Allyson Kane was ready to give up on everything after the love of her life, Ethan Drake, cast her aside after considering the tabloid rumor in the press. Two years afterward, she is a single parent and a chief consultant for Ethan's number-one rival, Jake Porter. When Ethan comes back into her life full of regrets, he vows to chase her to the end, but Jake is also not the type of guy who lets go so easily. Bound by two men, one who once devastated her and another who wishes to possess her, Allyson finds herself embroiled in a ruthless game of power and love laced with possibly fatal deception. Will she win back what once belonged to her or will this competition win her over completely?
Chapter 1 The Confrontation
Allyson Kane was just standing in the kitchen with a warm smell of garlic and rosemary mixed with the tip-tapping of rain on the window. It was meant to be a comfortable relaxed moment, a time to sit back after a working day, to spend dinner with Ethan. She glanced at the clock. It should have been very very late and he should have been home already. She felt herself perhaps because the idea of his coming thrilled her. Literally, the table was set, there was a bottle of red wine, opened and left to breathe on the counter and more importantly she had cooked his favorite meal, chicken marsala.
But just as she was pouring herself a glass of wine to calm her nerves the front door opened in a dramatically sudden manner. Ethan walked right in, his composed exterior now exalted by anger overlaid with shock.
"Allyson!" he called very loud, his voice room-voiced in their small flat. Swinging round at this sudden passion which she had not anticipated, she flinched as if he had struck her and involuntarily she retreated.
"What's wrong?" she whispered, striving to put on her nicest face.
He stepped closer to her, the rage seething behind his eyes like the heat from the sun. "How could you do this?" he shouted steadily, each word coming out louder than the other.
Allyson was perplexed and thought that her heart began beating faster. "Do what? I work here," she said with a scowl to match my befuddled expression: "I don't know what you're talking about." She still held the glass of wine in her hand, it seemed suddenly portentous, as if it weighed some hundred pounds.
"Don't play innocent with me! I said I saw the pictures; he pulled out his phone." "I am shocked that you would go so low as to."
"What pictures?" she fired back looking utterly embarrassed and horrified. She attempted to look for the love they used to have in his face but what she saw was pure anger.
He waved the phone in front of her; on its illuminated surface there was a shocked, blurred face that made her feel sick. There she/ he was, or rather, someone who resembled her, but this picture did not bear the look of a mediocre photo-shop job. She was a beautiful figure; she was smiling and seemed to be fond of a man she didn't know, a closeness that stabbed her in the heart. "You're with him? He asked, "After everything we've been through?"
Allyson gasped. "Ethan, that's not me! It's photoshopped! I don't know who that is but I would never ever "
He will not permit me to talk any longer, thus he interrupted me abruptly, "Save it, Allyson!" "You expect me to believe that to be true? It appears that you, and it's not a single picture. It's everywhere! When one is put in a position which they don't believe they should accept get annoyed how can you expect me to be okay with this?
"I've done nothing wrong!" she said with a touch of desperation. "You know me, Ethan. I would never cheat on you. 'You will never know just how much you mean to me!'
He ran his fingers through his hair, looking more like a flustered man than ever. I suppose we've never met then. I've been playing this devil and angel double role all this time, while you were enjoying this newfound amusement behind my back, huh? When has this been the situation? Could I always have been aware of it, was it just a question of when I was going to discover it, the news?
"No! It's not like that!" Her eyes glistened as if tears would now begin to well up in it. "You know I've been willing to do my best to be here for you, for us! I thought we were happy!"
Ethan moved aside and there was a change from rage to sadness which was so appealing to her as she gained control over him. "Happy? This is what you call happy? As if you can ever forget what you have seen! I can't believe you would put me through this."
What Allyson experienced was annoyance with despair, which seemed like a storm brewing in her stomach. "Ethan, please listen to me! You have to believe me! I would never betray you. I love you too much to do something like that Cally. This is not a setup someone is trying to ruin us."
He frowned and shook his head in disbelief at the words coming out of her mouth. And you want me to believe you just based on your say so. It's too late for that. The trust is gone."
"No, it's not! We can work through this! We can figure it out!" She stretched out for him and in her display of wanting to close the space between her and the man in front of her, he pulled away in response as if she had hurt him with her touch.
"Don't," he suddenly snarled, lowering his voice to menace me in some way I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "I can't do this anymore. "I can't be with someone who could do that to me."
"Ethan, please "
"Save it, Allyson. I'm done. This relationship is over." The conclusion of his words hurt her as if he had actually punched her in the stomach.
"Ethan, wait! You don't mean that! WARDSOkay, please let me tell you about this," she said, choking on her words.
But he walked out leaving the door shut and the last few particles of a love she believed would conquer all. There was absolute quiet in the apartment when suddenly silence was suffocating, the girl fell to the floor and struggled with the load of the world.
Fury and hurt filled all the free space in Ally's chest as she hugged her legs with her arms. She really could not comprehend how all this had happened, few pictures, a small moment of betrayal, and all the great moments they shared were forgotten. She placed her hands on her face and sobbing quietly, she had no idea what to do.
As the fact of the break up of her relationship dawned to her she could not help but feel that someone was stage managing this. But right now there was just the emptiness that Ethan had brought into their lives which now felt immeasurable.
Other books by Ziora
More