All Chapters of To Love Again: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Nancy threw a birthday party a week after I got the car gift from Sam. She was turning 55, and she wanted to spend the day with friends and family.It was a Tuesday, and Chloe and I came straight from work to the house which was already bubbly with people. We'd been in the house over the weekend, and had also come after work yesterday to help with the planning.Of course, helping with planning basically meant that we'd planned the entire party, and Nancy had squealed excitedly over the stuff that she liked, and vehemently crossed out the things that she didn't.The party seemed to be in full swing, and we joined in on the fun. Chloe's parents had never been fans of alcohol so there was none available at the party. Instead, we had mocktails, juice, and some nonalcoholic wine.We both hugged Nancy tightly and gave her the presents we'd got her. Her eyes watered when I said I loved her and was so grateful for her existence. Some old friends soon came to pull her away.Chloe went outside

The rest of the day at work dragged on, but I kept my head down and focused on getting through it. Nancy’s words still echoed in my mind, but so did the image of Jordan and Cassandra laughing together at the restaurant. Somehow, I felt that the universe had been intentional about making sure that I saw them as I did today. It was a stark reminder of the world Jordan lived in– a world I didn’t belong to. How ridiculous of me to even entertain the idea that anything could happen between us.By the time I left the office, I was exhausted, both mentally and emotionally. I just wanted to go home, curl up on the couch, and forget about everything for a while. But as I got into my car, my phone rang. I looked at the screen. It was Chloe.“Rissa, I need you,” she said as soon as I answered. Her voice was frantic, and I could hear the clatter of dishes and people shouting in the background.“What’s wrong?” I asked, my heart immediately racing. Rissa was always calm and collected when she was

Marissa's POVI dialed my mom's number again. I'd been trying to reach her for over two weeks to no avail. Usually, she was quick to complain if I sent her allowance in the afternoon instead of the morning. This time however, it had taken a couple days, and she still hadn't said anything. That wasn't normal.I left her a message apologizing for sending her allowance late, and asking her to respond when she got my message so I could confirmed that she was fine. That done, I got out of bed and into the bathroom.When I got to the living almost half an hour later, Chloe was hard at work. Weird. She was cleaning the house and putting everything to rights. But Chloe never cleaned! Ever!“Erm, what's going on?" I asked, confused.She looked up, and flashed me a quick smile before returning to her work. “Morning, Rissa."“What's going on?" I asked again.“What do you mean what's going on? I'm cleaning!"“Exactly my point, Chloe! You never clean!"She shrugged playfully. “Well, looks like I d

I sat there staring at my mom like she had just materialized from space. She was here, in person, swearing to be truthful in her testimony. Her testimony against me. The whole situation almost made me laugh. Almost.Anthony's lawyer flashed Mr Thatcher a look before continuing with his questions. “Mrs Colton, how would you describe your daughter's character while growing up?”She smiled dreamily before speaking. I recognized that smile. It was deceitful. It was the smile she put on when she was remembering something that never happened.“My Marissa always was a sweet girl. She loves to be the center of attention, and might sometimes make up stories to get the attention that she desires, but it's all for a good cause."My heart plummeted to the ground. Me? Center of attention? Make up stories? But attention was the one thing that I hated most in my life so why would I want it?Mr Fletcher caught her bait. “Make up stories, Mrs Colton? Would you like to elaborate on that?”"Oh! Well, th

Jordan stood a few steps away from us, looking like my knight in all of his 3-piece-suit shining armor. He took a menacing step forward.“Move away from her."The men didn't look like they wanted to leave, but they didn't look eager to remain there either. They seemed to be weighing their options. “Who the hell are you?" One of them finally mustered the courage to ask. It happened suddenly. One second, Jordan stood on his side of the road, the next, he was covering the distance in two strides and picking up the man who was only slightly smoking than him by the collar. The other one took a few steps back.“Listen to me, you moron. When I say move away from her, you move away from her without asking me any questions. Do you understand that?" He shook visibly under Jordan's strength and nodded his head. Jordan tossed him to the ground and sent him rolling a bit before he jumped to his feet and scurried after his friend.He waited a few seconds to confirm that the hooligans were truly