Chapter 4
Adaline Myers POV:
The night wore on, a grotesque parody of a celebration. The Crew got drunker, louder. The bonfire crackled, spitting embers into the dark sky like angry fireflies. I remained on my shadowed deck, a silent sentinel cataloging every single betrayal.
Jade, flushed with alcohol and victory, was holding court. She was telling stories, her voice carrying easily across the still lake.
"You guys should have seen him on his wedding night!" she slurred, draping herself over Julian' s shoulders from behind. "I was so heartbroken, crying my eyes out at the bar across the street. And what does he do?"
She paused for dramatic effect.
"He shows up. Still in his tux! He left his own wedding reception to come sit with me all night and make sure I was okay. Isn' t he the bestest friend in the whole world?"
The Crew roared their approval. "That' s our Julian! So loyal!"
A memory, sharp and painful, pierced through the fog of my rage. My wedding night. I' d waited for him in our hotel suite, the bed covered in rose petals. I waited for hours, calling his phone, which went straight to voicemail. He' d stumbled in just before dawn, smelling of whiskey and another woman' s perfume-a scent I now recognized as Jade' s signature Chanel. He' d claimed his best man had dragged him out for a final celebratory drink, and I, the trusting, naive bride, had believed him.
The lie was so audacious, so cruel, it stole my breath.
Jade wasn't done. The alcohol had loosened her tongue completely.
"I was telling him the other day," she continued, her fingers playing with the collar of his shirt, "that my biological clock is ticking. I don' t want a husband, but I totally want a baby. And you know what this one said?"
She poked Julian' s cheek. "He said he' d be my donor! No questions asked! He said he' d be honored to have a baby with me."
"Damn, Julian! That' s some next-level friendship!" Mark yelled, raising his beer in a toast. "To the future baby Pollard-Shields!"
They all cheered. They were toasting the creation of a child between my husband and his mistress, using my last name.
Jade turned her head, her lips brushing against Julian' s ear. "But what about the ice queen at home? Wouldn' t she have a problem with that?"
I held my breath. The world seemed to stop.
Julian didn' t even hesitate. He took a long sip of his beer, his expression unconcerned, almost bored.
"It' s not an issue," he said calmly. "I' ve been switching out her birth control pills with placebos for the last year. I' m not having a kid with her. Ever."
The sound that escaped my lips was not human. It was a raw, strangled gasp of pure agony. Beside me, Kenneth shot to his feet.
"That' s it," he snarled, his voice a low growl. "I' m going to kill him."
"Ken, please," Carolyne, his girlfriend, said, her hand on his arm, her own face pale with shock. She had arrived an hour ago, a silent, supportive presence at my side.
Kenneth turned to me, his eyes blazing. "Addie, you cannot let this stand. This is… this is monstrous."
I didn' t answer. The bright, cheerful lights of the resort seemed to sear my eyes. It was funny. It was all so horribly, grotesquely funny.
I started to laugh.
It began as a small, choked chuckle, then grew into a full-blown, body-wracking peal of laughter that was half-sob. Tears streamed down my face, hot and furious.
He' d told me he wanted to be child-free. He' d held me when I cried after month after month of negative pregnancy tests. He' d told me it was okay, that I was all he needed. He' d looked me in the eyes and said, "You are my baby, Adaline. That' s enough for me."
It was all a lie. A sick, twisted, calculated lie to deny me the one thing I' d wanted more than anything, while promising it to another woman.
Across the lake, Jade' s triumphant voice cut through my haze of pain.
"See? This is why having a 'best brother' is a million times better than having a husband," she declared to her audience. "I get all the perks-the gifts, the trips, the emotional support, a potential baby daddy-and I don' t have to do any of the work! I don' t have to turn into some boring, nagging housewife."
She let out a delighted sigh. "Honestly, I must have saved a small country in a past life to deserve this."
That was it. That was the end.
The laughter died in my throat, replaced by a terrifying, arctic calm. The pain was still there, a raging inferno in my chest, but I was no longer consumed by it. I was standing in the eye of the storm, and I could see with perfect, chilling clarity.
I stood up.
"Addie?" Carolyne asked, her voice laced with concern.
I turned away from the sickeningly sweet scene across the lake. I would not give them the satisfaction of another second of my attention. My show was over.
Theirs was just about to begin.
"I' m done watching," I said, my voice a low, dangerous whisper. "Now, it' s time for them to be watched."
I walked back into the villa, my steps firm and resolute. The time for tears was over. It was time for war.
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