'I love you forever,' Lucas said as he held Isabelle against his body firmly. He kissed her forehead. 'I love you forever,' Isabelle repeated before the cuddled up and fell asleep in each other's arms. Isabelle woke up and realised she had just spent the night on her apartment floor, her body in pain and her head spinning from all the wine she drunk. She got up from the floor and sat on her couch. The 3 empty bottles of wine stared back at her. She buried her face into her palms and groaned. She realised she wasn't with Lucas in their bed. She had been dreaming but was surprised by how real it felt. 'I felt him, his touch. it was so real.' Isabelle had never imagined her life without Lucas, but now she had to live it. It felt strange, but there was nothing she could do, and she knew it. Isabelle needed some sort of escape from the most dreadful weeks she had. She knew that drinking to dissolve or drown her sorrows was not only pointless, It made her feel alright and happy wh
Isabelle created a social media account. She hadn't used social media since she married into the Archer family. Lucy told her she didn't need a social media presence, "Let the bloggers do their jobs." she'd say. 'Well, I'm nolonger part of the Archer family,' she thought to herself as she entered Isabelle Turner under the Username option. 'Isabelle Turner' somehow, her name didn't feel like her own. 'Isabelle' did feel familiar, but 'Turner'? Not so much. The last name 'Archer' felt like it was hers, like it was a part of her, but now it was gone. Just like Lucas. After 13 years of being an Archer, she couldn't be one anymore. 'Lucy must be smiling in her sleep,' She sighed. 'Here goes nothing,' She said to herself as she clicked sign up on her phone's screen. She knew Lucas did not have a profile, so she looked Lucy up in hopes of finding something. But there was nothing, She owned a profile with no recent pictures or updates. Isabelle ran her fingers through her cu
'Hi Isabelle, I hope you are well. I couldn't believe it when your profile was suggested to me as a potential friend based on the school we both attended. I haven't heard from you in a while and wonder if you are alright. I would like for us to meet and catch up, only if you don't mind. Please contact me as soon as you can and take care.' The message ended with her name and contact details. Isabelle couldn't believe her eyes. She found a0 bench and sat down before reading the message a couple more times. She knew who had sent it from the name displayed on the profile, Lisa Michelle Ross. Lisa and Isabelle were long-time friends. They lived in the same neighbourhood, went to the same school, and literally did everything together. Lisa was Isabelle's maid of honour on her wedding day. She was her best friend. But a few years into her marriage, Isabelle had been forced to cut all contact with everyone she knew. Her friends and her family. Isabelle put her phone back
"I asked you to leave my room." Lucas said while trying to stay calm. Even though he tried, he did a terrible job at hiding how angry he was. "Why do we always have to do this, Lucas!?" Mia commanded. "You only want me in this room when it's convenient for you!" She yelled almost out of breath. She pulled out a chair from the dressing table and sat. "You know I am here to stay, and if you have a problem with that, you should address it with your mother, Lucas." She added mockingly. Lucas stood quietly, his face with no emotion. He stared at Mia and did not break eye contact. He wondered how exactly he had gotten to that point. He did not understand how he let his mother get away with everything, even against his will. Lucas smirked as he placed his hands in his pockets, "Fine. Stay however long it pleases you." He said to Mia. He then called out to his servants and asked them to pack up his things. "Let the staff at the penthouse know to expect me," he said to the staff bef
Isabelle woke up to kisses and morning breathe. She kept her eyes closed in fear of it being a dream, and Lucas disappeared immediately she opened her eyes. "Good morning, Mrs Archer," Lucas whispered. The words, the voice, everything was so familiar, yet felt like a distant memory. She reminisced on how she woke up to those four words every morning for three years since they got married. After their three years mark, everything seemed to change, Lucas, their relationship, everything. Lucas kissed her on the lips, and she braced herself for whatever would happen after she opened her eyes. He was real. He was really there, with her. She smiled at the realization that everything had happened the previous night and that he was still there in bed with her. "Good morning, Mr Archer," she replied in her sleepy tone. Lucas began to kiss her as he told her how much he had missed her and how home did not feel like home without her. Isabelle wanted to ask why he had divorced he
Lucas stormed into his house angrily. He wondered why Lucy would lie to Isabelle. His driver told him Lucy would be waiting for him back at his house when he got into his car from Isabelle's apartment. Mia stood from where she sat on the couch as she tried to hug Lucas as he entered, but Lucas pushed her away. "Don't you ever touch me," he yelled angrily. Mia scoffed as she folded her arms in shock and half embarrassment. "Lucy!" Lucas wondered where she could be. He began to walk towards the stairwell when Lucy emerged from the hallway that led to the library. "Good morning to you too, son," she mocked. "It's too early to be this angry, don't you think?" She spoke calmly with a smile on her face that made Lucas even angrier. 'She's enjoying this.' He thought as he watched her walk towards him. She playfully pinched he cheek, "Oh my boy, have you had anything to eat?" He starred at her in disbelief, 'How could ruining someone's life make her this happ?' "Why would you tel
Isabelle woke up abruptly to the sound of her alarm. She groaned as she questioned herself as to why she needed an alarm. She had nothing actively going on in her life, and now she felt like she had no reason to wake up early in the morning or a reason to smile. She grabbed the alarm and hit snooze before yanking the batteries out and throwing the alarm into a drawer right beside her bed. She lay on her stomach and groaned into her pillow at the thought of what had happened the previous morning. As she began to doze off, her phone vibrated, and she grabbed it to check who was calling her, 'Lisa Ross.' She groaned as she realised that she had a meeting planned for later that afternoon with Lisa. She let it go to voicemail in hopes that Lisa would be calling to reschedule. She hesitantly played the voice message Lisa sent, "Hi Isa, sorry, old habits," she chuckled. "I just thought to call in and see if you're still up for lunch later today. I'm just excited and can't wait
Lucas walked down the stairs when he heard voices. The voices he heard were giggling and chatting. They were familiar voices, but he wished they wouldn't be there in his house. He hoped he would wake up and find them gone.But there they were, still in his house like a bad dream. He clenched his jaw in anger. Mia and Lucy quieted down as Lucas stepped off the last few stairs. They looked in his direction, but he tried to pretend they were invisible. "Aren't you going to greet your mother, wife-to-be, and son, Lucas?" Lucy asked with a grin as if mocking him. Lucas continued to walk towards the exit like he was not affected by Lucy's words. "Lucas Archer Jr!" Lucy said as loud as she could in an attempt to get a reaction from Lucas, but he knew her too well and was not going to give her the satisfaction by responding to her. "LJ, I love the sound of that," Mia cheerfully added as she rubbed her stomach. Lucas angrily stopped in his tracks and turned back towards where h
Isabelle brought her car keys out of her purse. She turned towards Lisa and said goodbye. "What? No. Why would I let you drive alone in your state?" Lisa argued as she rubbed Isabelle's shoulder. "I'm coming with you." "I need some time to my self," She forced out the words. Talking was the last thing she wanted to do. She needed to think, to process what she had just seen, how it had happened, and how she felt about it all. "I understand, but please let me make sure you get home safe, and I will leave you alone if you still want me to. I promise." Lisa raised her pinky finger, hoping that some humour would help Isabelle feel better. Isabelle knew Lisa would not leave her alone no matter what she would say to try and convince her, and she was not in the mood to try, so she just nodded in agreement, and they both walked to her car. Lisa tried to talk to Isabelle during their drive back to Isabelle's apartment building, but Isabelle asked that they just drive their quietly.
Lucas woke up and sat at the edge of his bed. He let out a groan when he felt pain in his head as he tried to stretch his body. He buried his face into his palms as he tried to remember what had happened the previous night. All he could remember was arriving at his house and being pulled away from the crowd by his mother to get scolded about arriving at his own event late. As he was still trying to process the previous nights events, he felt movement in his bed behind him. He slowly looked back to see who he had shared his bed with and saw a naked Mia under his sheets. He let out a loud groan that woke her up from her slumber. "Good morning, Mr Archer," Mia said in what sounded like a purr. "Was last night not amazing? It was one of the best nights of my entire life, all thanks to Lucy.
***** "Thank you for bringing me out for brunch, I have been cooked up in my tiny apartment for days now." Isabelle gently grabbed Lisa's hand and gave it a tight, soft squeeze. They both giggled as they walked the curb that led to the restaurants entrance. They walked into the restaurant and found an empty table with two seats close to the restaurant's glass walls that gave a view of the street. "Perfect." Lisa exclaimed as she nodded her head in the direction of the table for Isabelle to look. They both walked towards the table and settled in sitting across each other. A waiter brought their menus to them and walked away when they asked to be excused for a few minutes while they decided on what to order. "Have you had a chance to speak to Marcus?" Lisa asked with concern. Isabelle had mentioned her intentions to call him but never told her how their conversation went. "Uhm.. No, not yet," Isabelle exhaled sharply, her eyes glued to the menu. "I wanted to call him yesterd
"I still can not believe he agreed to this, it-it still feels like a dream," Mia shrieked in excitement as she watched people walk into Lucas's house with decorations and other things meant for her engagement party to Lucas. "I told you not to worry. My son is a gentleman who takes pleasure in fulfilling his promises." Lucy said with a smile on her face. Mia walked closer to Lucy, almost skipping in her heels, "Can I hug you?" She fake pouted. Lucy took a few steps closer to her and then hugged her first. "After tonight, we will be family, and you will not have to ever ask for my permission to hug me." Lucy had been asking Isabelle while she was still married to her son Lucas when they would have a baby, Lucas had made it clear to Isabelle that he was not ready and dis not want to talk about it but Isabelle dis not te her that. Instead, she kept it to herself and never gave Lucy a response anytime she would ask. "You should go get ready, the party will begin in a few hour
"Lucy, I was not expecting you today." Lucas said sternly as he watched his mother close the door behind her after she had walked into his office abruptly. He sensed there was something wrong, Lucy had a hard time hiding what she felt or thought, and one could simply read her mood from her facial expressions. "I did not think I needed to notify anyone before coming to see my son," she responded, sarcasm laced in her tone. "That's not what I meant. Why are you here?" Lucas knew his mother as much as she knew him, and in that moment, he knew that she was not in the mood for small talk. "You are getting engaged. Tomorrow evening." Lucas tried to speak, but Lucy raised a hand to silence him. "Don't you know better than to interrupt me when I am speaking?" She scorfed. Lucas laid back in his chair as he crossed his hands and brought them to his chest, his lips touching, forming a straight line. "Good. As I was saying, you promised me that you would engage Mia and then offic
"Annnd.... what did you say?" Lisa shrieked, unable to hide how excited she was."He said he liked me when we were in high school, and he still does. I reminded him that I am pregnant and he insisted that it does not change anything." Isabelle sighed deeply as she finished her sentence."Oh, why do you not sound excited then? Is that not good news?" Isabelle could not see Lisa's face, but she imagined the shock and confusion."I told him I needed some time to think about it." Isabelle defended herself."Yep! That makes sense," Lisa giggled. She knew Isabelle liked Marcus too, but she also knew Isabelle well enough to know that they only reason she was holding back was because she still hoped that one day Lucas would come back to her."I just-I guess I do not know if he is really fine with starting something with me knowing that I am pregnant for someone else," Isabelle tried to find an excuse that Lisa would believe. Even though she had developed feelings for Marcus, part of her was
She got to the coffee place twenty minutes earlier than planned so she could pick out the best spot in the cafe and to ensure that she had enough time to calm her nerves before he arrived. She got out of the car and walked into the cafe. "Isabelle," she looked around to find whoever had just called out her name. Her heart skipped when she saw Marcus rising from his seat, waving her towards him. She walked towards him with one of the biggest smiles she had ever worn, "Heyyyy," he reached out to hug her and proceeded to pull out her chair for her. "Thank you," she whispered as she waited for him to take a seat. "You are early." "So are you," he responded, and they chuckled in unison. "I wanted to," they both said almost at the same time. They were both nervous and could not hide it. They realised this almost at the same time, and it made them both realise that they felt the same way about each other. Somehow, the realisation helped them calm their nerves. After they h
As she sat at that window, thoughts about her night with Marcus after Lisa's book launch event. 'I need to give my self chance to be happy.' She decided in that moment that she would reach out to Marcus. She thought of why she needed to sit alone every day crying about the divorce and her ex-husband moving on from her and her marriage to someone else. 'I deserve to be happy too.' She stood from her seat at the window and walked to the couch where her phone was. She picked up the card Marcus had left with his contact details on it from her side table and dialled in his number. She wanted to call him but decided against it and sent him a text message instead. 'Hello, stranger. This is me texting you and hoping we are good.' She clicked send on her screen and immediately regretted it. She did not regret sending a text message to him. She just wished she had gone through the text message a couple of times before sending. She kept her phone in her hands in hopes that he would
"Thank you for inviting me to lunch," Isabelle offered as she hooked her arm to Lisa's as they walked out of the restaurant. "I really needed it." "I know," Lisa laughed playfully. Marcus walking right behind them. "So, how did your doctors visit go?" Lisa asked in a whisper to avoid being heard by Marcus. "Uhm," Isabelle hesitated for a while as images of what she had seen at the hospital earlier came back to her. "Good," she coughed up. Lisa and Marcus's company had made her forget. Forget that she had seen her ex-husband leaving the hospital with his now fiancé who he probably cheated on her with when they were still married. 'How could he be with her like that? I was his wife but there I was going to my appointment with the doctor by myself.' Isabelle scorfed out loud. Lisa noticed Isabelle's mood change. She wished she had not brought it up at that time. She had not seen Isabelle that happiy in a while and she had just ruined it. "Marcus, I will ride with Isabelle