Chapter 1

The business trip my boss took me along on was cut short because the negotiations went extraordinarily well. I came home early, without telling anyone, the desire to surprise my fiancé high on my priority list.

I was the one surprised instead… and not in a good way, mind you.

Next to the shoe cabinet were some red stilettos which weren’t mine but which I wasn’t totally unfamiliar with. I pushed the pang of doubt away, and told myself I was overthinking things again. As someone with high anxiety, needless to say that overthinking was my default mode.

And yet before I was confronted with the harsh truth, a cheap far too sweet perfume hit me.

Again, I was familiar with it… and yet, I refused to believe the worst. Not yet.

“Oh, Liam,” I heard someone moan – the moan was deep and unmistakably lustful.

“Open up for me, Sam,” my fiancé, Liam, growled the words out.

Any doubt I might have had faded away before my very eyes… Sam, short for Samantha, was my best friend, or so I had thought for the past 2 years.

Ironically, she used to always claim it was chicks before di*cks. And yet, as I slammed the door of the bedroom open, there she was gagging on my fiancé’s di*ck.

The shock on their faces would have been satisfying to look at, if I wasn’t feeling so enraged at that moment.

Despite the tears running down my face, and which came unbidden, unwelcome, and totally ruining the facade I was desperate to keep, I somehow managed to say in a firm voice, “You have 10 minutes to get dressed, pack up and leave.”

“Serena,” Liam was the first one to get over his shock, and my very name on his tongue felt wrong.

How could I have even fallen for this spineless man?

He scrambled to his feet, pulling his pants up, to which I sneered in disgust.

“Serena,” Samantha’s voice was more of a plea, and not provocative in the least, even if the same could not be said about her outfit.

Liam tried to approach me, and I took a couple of steps back, refusing to look at him, fearing I might throw up at any given moment. The bile rising in my throat, the disgust piling up within me, the anger I could feel bubbling inside, were all bound to make me act up unpredictably, and I just wished I wouldn't lose my composure.

“It was a mistake, baby girl…”

How dare he call me baby girl? How could he be so callous as to use the endearment that used to make me smile, but which only had the knack to make me grimace right then?

“A stupid, stupid mistake,” Samantha nodded, even as she put her dress back on slowly.

“Well, own up to your mistakes and leave,” I drawled calmly, somehow keeping my sh*it together. “You have 9 minutes left. Make them count. Chop. Chop.”

“You don’t mean that,” Liam’s face was reddening, and I wasn’t sure if it was out of shame or anger… not that I cared. “You can’t throw me out… I live here.”

“I’m the one paying rent though,” I shrugged with a nonchalance I wasn’t feeling in the least.

My tears had thankfully dried up, and I felt slightly more in control of myself and the situation too.

“Serena, be reasonable, baby… It was one mistake. ONE mistake. Surely, you’re not going to break up with me over one mistake?”

The nerve of this man was truly unmatched, and I wasn't sure how I hadn't seen him for who he was sooner.

“Forgetting to put the toilet seat down is what I would call a mistake… What you did is called cheating, you bast*ard!”

He paled dramatically then inhaled deeply, his once lovely, warm green eyes becoming stormy, before he exploded at me, “Well, I wouldn’t have had to go looking for sex elsewhere if you hadn’t been such a prude! I have needs, you know?”

So this was what it boiled down to, huh? Why wasn't I surprised?

I clicked my tongue in dismay, and glared at him, “Are you done? You have 5 minutes left, you know?”

“I’m not leaving!” he yelled. “I fuc*king live here, and you’d do well to drop the haughty act… Who’d even accept a prude like you? Consider yourself lucky I even looked at you twice.”

I didn’t hesitate to throw his ring at him, right in the face, and thundered out, “News flash, I am done with you, and the likes of you.”

The last part was meant to be an insult to Samantha.

Liam was positively murderous, and I realized I never truly knew this man, for the next thing I knew, he struck me, hard, across the face.

My cheek burned, and I tasted blood as my lip busted open.

“You either cool down, or I will make you,” he growled, a flash of madness, unlike anything I had ever seen, making an appearance in the depths of his eyes.

I weighed my options, not sure about my next course of action for a moment there… I knew I could not remain silent about what had happened. I also knew I had no intention to stay only to get struck again.

Being stubborn right now would only spell trouble for me. He was a man after all, and a fit one at that. He was built different… I therefore opted for a tactical retreat.

“You’ll regret this. Mark my words,” was all I offered before I turned on my heels, and left the apartment.

Walking away wasn’t a tell of weakness. If anything, it was merely common sense. Liam had dared to betray me, tried to turn the tables on me, and even went as far as to hit me… Who was to say he wouldn’t go further?

Walking away would give me time to think, to plan, and possibly to become a dangerous foe.