Love's New Bloom by Simone Hastings

Chapter 4 Threatened

At 3 am, Erin unlocked the door to her home and walked into the living room. She saw a pair of snakeskin heels that didn’t belong to her. Sure enough, Tracy was here. Erin took her shoes off and walked barefoot into the kitchen. Five minutes later, she silently pushed the bedroom door open and padded inside with a pail full of dirty water.

Seeing Ian and Tracy wrapped around each other with her own eyes made her feel like her heart was being ripped to shreds. Hatred filled her eyes as Erin lifted the pail and splashed the water all over them, making them instantly jolt awake.

Ian almost peed himself when he saw someone standing before him. After wiping the water from his face and getting a clear look at who it was, he roared, “Are you fucking nuts, Erin? What the hell did you pour on me?”

Beside him, Tracy immediately pretended to be afraid when she saw Erin. “Ian, I’m scared she’ll hit me…”

He turned to her and wiped her face with the sheets, saying consolingly, “Don’t worry. I won’t let her lay a hand on you!”

Erin couldn’t help sneering when she saw how Tracy remembered to keep Ian’s attention on her despite looking like something the cat had brought in. “I wouldn’t resort to physical violence—it’s just going to dirty my hands!”

Ian gave her a repulsed look. “I have nothing to say since you already know about this. Let’s get a divorce.”

sure to split our assets equally!” After that, Erin turned to leave. She didn’t want to spend another second in their

in his birthday suit. He grabbed her by the arm and said mockingly, “Has your greed addled your brains? Do you even remember who bought this house and the cars? I did! How dare you demand I give you half of what I

painfully that she could barely breathe. She looked

shocked Ian. He didn’t expect her to agree so readily…He thought she’d kick up a fuss. Wasn’t she even going

to shove him away and flee. Tracy, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, was delighted by this turn of events. A victorious smile curved

the wee hours of the night, Erin sat in a taxi, her face tear-streaked. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to get hopelessly drunk. She wore a shirt and jeans she borrowed from Holly, and her heels were placed beside her feet. The taxi driver asked, “Miss, have you decided on a

“Take me to the food

…

in the chair and called out to the stall owner, “Four more bottles of beer for table four,

already had two beers…” Erin’s face was red. She stared at her

drunk tonight. Haven’t you heard that some liquor makes you more lucid

I can remember, she’s told me time and time again that a woman’s chastity means the world to a man. She said that my father was disgusted to find she wasn’t a virgin, and their marriage eventually ended in divorce. That’s why I insisted on waiting until Ian and

it better. Perhaps alcohol was the only thing that could temporarily keep the pain at bay. Getting

lay a finger on me after we got married. He

Erin’s underlying meaning. “Wait,

I’m saying.” Erin downed the rest

was about to probe more when Erin’s phone rang. Erin answered it and yelled drunkenly, “Who the hell do you think you are, calling at such a godforsaken hour? Are you out of your

when she saw Erin having trouble remaining upright. “Babe, I think you’ve

of the villa in hopes that Ian would apologize to her or beg her for forgiveness…it

“Who the hell is this?” She was about to turn her phone off when the other party sent her a photo. She was instantly shocked