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My mouth hung open in disbelief. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. Eight years I’d been with this man. Five of those I’d been a devoted wife. I catered to him and his needs. I put him before myself, and he showed his true colors when I needed him to stand beside me. Last year was the roughest. After giving birth to a stillborn son, my world was shattered.
I developed postpartum, my anxiety was at an all-time high, and I gained a total of forty pounds. I wasn’t overweight, but I wasn’t the size I used to be. Clearly, I wasn’t his preferred size, either. Things changed between us. Raymond wasn’t the loving and affectionate man he once was. He turned cold and almost hateful toward me. I kept telling myself once I got it together that things would be better.... If I lost the weight, things would go back to the way they used to be.
I was wrong. Things would never be the same, and now they’d never have that chance. I struggled to verbalize my thoughts. My lips were moving, but not a sound came out. Raymond sighed. Just as he went to speak the front door opened.
“How much longer are you going to be dealing with... this?”
My eyes settled on a petite woman. Her hair was long and straight, and not a strand was out of place. Her clothes were perfectly pressed and well put together. She was beautiful, and everything about her was the complete opposite of my current self. My eyes left her face and dropped to the prominent bulge in her stomach. They bounced from her to Raymond and back to her again.
“Who is this?” I asked just above a whisper.
She stepped out with one hand rubbing her stomach, and wrapped the other around his arm as she spoke to me.
“Adora... Raymond’s fiancée and the mother of his child.” She flashed a glistening diamond ring at me. “I’m also the new woman of this house, so I’d like you to get your shit off my lawn.”
“Raymond...” I whispered. “How could you? Eight years—”
“Please don’t start that crying shit,” Adora said, holding up a hand. “I’m not trying to hear that. It was bad enough I had to listen to it inside.”
“Shut up!” I screamed, jumping at her.
Raymond stepped between us and pushed me back. “I’m not about to have you fighting her. You’re embarrassing yourself, Pasha.”
“I’m embarrassing myself?” I looked around. “Am I being punked? Is this a prank? Are... Are there hidden cameras?”
Raymond shrugged. “Look, call yourself a ride, Uber, walk... Frankly, I don’t care. You’re trespassing on private property. You have thirty minutes to get your shit off my lawn, or I will have you forcibly removed. Give me your keys.”
Again, I stared at him in disbelief. This was as much my home as it was his. Maybe I didn’t work, but I kept this house spotless for years. I kept a hot meal on the table. I made sure our finances were straight. He was the one that made me a housewife. He told me he wanted to care for me as long as I could handle that responsibility. I did that for as long as I could. I was suffering mentally, and he didn’t care... He just didn’t care.
“The keys, Pasha! You know what...” He snatched them from my hand. “The clock is ticking.”
He and his mistress walked back inside without another word, slamming the door behind them. I couldn’t move. My body was riddled with shock and emotion. When I felt my chest begin to tighten, I knew I was having a panic attack. The tightening feeling was soon accompanied by the struggle to breathe. I began to pace, trying to calm myself.
Everything I learned in therapy felt useless at that moment. Part of me wanted this episode to just take me out. I didn’t want to feel anything. I just wanted to be numb.
Numb to the pain.
Numb to the bullshit.
Numb to life in general. If I couldn’t feel it, maybe it wasn’t real. If it wasn’t real, it couldn’t hurt me. I’d experienced enough hurt... I just wanted to feel nothing... absolutely nothing.
Chapter Two
Callum
I stared at my computer screen, counting down the minutes until I could go home. Since being down a driver for the last week, I’d been filling in to make things run as smoothly as possible. I was set to end my day in about thirty minutes, and it couldn’t be over fast enough. I owned and operated Elite Rides, a car shuttling service. It was something like Uber. I even had a hand in developing an app to run the service through.
In addition to that, I also own a limo/private car service. After seeing how well the car shuttling did, I decided that expanding my services in my local area would be a good idea. I catered to everything from proms to weddings to gala events. A few high-profile clients used me to take them from place to place around the state as well. We are currently booked through the year for various events.
We’d been up and running for about six years now, available in fifteen major cities in the southern states. At thirty-five, I was blessed to be able to make money in my sleep. I honestly could have easily replaced my sick driver temporarily. However, since I lived in the city, it was easier just to cover the shifts myself.
Today, however, was draining. For whatever reason, there was an influx of bookings. I wasn’t upset about that. More bookings meant more business, and more business meant more money. I was simply tired. My bed was calling me, and I would answer that call as soon as I left.
The sound of my notifications dinging alerted me to a request.
“I was so close,” I muttered.
With a heavy sigh, I looked up the information for this last ride. After claiming it, I grabbed the keys to the last SUV on the lot and headed out. Settled in the driver’s seat, I loaded my smooth R&B playlist, rolled down the windows, and started toward my destination. The sun had gone down, and there was a cool breeze blowing. I was thankful for light traffic because this fifteen-minute ride could easily turn into forty-five.
