My Ex's Betrayal, My Mother's Ashes

nly to find him cheating with his older inves

mother's ashes in the trash and conspired to have my

th a new family, but now he's found us-and just s

pte

Osborn

with a bang, but with the soft thu

bent down, my brows furrowing at the shipping label. The address was mine, the apartment I s

er' s seat, all sharp angles and expensive perfume. She was Carter' s biggest potential investor, a venture capitalist in

stured to the box. "That' s mine. Silly me, I must have put in the wrong address. Carter' s been

that felt tight on my face

t mine. The interaction felt... off. It was a feeling I' d been h

the verge of securing the funding that would save hi

cation from our joint bank account. My heart didn't jus

nth Hotel - $472.58. Minibar Purc

ry penny for the wedding and for Carter' s business.

rson who had access t

finally snapped. It wasn't a loud, violent break, but a

key into the ignition. The drive to the Grand Corinth was a blur of

t know I was capable of. "Hi, I' m here to get a key for my fianc

t his keyboard. "Yes, Ms. Osborne. Room 1208." He slid

ss. By the time I reached the twelfth floor, my palms were slick with sweat. The

need the

augh, followed by Carter' s deeper chuckle. The sounds were i

oice purred, thick with a tone he hadn' t use

e' s voice was unmistakable,

hose package had been on my porch an hour ago. The woman Ca

acidic. I stumbled back from the door, pr

and seen his search history. "Powerful older women." "Matronly fetish." At the time, I' d dismi

ehow worse than the moans. "Don' t worry about Amira. She' s just... conven

one he' d slid onto my finger eight months ago in a haze of promises and whispered futures. Eight years. I had given him eight years of my life.

inor tech issue. The weekends he' d spent at her estate, "networking." The time he' d

egree fever once because Francine' s

t ring. It was tight, clinging to my finger like a s

hand. The name on the screen made my heart ache with a diffe

u said you weren' t interested, but the lead developer on the Chimera project just dropped out. The fell

d my forehead against the cool wood of the hotel roo

. "Yes, Arjun. I' ll take it. I am so,

a physical thing. He had invested so much in me, believed in my talent. And I had thrown it all away for a man who thought of

lief palpable. "You know the terms, though. It' s a five-year commitment. High-s

e sense of calm settling over the

away from the life I had built, away from the man I had loved. I didn' t run. I walked, each step del

ur driveway. He was already there. Carter' s

ok on his face that quickly morphed in

way out of my throat, raw and ragged. "Did yo

iliar annoyance. "What the hell are you talking about,

a broken, ugly sound. "I

ancine stepped inside, a picture of faux conce

is focus immediately snapping to her. "It' s not

protective gesture that made my

handle me. When he was gone, she turned back to me, her mask of concern drop

"Don' t worry, Aunt

my breath away, she raised her hand and slapped her own

ncine' s red cheek, the tears welling in her eyes, and

vancing on me. He grabbed my wrist, his grip