Trouble in Paradise by Three Way

Nicholas laughed suddenly after hearing what I said. His eyes were red, and his voice held a tinge of despair.

"Yes, I'm filthy. I let another woman climb on top of me. I wish I could tear off this skin of mine. But Ariana, if you truly don't love me anymore, why would you care if I'm filthy or not?

"If you really cared, you would've dragged Claudia off me by her hair. I was drunk, but were you? If you cared, why didn't you stop her? Instead, you waited until after everything had happened to say that I'm filthy." Nicholas's dark eyes began to glisten with tears. He let out a bitter laugh before looking up at me again.

"Ariana, if you truly cared, why didn't you tell me sooner that Claudia had inappropriate feelings for me? If you had made me realize earlier, would we have..." Would we have ended up like this?

If he had known earlier, we wouldn't have divorced. There would be no Pete, no Tabitha Shelman. It would've been our daughter, Tabitha Hawk.

For a moment, I thought I had just heard the funniest joke of the year. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to laugh. I stared blankly at Nicholas, trying to make sense of each word he said. Drag Claudia by the hair? He didn't know Claudia had inappropriate feelings for him?

I understood every word. But somehow, I couldn't grasp what he meant when he put them all together.

This was Claudia-someone he once claimed he couldn't live without. She was his sacred, untouchable first love, the one he constantly restrained himself from with his rosary beads.

all become my fault when our relationship

reached a point where there was no turning back. If he wanted to blame

enough, then 30 years. Once we both grew

talk another

you even know what you're saying right now." I glanced down at my wrinkled dress and smiled abruptly. "Let me go. I can't

I had been holding back silently

me go...

on top of Nicholas was no longer the issue between

our relationship had never been about her. It wasn't her presence or absence that

door, but Nicholas grabbed my wrist. "You

him off before he

matter if