001

Hayden's POV

 

 

My heart raced with excitement as I pushed the door of my apartment open. Jason would be home. After weeks of business trips and hurried phone calls, I couldn't wait to see him, sit across from him at the dinner table, and watch him complain about putting too much basil in the pasta.

My hands were moving fast as my brain whirled over the meal I would cook. It had been ages since we sat down to a decent dinner together. Fast food and quick take-outs had been a ruler in his life while traveling, and it would be different for tonight.

 

Just as I reached for the cutting board, a muffled noise stopped me dead in my tracks. I froze, tensing to listen. 

 

Whatever it was that made the sound was softly guttural and much too intimate to be a sound that would be innocent.

 

My stomach twisted to hear it, and I glanced down the hall in time to hear the bed creaking at a rhythmic pace.

 

No… no, it wasn't that, I muttered, hanging onto the countertop.

 

Perhaps he was watching a movie on his phone? That hope died as another groan echoed down the hall, followed by a low, raspy voice.

 

I moved slowly and closer to the noise, my heart hammering in my ears. The bedroom door was open just enough for them to look inside without them noticing. My breath caught in my throat as I peeked through the crack.

 

And then there was Jason, naked and sweaty all over his body, pounding into someone. And guess what? The man on the bottom wasn't a stranger. It was Marcus, my cousin!

 

The earth turned sideways, and I recoiled, swinging round away from the door, my sight blurring. I had my mouth open, but no sound came out. 

 

I wanted to shriek, shake myself awake from the dream, but my feet took a step to answer a question that had reached my brain,  "Jason?"

The words barely come as a whisper at first.

 

We both froze. Jason's head jerked in my direction, his face screwed up in frustration more than guilt. Marcus didn't even try to cover up in his seat. He smiled to himself and looked very pleased with himself.

 

"Hayden," Jason muttered, voice flat, possibly annoyed and slightly repentant. Not even a shadow of moving away from Marcus was forthcoming from Jason.

 

"What the heck are you home so early?"

 

I blinked at him, brain-stuttering over his question. What am I doing here? My chest heaved as I fought the words out of my mouth, voice shaking. "I-I live here. Jason, what are you doing?"

 

"What does it look like?" Marcus sneered, the contempt in his voice unmistakable. "We're in the middle of something. Or we were until you interrupted."

 

I stared at him, his words pounding in my ears. "Marcus… you're my cousin. How—how could you—"

 

Marcus shrugged and leaned back against the headboard like he didn't have a care in the world. "Don't be so shocked. It's not as though you'd been keeping him satisfied."

 

My heart cracked into pieces. I turned to Jayden, praying for denial, for some remorse on his face. Instead, he rolled his eyes and, with deliberate slowness, hauled a pair of boxers up his legs.

 

"It's not about you, Hayden," he said coldly. "Don't make a big deal about it."

 

"Not about me?" My voice rose, and I could hear it shaking with rage. 

 

"We've been together for two years, Jason! I trusted you! And you—"

 

"I what?" he snarled back, his eyes narrowing. "I found somebody who doesn't cling to me every second of the day? Who knows how to have real fun?"

 

His words hit me like a slap. "I—I thought you loved me," I whispered, tears streaming down my cheeks.

 

"Love?" His mouth twisted at the word. "God, Hayden, you are foolish. Do you think I'd stay with you out of love? Come on, look at you. You are weak and pathetic. I am  tired of a little pushover like you."

 

My knees buckled, but I caught myself by grabbing onto the doorframe. "I gave you everything," I whispered. "I thought-"

 

"You thought wrong," Marcus said, rolling off the bed. He walked toward me with a smirk, his nakedness making the moment even more humiliating. 

 

And that damned smirk annoyed me. "You were only ever a stand-in, sweetheart. Jason is too decent to say this, but you don't deserve him."

 

"Stop," I whispered, breaking from my voice.

 

But he didn't. He leaned in closer, hot breath against my ear. "Want to hear the best part?" he whispered his words, a spill of malice. "This was all your dad's idea."

 

My breath caught. "What do you mean?"

 

Marcus pulled back far enough to smirk at me. "Oh, you didn't know? Your dad paid Jason to do this. I paid him to make you go away. Guess he didn't think you were worth hanging on to, either."

 

My eyes swam, and the earth began to turn. His words sank in. "No," I puffed and shook my head. "You're lying."

 

"Why would I lie?" Marcus demanded, incredulous. "Blame your father, Hayden. He's the one pulling all the strings."

 

Jason didn't say a word. They didn't deny it; they didn't even look at me.

 

I stumbled backward, my chest heaving as the room closed in around me. "You… both of you…" My voice cracked, tears blurring my vision.

Jason let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "Just go, Hayden. It's over."

 

"Go?" I repeated, my voice trembling. "You're tossing me out like I'm nothing?"

 

"Because you are nothing," Marcus sneered.

 

I could hardly breathe. The walls felt like they were closing in, and the air was suddenly too thick. Without thinking, I turned to run, their laughter echoing behind me in pursuit.

 

The door closed behind me, and the stab of the evening wind slapped me in the face. My knees buckled under me, and I dropped to the pavement, clutching at air.

 

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and the world blurred before my eyes. I folded my arms about my breast as if that could ease the pain, but it only quickened.

 

"How could they?" I whispered, my voice trembling with fear. "How could they do this to me?"

 

The road was empty. Quiet. When I turned around, I found myself with no place to go. No one to reach out to. My father … My father did this. For what reason did he defile my relationship and break my trust?

 

I dropped to my knees, and sobs wracked my throat. I could feel the scrape of my fingers on the pavement as I heaved against my chest in ragged breathing while tears streamed out.

 

"Why?" I choked, struggling to make myself heard.