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.”

ingrate, and you stole my line. Make sure to split our assets equally!” After that, Erin turned to leave.

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 worked for! The only way I’ll agree to divorce is if

twisted so painfully that she could barely breathe. She looked up at him and said, “Fine.

decisiveness 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 shed a tear at

on their conversation, was delighted by this turn

she wanted nothing more than to get hopelessly drunk. She wore a shirt and jeans she borrowed from Holly, and

the food

…

minutes later, Holly hurried over to Erin’s table. She plopped herself down in the chair and called

deliberately trying to get me drunk, Holly? I’ve already had two beers…” Erin’s face was red. She stared at

you drunk tonight. Haven’t you heard that some liquor makes you more lucid the more you drink it? I know exactly how you feel right now, so drink as much as you want. Also, feel free to cry.

time again that a woman’s chastity means the world to a man. She said that my father was disgusted to

nothing to make it better. Perhaps alcohol was the only thing that could temporarily keep the pain at bay.

were dating, yet he refused to lay a finger on me after we got married. He started spending

when she picked up on Erin’s underlying meaning. “Wait, don’t tell me you and

what I’m saying.” Erin downed the rest of her

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

Erin having trouble remaining upright. “Babe, I think you’ve had enough. Let’s go home,

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

other party sent her a photo. She was instantly shocked into sitting up straight. Whoever was texting her sent her another message. “I’ll spread this all over the Internet if you don’t