Chapter 1

I smiled softly as I placed the batter in the oven. Anthony liked to have healthy dessert with every meal, and with how absent he'd been at dinner lately, I wanted him to find everything to his taste.

As I wiped my hands clean with a towel, I heard my phone ring. I really didn't have the time for a conversation now, I thought to myself, but changed my mind when I looked at the screen. It was Chloe on a video call.

“Hi, Marissa girlll!!” Her voice rang loudly from the other side of the phone, and I cracked a smile.

“Hi, Chloe. I'm–”

“No! Don't tell me you're busy or any of that stuff. I need you to come with me to Regal tonight.”

“Chloe, I can't do that. Anthony is going to be home soon, and I'm trying to put everything in place for him.”

She rolled her eyes at my statement.

“I saw that.” I said.

“Yea? I intended for you to see it.” She drawled.

I gave her a look that said I didn't like where this was going, and she rolled her eyes again.

“Chloe!!!!”

“Okay, okay. Go ahead and choose some man over me.”

At that, I laughed. “First of all, you're not actually playing that card. Secondly, the “some man” is my husband, and you know I'm not choosing him over you.”

She pouted before responding, “Yea, I know, but I just really wanted my friend with me.”

“Chloe, you always have someone latching to your shoulders when you have to go anywhere. What happened this time?" I asked calmly.

“Good point. This weird guy I met last month was supposed to go with me, but he cancelled at the last minute.”

“So you're going to use me as a replacement for your weird guy?”

“Exactly!”

I laughed again. “It's just a party, Chloe. You could miss it.”

She gasped dramatically. “Miss it!? You know that's not an option, Rissa girl. I work hard, and I deserve to party hard.”

This time, it was I who rolled my eyes.

“I saw that!” Chloe said.

“Of course, you did. Look, Chloe. I've got to go. I've got Anthony's wheat cake in the oven, and then I have to set the table.”

Chloe snickered. “What in the seven heavens is wheat cake, Marissa?”

“Something you have no idea about because you never eat anything healthy.”

“Well, we used to eat all the unhealthy stuff together before.” She said wistfully before continuing in her excited tone, “Anyways, I'm going to go get ready for the party. Bye!” She hung up before I could respond.

Sometimes, Chloe's energy could be overwhelming. She and I were direct opposites, but I loved her. We had done everything together since we were teenagers, and I couldn't imagine losing what we shared. With a smile on my face, I took out the cake from the oven half an hour after, and began setting the table. Anthony would be home anytime now.

As I placed the pretty china plates on the table, my memory flashed to plates being thrown at the wall, but I shook it off. Happy thoughts, only. We'd agreed that this was a fresh start.

After setting the table. I went upstairs to dress up for dinner, and decided to stay in bed for a couple minutes while I waited for him to be home.

I was startled awake by my sleep alarm. It was 10:00pm. Three hours past the time when Anthony had said he'd be home.

I picked up my phone and sent a text, “Hi, baby. Where are you?”

The response came less than ten minutes later. “Got held up at the office. See you tomorrow.”

Just like that. Again.

I'd gone to all that trouble to make dinner, and was this all he had to say? At least, other times, he was kind enough to let me know that he wouldn't be coming home.

I lay on the large bed, and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. They weren't going to fix anything so why bother?

Without giving myself time to think about it, I put a call through to Chloe. She answered on the third ring. There was music blaring in the background. 

“Hey, girl!” She shouted above the music.

“Hey, where did you want me to go with you again?”

***********************************

Regal Club was a place for elites who liked to party. There were posh cars parked outside. The potters wore suits that made them look like businessmen. A heavy-looking bouncer stood at the entrance. Two scantily but expensively dressed women sauntered in, giggling excitedly. I certainly didn't belong here, but it was exactly what I needed.

Chloe stepped out in her small black leather dress and six inch stilettos. She looked like a movie star as she walked towards me. She wrapped me in a hug, and made loud smacking noises as she kissed both my cheeks.

“Come on, girl!!! Time to partyyyyy!” She said, and pulled me inside. One of the things I loved about Chloe was that she knew when to ask questions and when to just leave you to process your thoughts.

Inside, the lights swirled in different colors and bodies blended together on the dance floor. I wasn't much of a dancer, so we headed to the bar. Nothing like a few shots of vodka to clear your head and muddle it up at the same time. After a few shots, Chloe suddenly jumped to her feet and pulled my arm.

“Come on, girl. What's a party without some dancing?”

Perhaps, because the drink was already getting to my head, or perhaps because I just wanted to throw all care to the wind, I let her pull me into the sweaty crowd, and danced as terribly as I knew how to.

The music suddenly switched from upbeat tempo to slow and sensual and there was a loud shout of approval from everyone on the dance floor. Chloe was already in some tall guy's arms. Seeing as I couldn't do the same, I squeezed my way out of the dance floor.

As I walked back to the bar with a happy smile on my lips, I heard a familiar laughter and felt my heart plummet to the ground. I stopped in my tracks, and turned around abruptly praying that I was wrong, but I wasn't.

Seated on a sofa in the lounge was the last person I'd expected to see here. There was a girl sprawled across his lap, and his hands lay casually over her breasts. She said something into his ears, and another laughter erupted from his throat.

He hadn't laughed at anything I said like that in a while. I felt the first trickle of tear threaten to drop from my eyes as my feet dragged slowly towards them. My heart seemed to constrict in my chest, and I feared that I would fall to the ground.

“Anthony….” I said in a barely audible voice. He raised his head to see who it was, and in that moment, our eyes locked.