Chapter 1

Ember's P.O.V.

“Yes!” I jumped with excitement deep within my heart, but I turned around and realized Alfred was nowhere to be found which made me furrow my eyebrows confused.

I had been playing this game for… I glanced towards the clock and my eyes widened in shock as I realized it was already an hour.

I've been playing for a fucking hour! I immediately picked up my bag from the counter and ran towards the lobby of the hotel while trying to call Alfred.

“Where the hell is he?” I looked around to see if he was anywhere close but not a single sign of a ginger-haired man anywhere.

Perhaps he was in the hotel room. I took the elevator and headed towards the room rushing, I didn't realize when he left or how an hour went by, but all of it happened while…

My body froze in a spot as I looked towards the king-size bed in the middle of the room while Alfred fell off the blonde receptionist who had helped us check in last night.

“What are you doing here?” Alfred's voice brought me back to reality and I looked at him in disbelief as I felt the familiar sting of tears in my eyes, “Look I…"

“Stop… Just stop… Please.” I begged as my voice cracked while my heart scattered like a piece of glass against a rock. "… Get out,” I mumbled as I looked her dead in the eyes and I could see her shivering in fear, but I couldn't care less about how she felt.

“You can't just...” Alfred started, but I cut him short.

“Chase your guest… No… Chase your lover away?” I questioned, daring him to say a single word out of his mouth.

“Yes, you can't just chase her away. I brought her here, and I'll see her out when I…"

“Shut the hell you, Alfred. You… Get out of here!” He wanted to grab her arm, but I slapped it away so fast that I could see the anger flash through his eyes.

“Crystal is…"

“I know she's your goddamn lover, Alfred, do not tell me any more than I know! What the hell do you think you're doing? We met her yesterday and I thought she was just being nice to attend to us as we arrived very late, but you, on the other hand, seem to have had a second thought I didn't know about”

“Can you hear yourself right now? Look at you, Ember, look in the damn mirror!” He turned the mirror towards me, so I could see myself, “... Now look at her, you are nothing compared to her. You not only look loosed, you look so fucking ugly that I can't seem to lay a finger on you without being disgusted!” He yelled in my face and I felt my words being stuck on my tongue.

Tears rolled down my cheeks like droplets of rain against a window glass. This entire time I thought we were perfect, that I thought he was the one I'd end with, that I thought he was the one that I'd fulfil my dream with.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” He looked at me as a wicked smile brightened up his face while he pulled Crystal into his arms, “You are nothing but an ugly old hag, you are nothing, and you will remain nothing, Ember. I'm sure your parents abandoned you for the same reason” Without thinking twice, my hands went swinging in midair and landed on his cheeks as anger flared within me.

“Insult me all you want Alfred but keep my parents out of it, and you fucking claimed that I'm nothing and I will remain nothing, guess what? It's my money we are living on. You live at my house, this…" I spun my finger in a circular form as I looked him dead in the eye, “it's because of me. I found you in the dirt, and you will remain in the dirt, I gave you the job you do, you didn't have a place of your… Hold on a second…" I immediately walked towards our luggage.

I removed the properties of the house we stay in and was hoping to give him a surprise later but it seems like later was over, so I picked up a pen and signed it.

“Here” I grabbed his hands and placed the papers before letting go “... Guess what? Now you have a place of your own and not to worry you have a lot of money in there as well but as for me? I'm done. There is no 'us' anymore but I think this will remind you of 'us' when you take on another fling” I looked towards the receptionist who had shock written all over her face.

“Ember I didn't mean to…"

“Shut your trap, I don't want to hear it. Just do me a favour, don't ever think you could break the person who made you who you are because a few minutes ago when you were trying to, it didn't work” I pulled my luggage and walked out of the room immediately.

I stood in the elevator, trying to fight the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes. It hurts… It hurts so much, that I gripped my heart tightly and took a deep breath as the elevator door opened, and I left the building.

We had come to this hotel to have fun, I mean it was two months before our wedding, and we wanted to at least have fun before the preparation began but turns out no preparations were going to be made after all.

Tears rolled down my eyes as the taxes drove towards the airport. Was I truly unfortunate after all? I mean I had moved from home to home as a child with no parents as my foster parents all claimed I wasn't good enough but even now, the only person I loved, and I thought loved me was just a joke.

Did my parents abandon me because I was a burden like the orphanage said?