All Chapters of Traded For His First Love : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Elliot POVVenus’s suggestion had been damn awkward. Spencer and I, going out together? We had nothing in common—hell, what were we even going to talk about? I hugged Sammy tightly, promising I’d pick him up later, my chest aching with the need to stay, to be part of this moment with Venus and the kids. But I forced myself to step away, descending the elevator with my rival in a silence so thick it felt suffocating. There was nothing to say between us, nothing but the weight of our shared history and Venus’s shadow looming over it all.When we reached the parking lot, I pointed to my car, my voice gruff but steady. “We’ll take my car, right?”Spencer rolled his eyes, letting out an unnecessary, mocking chuckle. “The city’s mine, so I’m driving,” he said, striding toward his sleek black sedan, his movements sharp and confident.I sighed, shoving my hands into my pants pockets, already knowing this day would be a bloody challenge. But I couldn’t disrespect Venus—I could see she was ben

Elliot POVThe lads were still holed up in the club, drinking and yapping away as the hours dragged on. The place reeked of bourbon and weed, the air thick with the haze of their excess. Josh, Andrew, Ernest, and Spencer were tossing back drinks like water, their laughter growing louder and sloppier with each round. I nursed a single glass, the amber liquid barely touched—my mind was too tangled with other things to let loose. Venus kept creeping into my thoughts, her smile from this morning with Sammy and Avie haunting me, and the sting of Spencer’s taunts from the car ride still burned. I couldn’t shake the image of her in that red lace he’d bragged about, and it twisted my gut with a mix of jealousy and longing.By the time night fell, the club’s buzz had dulled into a drunken hum. I slipped out to the balcony, the cool air hitting my face as I lit a cigarette, the ember glowing against the city skyline. My heart ached, a dull throb of missing Reese—Venus—settling in. I wondered w

Reese POVWhen I caught Elliot with the doors of my wardrobe wide open, my heart raced in my chest, and a cold certainty settled in: the façade of my supposed marriage to Spencer had come to an end. He stood there, his eyes gleaming with a mix of accusation and hope, his hands still hovering over my clothes as if he could find answers in the folds of my dresses.His question—“What kind of marriage is this where you don’t even share a wardrobe?”—cut through the air, sharp and direct, and I knew I could no longer hide the truth.I sighed, the weight of months of lies crushing me. “Good heavens, how disconcerting…” I murmured, turning my gaze to Spencer, sprawled on my bed, snoring heavily, the smell of bourbon and smoke still clinging to him after an entire afternoon drinking with his friends at the club.“Elliot,” I murmured, keeping my voice low so as not to wake Sammy and Avie, who were sleeping in the next room, exhausted after a day filled with laughter and dinosaurs. “Let’s talk s

Reese POV“Careful, don’t fall,” he said, but his words came out in a drawn-out growl.As I let out a moan with my breath, I’d already pulled him closer and joined our lips in a desperate kiss.I felt his body stiffen, completely taken aback by my unexpected kiss—he hadn’t anticipated it, and probably wouldn’t have in a million years. Maybe he’d lost all hope of ever having me this intimately again, but even I didn’t know what I was doing in that moment, because this had never been my plan.Elliot groaned against my lips. When he pulled back a millimeter to look at me with that expression of utter confusion, I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. Then he moved, his hands at my waist pulling me with more urgency against his body, his lips seeking mine with renewed desperation.It was as if he’d been thirsting for this for so long… and in a way, things weren’t much different for me.The kiss ignited something I couldn’t control—a wildfire that consumed the last threads of my r

Bethany POVToday was one of those days that left my heart aching, frustration with Josh swallowing me whole like a wave I couldn’t escape. I woke up with a thread of hope, convinced that if I arrived early at his house, we could share a moment together when he returned—maybe a dinner, a conversation, something to bring us closer for real. I wanted to feel like I meant something to him, that he saw me as the woman who would be his wife, not just a piece on the chessboard of our engagement. But, as always, reality hit me like a cold splash, reminding me that Josh was far from the man of my dreams, no matter how hard I tried to believe otherwise.At least today my waiting room was different, though no less humiliating than the last time I endured that embarrassment at his office. This time, I waited on the sofa in the grand living room of his parents’ mansion. It felt almost pathetic—I’d worn a beautiful dress, taken the time to fix my hair, dabbed on my best perfume, all just to sit h