiancé role extremely well, and some part of me buys what he’s saying. It all starts flooding my mind. Shane’s warning. “Do you know why they broke up?” Her hesitancy to disclose everything. Not wanting to work at Wellington. The fake engagement announcement. All of it compounds one on top of the other. The world I’ve known since I met her suddenly shifts, and I no longer know what to believe anymore.
He tells me of the day of the rehearsal, when his father informed him that the company—the one he runs with Ariana’s father—was going bankrupt and they were in talks to be taken over. My mind reels from that fact, as I had no idea their fathers were even business partners. The more he talks, the more upset he becomes, and either he’s the world’s best actor or she really did a number on him. I feel a weird sense of kindred spirit with him, and as much as I want to ignore his implications of why Ariana left that day, he’s the only one who’s filled in those blanks—even though she had the chance to before.
As I give his story some credence, I shake my head, trying to knock some sense into myself. There’s no way Ariana planned this, but even I have to admit how coincidentally it’s all worked out in her favor.
What the fuck am I saying? This is insane. He’s wrong. She overheard something else. There has to be more to this. I struggle to hold on to the logical part of my brain, but as I look down at the papers on my desk, I know that Megan’s right. I can’t argue with proof.
And then she walks in, the blood draining from her face when she sees him. I take a moment to study her. Her face is pale. She swallows hard, her eyes reverting from him to me and back to him again. I’ve seen that look—in the eyes of someone with something to hide. Of someone who’s just been caught.
And just like the pen in my hand, I snap.
EVEN THOUGH I hate bothering Branson at work, he’s not answering his phone, and we have to decide on a date today if we have any hope of his childhood minister marrying us. His mother was practically hysterical when she called, ranting about not being able to have a December wedding if we didn’t get back to her within the hour, so I get into my brand-new car, the neon-green Mustang convertible I purchased with the insurance money from my car accident, and head to his office.
As I get out of my car, I spot a familiar face, and an unpleasant feeling washes over me.
“Megan,” I say tersely, giving her a head nod as she walks past me.
When she hears her name, she stops in her tracks, eyes widening before a slow, satisfying grin crosses her face, confusing the hell out of me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her.
“Oh, I was just visiting my ex-husband,” she responds cheerfully.
“Why the hell would he want to see you?” I inquire, ridiculous jealousy welling up inside me.
She flips her hair over her shoulder and gives me a look of annoyance. “Why don’t you go on up and find out?” she retorts, an ominous tone in her voice. “I told you not to screw with me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, she turns and flounces away.
A pit settles in my stomach, and I wonder just what the hell that’s supposed to mean. I force myself to ignore her parting words, and as the elevator ascends to Branson’s floor, apprehension floods my senses.
As soon as I step off the elevator, the uneasy feeling seeing Megan caused has me on edge. When Caroline tells me that Branson’s in a meeting, her tone tells me that something’s not right. Normally, I’d never even dream of stepping into his office while he’s preoccupied, but a little feeling in the back of my mind has me doing otherwise.
I stop instantly when I open the door to Branson’s office. My current and former fiancés are eyeing each other, and slowly, they both turn to me. A look of satisfaction crosses Ben’s face, while Branson looks at me with pure disdain as he snaps a pen in half.
“What the hell is going on? What are you doing here, Ben?”
He turns back to Branson. “We’re done here. I have nothing left to say, Wellington.”
“Yeah, we’re fucking done,” Branson growls, causing my blood to run cold. I’ve never heard him sound so taciturn, unfeeling, angry, and I don’t understand why.
With a nod, Ben shifts his gaze to me as he stands. “I’m sorry, Ariana, but I thought he deserved to know the truth before he ended up making the biggest mistake of his life. After all, I should thank you from making sure I didn’t do the same.” His tone sounds so sincere, and I have no idea what the hell he’s talking about or what game he’s trying to play.
“Excuse me?” I hiss, seething that this poor excuse of a man thinks he can come here and try to ruin my very existence.
“Oh, give it up. He knows everything.” Just as he starts to pass me, he leans in close, whispering in my ear, “Everything.”
I shudder and wonder how I ever allowed myself to come so close to marrying him. Pushing him away, I glare at him.
“Get the fuck out of my office. Now,” Branson fumes, and when I look at him, I can no longer read his expression.
With one last head nod, Benjamin leaves, and I stand in the doorway, unsure of how to approach Branson.
“Close the door, Ariana,” Branson says, his voice low and husky.
I do as he asked but don’t move any farther into the office. “What was Megan doing here? Or Ben for that matter?”
“Let’s just say…she was enlightening me. For some reason, my ex thought it’d be a great idea to meet yours. And, well, enlightening it was.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, racking my brain on what Megan could possibly know about me that would matter to him.
“Have a seat.” He gestures towards the chair in front of his desk, leaning back in his own. All anger seems to have faded, and while that should make me feel better, it does little to relieve m
e. His demeanor is now calculating, and he’s looking at me not as the woman he loves but as if I’m an annoyance he has to deal with. Some employee to be reprimanded. A bug to squash.
Lifting my chin, I plant my feet firmly into the carpet. “No, thank you. I’d rather stand.”
“Suit yourself,” he retorts as he holds out a file to me. “This is why Megan was here.”
As much as I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of caring what Megan wanted, curiosity gets the better of me. I slowly walk forward, my hands shaking as I take it from him.
“Now, I don’t believe for a second Megan gave me this information for altruistic reasons. She has an ulterior motive, and unfortunately for her, it won’t work. I, however, am somewhat interested in what she brought to my attention. Care to tell me about these?”
I open the file and my breath catches when I see newspaper clippings and what look like financial reports. The first clipping is a wedding announcement for Ben and me, which is followed by the notice of postponement. My eyes widen as I scan the financials, and I suck in a deep breath, steadying myself on the chair beside me, as I put two and two together, knowing exactly what Megan was trying to prove to Branson. What Ben was lying about.
I should protest. I should deny, deny, deny. Because the truth is that this is the first time I’m seeing these reports. I had no inkling that Covington and Cunningham was having financial trouble, and I certainly wasn’t privy to the fact that my own father was on the verge of bankruptcy. In fact, I thought they were flourishing and that’s why they were so eager for Benjamin to come on board. So both our fathers could retire and he’d take over their dual roles. None of this is making sense, but Branson seems to have it all figured out.
“All you’ve done is trade in one for the other.”
Megan’s words from the hospital ring in my ear, and when I look up from the file to see Branson’s expression, I have no doubt that she reminded him of that fact. He is placing me in the same category as her. Everything I never wanted to be is what he now thinks I am.
With one look, one expression, and without him having to say a word, my world shatters.
My heart breaks.
The fragile bubble I built around us that I thought was finally bulletproof explodes into a million tiny pieces, and I know I’ll never be able to pick them back up again.
“I didn’t know,” I whisper, sounding meek and pathetic, my own voice causing me to cringe.
“He said you’d say that.” He lets out a small laugh, shaking his head. “I’d almost hoped he was wrong. Do you remember the night of our first date?”
“Of course. It was one of the best nights of my life.”
“That night, you told me you’d overheard something and that’s why you ran out on him.”
Oh God. “And that’s the truth.”
“I’m sure it is. When I asked you what you’d overheard, what did you tell me?”
I swallow hard as I remember our conversation. “I said it wasn’t important.”
He snaps his fingers. “Exactly! And those documents, as well as what that asshole told me, lets me know just how unimportant it was. Now I get why you didn’t tell me. You couldn’t exactly let me know your fiancé—and your family—was going broke and that’s why you left. What would I have thought?” he asks in a mocking tone.
“That’s not—” I begin to protest, but he quickly cuts me off.
“You know, if you’d have just told me from the beginning what your angle was, perhaps we could’ve come to some sort of agreement. After all, before you, I wasn’t looking for a wife. You just so happened to conveniently tell the hospital staff we were engaged. You want to be a trophy wife, Ariana? Is that was this has been? An audition? Because I’ve gotta tell you, baby. You’ve done a damn good job of it. All those times you swallowed? Nice touch. The last bitch that blew me wouldn’t even let me come in her mouth, so you already have one up on her already.”
The force of his words slams me backwards almost as if he’d physically slapped me. Although this hurts so much worse than any physical pain ever could. I bite the inside of my cheeks to keep the tears from welling up, unable to comprehend where the man who left my bed this morning went. His gaze is cold as he watches me, no vestiges of the caring, warm, loving man I fell in love with remaining.
“You’re lucky you’re behind that desk or else my fist would be in your face for that,” I say as calmly as I can, a swirling mixture of anger and hurt filling my heart.
“Oh, come on, Ariana. Don’t look so surprised. And calm down. You know you have to wait until after the wedding for the claws to come out. After all, if you’re going to be the CEO’s wife, you’re going to have to keep up appearances, and giving your soon-to-be husband to be a black eye just wouldn’t be sending the right image, now would it?”
I gape at him. “How can you say that to me? Do you even hear yourself?”
Almost as if he doesn’t even hear me, he continues. “I can’t completely hold you at fault. I’m getting just as much out of this as you are. Thanks to you, Dad’s announcing his retirement soon and tapping me in. Your audition was clearly convincing enough not only to me, but to the rest of the board members. They’re all too pleased to make me CEO now that you’re with me. I guess I should be thanking you.” He pauses, something clouding his eyes. “And what was that between your parents? Orchestrated for my benefit? I have to say, the fake phone call your dad made to Ben? Very clever. Perhaps he’ll be happy to have me as a son-in-law after all. But with his financial woes, I assume I won’t be getting that dowry.” He laughs as if he hasn’t just broken me or created a monumental shift in our relationship. “But hey, who really cares, right? We’re both getting what we want. Now we can drop all the other bullshit pretenses.”
As each cruel blows hits me square in the chest, I’m all too aware that I’m now face to face with who he used to be. It’s unnerving how easily a man like him was manipulated by the lies of others. How quickly he reverted his demeanor to his former self. How, with the snap of a finger, the man I love disappeared.
“Are you so blind by your position at Wellington Enterprises that you can’t see what’s right in front of you? You truly believe I’m with you because of your name? Your title? Your bank account?” I’m trying to maintain my composure, but the blank look on his face nearly sends me over the edge. Throwing the file on his desk, I steady myself and look directly into his eyes. “I don’t give a shit about your name, your money, or your job. You could be CEO or you could work in the mailroom for all I care. I didn’t need Ben’s money or my fathers, and I certainly don’t need yours. I just need you. I love you, Branson. You. The man you are, not the position you hold.”
He has the decency to give me a rueful smile, and my heart leaps, hoping I’ve gotten through to him. And then his expression turns to disbelief, and I know that nothing I say will be enough. His mind’s made up.
With a nod, I stand, willing the tears to stay hidden for just a little while longer. “Well, it’s clear you don’t want to hear what I have to say, and we’re just wasting our time here. Just let me remind you of one thing, Branson. You think this was all too coincidental? You were the one who had me move in when I was ready to walk away.”
“Yeah, well, Dad said he liked us together and gave me the ring. After all, the wife of the Wellington CEO should have the Wellington family ring.”
I take a step back, shaking my head, not wanting to believe him. “What? You mean this whole thing? You asking me to stay, giving me the ring—it’s all been about your stupid job?”
He doesn’t respond, and I know there’s nothing left for me to stay. A part of me knows he’s just saying it to save face. To hurt me like he thinks I’ve hurt him. I want him to take it back. I could beg. I could tell him over and over that he’s wrong. That I didn’t know. But my dignity won’t allow it. Even though I want to linger, I take one last look and walk out of Branson’s office.
I walk out of Branson’s lif
e.
And he doesn’t stop me.
Just like that, the bright future I thought I had planned is snuffed out. The fiery passion of our love is extinguished, and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover.
No, that’s not true. I may be broken. My heart may shatter. The shock will wear off and the pain I’m currently experiencing will grow exponentially, until it’s nearly unbearable. I’ll wonder how I can go on without him, and I’ll cry until there are no tears left. And then I’ll probably cry some more.
But once the ashes settle, I will be okay. I have to be. I just hope that, in the end, he will be, too.
MY HEART aches. It hurts to look at her and believe what I do, but the proof is right in front of me. If she’d have just told me the truth when I first asked her, maybe we could’ve worked it out. Gotten past it. Because I love her. I love her with all my goddamn soul, and the thought of losing her is unbearable. But the thought of being played for a fool for a second time is overwhelming, and I lash out, surprising even myself with the venom coming out of my mouth. Yet I’m unable to stop it.
The entire time, she takes it, angering me even further. Shouldn’t she be telling me I’m wrong? Crying, screaming, protesting? Something? Instead, all I get is one small whisper telling me that she didn’t know, and I have to say that it’s not quite convincing, causing me to go on a tirade. When I’m done, I think she’s finally going to give me some emotion, but she doesn’t. All she does is give me some bullshit line and then she leaves. She fucking leaves.
My mug shatters on the door as I hurl it as hard as I can. I lean my head back against my chair, wondering how in the fuck everything went from goddamn perfect to a goddamn nightmare. Closing my eyes, I work on my breathing as I try to calm my racing heart, but it’s no fucking use. Everything from the board meeting to Ariana walking out continues to flash in my mind intermixed with memories of her and our time together. It’s a jumbled mess, a reminder that I have no idea what’s truth and what’s a lie.
