Part 2Awakened: The Other Woman

Declan's face turned to stone, his anger barely contained. "Don't push your luck, Ava."

"It's just a piece of paper. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"You let me sleep with you for eight years without that piece of paper. Why are you acting so high and mighty now?"

"If you hadn't been on your knees in my bed, begging me that you couldn't live without me, do you really think I would have kept you around?"

"You're not a kid anymore. Don't you feel pathetic playing these hard-to-get games?"

I trembled with rage. He was the one who relentlessly pursued me. He was the one who, drunk and crying, had begged me to ease his pain. Now, after he'd married another woman and made me a public laughingstock, he had the audacity to call me selfish?

"It's over, Declan. From now on, we go our separate ways."

His anger exploded. He grabbed the bag of broken shells and smashed it on the floor, sending fragments skittering across the tiles.

"You think you can just marry someone else, Ava?" he snarled.

"Everyone in our circle knows you've been my woman for eight years. Who's going to want you now?"

Just then, the bathroom door opened.

Jessica emerged, wrapped in a towel, her feet bare.

The air left my lungs.

He had left our engagement party after a single phone call, and I'd spent the last ten days watching their love story unfold online. Now, standing here, I couldn't tell if what I felt was pain, resentment, or pure, unadulterated fury.

This apartment was supposed to be our home, a place we’d bought together, half and half, when we were deeply in love. He'd called it our love nest, a place to fill with happy memories.

"Ava," Jessica said, her voice soft and placating. "Please don't blame Declan. He was just trying to help me."

"If you have to blame someone, blame me. I'm the one who doesn't belong…" She reached for my hand.

I flinched back instinctively. I didn't even touch her, but she let out a cry and crumpled to the floor.

Before I could process what had happened, a sharp sting exploded across my cheek. Declan had slapped me so hard I stumbled and fell.

A searing pain shot through my hand. A shard from the broken shells had pierced my palm, and blood dripped steadily onto the floor.

"Jessica, are you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern. He shot me a look of pure disgust. "If anything happens to her, I'll make you regret it."

He scooped Jessica into his arms and rushed out of the apartment, presumably heading for the hospital.

I struggled to my feet and looked around the home I had lived in for eight years. It felt utterly alien. My bed was a mess of wrinkled sheets. A torn black stocking was draped over the side, and used tissues littered the floor. The air was thick with a cloying, nauseating scent.

I fled, tears streaming down my face.

It was all tainted. The whole apartment felt dirty.

My palm was bleeding too much to ignore, so I hailed a cab to the hospital. I deliberately chose one far from my apartment, but as fate would have it, I ran into them anyway.

Jessica was holding up a hand that didn't even have a scratch on it, whining about the pain. Declan had her sitting on his lap, patiently asking the doctor for care instructions.

He used to be that attentive with me. I remembered a time I'd had a fever in the middle of the night. He’d panicked and run out without even putting on shoes. It was only after the doctor confirmed I was fine that he realized his own foot was bleeding from a piece of broken glass.

"Ava, you're the most precious thing in the world to me," he had said. "I can't bear to see you hurt."

As I walked in, they were just leaving.

"Ava," Jessica said, her voice dripping with false concern. "Declan was just here with me. Were you so worried that you had to follow us?"

Declan gave me a disdainful look. "Weren't you the one who was so high and mighty about us going our separate ways? What are you doing here?"

"Ava, you can't have it both ways. It's pathetic. If you dare lay a finger on Jessica again, I won't be so lenient."

I held up my blood-soaked hand. "I'm here to see a doctor. Excuse me."

Declan froze, a flicker of guilt in his eyes. "Ava, is it serious?"

He started to follow me, but Jessica let out a sharp cry. "Declan, my hand hurts so much…"

He didn't hesitate. He turned, scooped her up, and walked away.

The next morning, I woke up to a text from Kian, reminding me to go for a fitting for our custom-made wedding rings.

When I came out of the bathroom, Declan was there, unusually, with breakfast. "You must be starving. Come and eat."

It was a box of crab cakes and a bowl of butternut squash soup. I was allergic to shellfish, and I hated squash.

"It's my day off," he said. "The season's changing. Let's go shopping for some new clothes."

It was his classic move: a slap followed by a small piece of candy.

When we got to the car, he climbed into the back seat. "You can drive today. I didn't get much sleep last night."