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“This woman came up and I clicked her profile because I liked her style. So while I’m scrolling, I noticed a post with a man that looks familiar…”
“Oh, God. Not Elite.”
“No, no. Not Elite.”
“Then Blaze?”
“Yeah. So I clicked on it and it was a photo collage video. I read the caption and it was basically a happy anniversary post. It had pictures from the anniversary trip they took and other older ones too.”
“Anniversary trip?” Denali repeated with confusion. “What are they celebrating? One or two months?”
Yashika’s exhale was heavy. “Years, sis. They have been married for years.” She waited for a few seconds, but Denali didn’t speak. “She um… mentioned meeting him right before he got locked up and falling in love quickly. That they were separated for a while, but she’s been holding him down ever since. So, from the sound of it, they got married right before he got locked up or right after he got out.”
Chuckling, Denali stood and began to pace. “So you’re telling me, this nigga had me selling our home to pay his bond when he had a whole fucking wife? Or at the minimum, was cheating the whole time he was gone and married her when he got out? I’ve been working myself like a damn slave trying to take care of us, meanwhile, he’s been in a relationship with someone else?”
“Denali—”
“Send me her profile information.”
Denali disconnected the call, and her eyes immediately landed on the picture of her, Blaze, and the kids on her dresser. Before she could stop herself, she was grabbing the picture and tossing it against the wall. Making her way to the room he was occupying while he was healing, she grabbed all of his belongings and tossed them onto the front lawn. By the time she was done, Yashika had sent her the woman’s profile information and called her, but Denali didn’t plan on returning this one.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, Denali scrolled the woman’s page for what felt like hours. She didn’t see a lot of pictures of Blaze, but Denali noticed a theme. The woman only posted them on their supposed anniversary date, their birthdays, and her father’s birthday. She didn’t even bother to post him on holidays, which Denali found odd, but it didn’t matter. Blaze was clearly married to the woman, because they both had on wedding rings in their pictures.
Her fingers trembled as she texted Blaze and asked him where he was. If she called and heard his voice, she’d spaz, and what she needed to do had to be done in person. He called her but she let it go to voicemail before calling her sister and asking her to come and watch her kids. Jumping into the shower, Denali felt the moment her anger switched to sadness, and she felt her tears mix with the water that beat against her skin.
??????
With her shades covering her puffy eyes, Denali parked on the street but kept her car running. She looked over at Ladia, who nodded in approval of what she was about to do. Her trusty bat was between her legs, and Ladia would get out with no hesitation if she needed her to.
Denali got out of her car and pulled her hair up into a high bun. She looked down at the beat-up Timberlands she was wearing and smiled. The only time she put those on was when it was snowing, or she had to stomp a bitch.
As she made her way to Tasha’s front door, the sadness that had been consuming her was replaced with anger again. Out of all the men to play her… it was Blaze? The father of her children? Even with all the bullshit he put her through, Denali never regretted having Kinsley and Amir with him. She told herself that without him, they wouldn’t be who they were. For that, she never wished she made her children with someone else. And that fact made her believe she would always have a certain amount of love and respect for Blaze. But after what she’d seen earlier, both of those things were gone.
Denali knocked on the door and when she stepped back, she pulled her hands behind her back, not wanting whoever opened to see the brass knuckles on her right hand. As angry as she was, Denali knew she couldn’t go head-to-head with Blaze, but she planned to make him suffer.
When Tasha opened the door, she smiled, but it didn’t faze Denali one bit.
“Hey, D. Come in.”
As she stepped inside, Denali asked, “Did you know?”
“Know what?”
Turning to face her, Denali said, “That your son was married.”
Tasha’s smile fell. Her head hung briefly before she looked Denali dead in her eyes and said, “Yeah, I did.”
Denali released a short snarl of laughter before hitting Tasha right in the center of her forehead and knocking her out instantly. At the sound of her body hitting the ground, Blaze came running into the living room. His eyes ballooned at the sight of his mother, and he charged toward Denali. She quickly grabbed her taser and tased him. As soon as he fell to his knees, she pulled out her pepper spray gun and shot him in the eyes with it twice before kicking him in the face.
As Blaze yelled obscenities and rocked from side to side, Denali stood over him and said, “Happy belated anniversary, bitch. You married another woman the day before my fucking birthday, bruh? If you come anywhere near my home, I’m going to tell my man, and he will beat your fucking ass.”
Releasing a shaky breath, Denali quickly made her way outside to her car and sped off. As happy as she thought she would feel, she burst into tears so hard she had to pull over and let Ladia drive. She didn’t feel as if she’d lost out because of Blaze’s betrayal, but she was hurting still. Denali couldn’t believe a man that she genuinely loved and cared about could do her so dirty. Her emotions were all over the place.
All she could think about was how this was going to cause her kids to have to suffer because Blaze wouldn’t prioritize being a father over hurting her since she’d learned his truth, and that made her feel worse than anything. Since Kinsley’s birth, this was what she’d been trying to avoid with him—their kids suffering because of their relationship—and now, it seemed like it was beyond her control.
??????
At the feel of her bed denting, Denali closed her eyes. She didn’t have to look to know who it was. Only one person would be brave enough to come into her room while she was in that state, and that was Elite. As soon as he laid next to her and pulled her onto his chest, her eyes watered all over again. He hugged her and placed a kiss to her head before rubbing her back.
