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…”

earbud and stared blankly at the floor as

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

following day, Erin asked another 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 phone while she was in the bathroom. It was locked, so she couldn’t see its contents,

recalled how she’d scoured Ian’s bank statements. Over six months, he’d gone to the same hotel 86 times…Now that Erin had a location, she tracked down the hotel room he’d reserved permanently and secretly

…

taxi after leaving the hotel. The driver

best friend, Holly Green, had dragged her to the city’s most renowned private club

barely breathe, and her chest felt unbearably heavy. She pressed a hand to her chest hoping it would help soothe the pain,

hour later, the driver turned

returned to her senses and dazedly tugged a few hundred-dollar bills from her

into the club.

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

up and said politely, “Welcome, miss. Are

out some wet wipes from her

the lounge over there while I make a call? It’ll only be a short while.”

dare you send me a photo of such an ugly woman! You’ll be out of a job the next

couldn’t resist giving it a shot at the thought of

from Jamie that you’re new. I’ll give you one more chance instead of

saw Erin stand up and walk toward

shoulders, toned waist, and long legs made Erin’s blood rush to her head. The man was also unbelievably handsome. She gulped and trained her gaze on