Love's New Bloom by Simone Hastings

Chapter 1 Heartbroken

It was 10 pm on a summer night. A beautiful woman in a body-hugging dress and exquisite makeup sat in a hotel room at one of the city’s five-star hotels. A cigarette wisping pungent smoke dangled from her trembling fingers, showing how unstable her emotions were at the moment. She was eavesdropping on a conversation going on in another hotel room that she’d bugged, and it made her heart twist painfully.

The conversation was between a man and a woman. The woman said, “Ian, you’ve been coming to me so frequently that I’m on the verge of collapse…”

The man said, “Don’t tell me you’re unhappy about this.”

The woman giggled. “I’m ecstatic!”

“She’s going on a business trip tomorrow, so you can come over.”

“Ian, I’m curious about something. Back then, Erin was known as the belle of our university. Don’t you love her anymore?”

Ian said, “She’s worse than a sex doll. We’ve been married for a year, but I haven’t even laid a finger on her. That’s what she deserves for acting all high and mighty and leading me on! I’m not even interested in her anymore.”

The woman gasped. “That’s terrible. What’s the point of your marriage, then?”

“Who cares? It’s all she deserves. Alright, let’s stop talking about her…”

bear to listen to the rest of their conversation. She removed the earbud and stared blankly at the

her. Tracy? Was he talking about Tracy Brown, her classmate from university? They’d lost contact after graduation, though. How did she and Ian

wanted to renovate it. Tracy had come over that afternoon, and Erin took the opportunity to peek at her phone while she was in the bathroom. It was locked, so she couldn’t see

couldn’t remember how she’d sent Tracy on her way, but she recalled how she’d scoured Ian’s bank statements. Over six months, he’d gone to the same

…

got into a taxi after leaving the hotel. The driver asked, “Where to,

go? At this moment, she recalled how her best friend, Holly Green, had dragged her to the city’s most renowned private club when she was drunk

breathe, and her chest felt unbearably heavy. She pressed

turned to look

her senses and dazedly tugged a few hundred-dollar bills from her purse. “Keep the

watched as she stumbled into the club. “What a pity. Such a pretty

slapped a debit card on the counter. “I have five million dollars here. Get me the most handsome man in

her up and said politely,

some wet wipes from her bag and removed

short while.” As Erin turned to leave, the receptionist secretly snapped a photo of her side profile and sent it to the owner of

hell? How dare you send me a photo of

but…she has five million dollars…” The receptionist couldn’t resist giving it a

from Jamie that you’re new. I’ll give you one more chance instead of firing you, and I’m warning you: I’m

Erin stand up and walk toward

rush to her head. The man was also unbelievably handsome. She gulped and trained her gaze on him, but her question was directed at the receptionist. “This is the