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.”

line. Make sure to split our assets equally!” After that, Erin turned to leave.

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

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

thought she’d kick up a fuss. Wasn’t she even going to shed

him away and flee. Tracy, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, was delighted by this turn of events.

She wore a shirt and jeans she borrowed from Holly, and her heels

me to the food

…

plopped herself down in the chair and called out to the stall owner, “Four more bottles

drunk, Holly? I’ve already had two beers…” Erin’s face was red. She stared

some liquor makes

whenever he talked to me…I was raised by a strict mother. As far back as 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

as she chewed her food. She knew her best friend was in terrible pain, but she had nothing to make it better. Perhaps alcohol was the only thing that could temporarily keep the pain at bay. Getting

to lay a finger on me after we got married. He started spending more and more time outside, and things

Erin’s underlying meaning. “Wait, don’t tell me you

Erin downed

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 mind?” Then, she hung up and

remaining upright. “Babe, I

moment, Erin’s phone pinged. She’d received a text message. She’d kept her phone on since storming out of the villa in hopes that Ian would apologize to her or beg her for forgiveness…it seemed she was out of luck. She didn’t recognize the number, and the message read, “Come to our

photo. She was instantly shocked into sitting up straight. Whoever was texting her