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…”

at the floor as she recalled how her husband, Ian Sloan, had

her. Tracy? Was he talking about Tracy Brown, her classmate from university? They’d lost contact after

friend for Tracy’s number. Then, she invited Tracy over under the guise of wanting her to come up with a design for their bathroom because she wanted to renovate it. Tracy had come over that afternoon, and Erin took the opportunity to peek at her

same hotel 86 times…Now that Erin had a location, she tracked down

…

leaving the hotel. The driver asked, “Where to,

to the city’s most

breathe, and her chest felt unbearably heavy. She pressed a hand to her chest hoping it would help soothe the pain, but it didn’t help in the least. Tears rolled down her face,

an hour later, the driver turned to look at her. “We’re here,

returned to her senses and dazedly tugged a few

the club. “What a pity. Such a pretty

into the club, made a beeline for the front desk, and slapped a debit card on the counter. “I have five million dollars here. Get me the most handsome man in

politely, “Welcome, miss.

Erin whipped out some wet wipes from her bag and removed

lounge over there while I make a call? It’ll only be a short while.” As Erin turned to leave, the receptionist secretly snapped a

growled, “What the hell? How dare you send me a photo of such

dollars…” The receptionist couldn’t resist giving it a shot at the thought of the

wasn’t at Twilight at the moment. Instead, he was in his office. His tone turned frosty as he said, “I heard from Jamie that you’re new. I’ll give you one more chance instead of firing you, and I’m warning you: I’m

when she saw Erin stand up and walk toward a man

about 27 or 28 and was about 6’2”. He wore a dark, fitted suit. His broad shoulders, toned waist, and long legs made Erin’s blood rush to her head. The man was also unbelievably handsome. She gulped and