Chapter 21
Chapter 21
MASON’S POV
1 slammed the car door shut and walked into the house, my aw still tight with anger
She really left me.
I felt her absence even more as I stepped into the bedroom for little picture frames… her throw pillows and makeup products, the hair clips, and her bathrobe… everything was gone. The emptiness sat on my chest like a weight, crushing me into dust. The room, though lit up, had never looked more dull.
It was like she had never lived here.
She must have been preparing for this for a long time.
I sank into the armchair, staring at her side of the bed. The host of her presence clung to the room, mocking me. The silence was unbearable.
With a frustrated growl, I grabbed my keys and left. I needed to talk to someone who could make sense of this
mess.
Chris.
“Florence initiated the divorce? No way,” Chris said, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re joking.”
I ran a hand through my hair, pacing his living room. “It’s done. She made me sign the papers. She’s been distant for weeks, and now I know why.” I scoffed bitterly. “She never loved me. She even admitted to betraying me.” Chris let out a sharp laugh. “And you actually believe that?
I turned to glare at him. “You didn’t hear her. She said it herself–she wants to be with Raiden. That she was working with Daniel to destroy me.”
Chris exhaled, rubbing his temples. “Mason… do you hear yourself? Do you really think Florence Hart, the same woman who spent her entire childhood and the last 5 years loving you, would suddenly join forces with your arch- enemy?”
I clenched my jaw, refusing to respond.
Chris shook his head. “You deserve this. All of it.”
I snapped my gaze to him. “Excuse me?”
“You married her to investigate her. You literally thought she was a criminal! You ignored her, dismissed her, and only talked to her about how much you loved Jade. And despite all of that, she stayed with you and tried to show you her loyalty and love.”
I felt frozen in place. I couldn’t breathe.
Chris’s voice softened just slightly. “And after all that… what did she get out of those five years with you? Aside from your last–name?”
“Everything,” I bit out. “A home. Security. Endless money
“But not you,” Chris said simply. “Never you.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 21
A silence stretched between us
Chris wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. De down, I had noticed Florence’s unhappiness. The way her eyes would dim whenever I pulled away from her. The small sighs she let out when I chose to deal with work Instead of eating dlimmer with her.
And I assumed that, when my heart changed, she would still be there, Walting.
Chris leaned forward. “You keep acting like you had a plan, ike you were going to announce your marriage one day when the time was right. But let’s be real–there was ver going to be a right time, was there?”
I clenched my fists. “I was planning to. I had a whole thing set up. I was…” I looked down, shame coursing through my veins. “I was going to take her to Paris.”
“Too little… too late,” he said. “Maybe this is a wake–up call for you.”
It was too final. Too abrupt. I was desperate to go see her and explain everything. Have her tell me she lied. That she forgives me and still loves me. But her last words to me stuck to me like a knife in my back. Where would we even begin to make amends?
As if Chris had heard my inner thoughts, he said, “You want to fix this? Ditch Jade and focus on Flo.”
I frowned. “What?”
“You heard me. You let Jade take up way too much space in your life.”
I shook my head. “Whatever she is now, she was a friend once. She had a terrible accident and lost her memory; it’s my duty to help.”
Chris sighed. “I get it, man. Ever since Jade’s parents committed suicide, she’s had it rough. But that doesn’t mean everyone in her life has to bend over backward to make up for it.”
I looked at him questioningly.
Chris noticed my expression and arched a brow. “Wait. She never told you how they died?”
I frowned. “They were in an accident.”
Chris’s lips pressed into a tight line. “No… it was a double suicide.”
The air in the room shifted.
“What?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah. They lived next door to me when we were kids. One night, we heard sirens, and the next morning, my parents told me we were moving. They were too scared to live near that house anymore.
My thoughts reeled. Jade never mentioned any of this.
Chris pulled out his phone, scrolling through old files. “Here,” he said, flipping his screen to me.
A photo of Jade’s parents. The house they used to live in. Newspaper articles I’d never seen before.
And then-
A different set of photos
Florence.
Dozens of them. Some candid, some clearly taken when she wasn’t looking.
2/3
+25 BONUS
Chapter 21
“What the hell is this?” 1 muttered.
Chris hesitated, then smirked slightly, “Yeah, uh… I had a cash on her. Before you married her, obviously.”
I clenched my jaw, scrolling through the pictures. Some were from our younger years… school and college days. Florence smiling in a bookshop. Florence at a university seminar. Florence walking out of a coffee shop.
Something inside me Ignited. It dawned on me that perhaps everybody around me had envied me for getting Florence while 1 pined over Jade. How blind I had been.
As I scrolled through Florence’s pictures, Chris grinned. “Now that you’re divorced, I might actually make a move. You wouldn’t mind, right?”
I felt a fire burn in my stomach. Rage filled my head, and 1w red. “Don’t even think about it,” I growled.
Chris laughed. “What? She left you, man. She’s fair game.”
I glared at him. “Send all of these photos to me.”
Chris arched a brow. “Why?”
“Just do it.”
He studied me for a long moment. Then he sighed, tapping his phone. “Fine.”
I grabbed my phone as the files came through. Florence’s photos but also all the pictures of Jade, her parents, and the articles detailing their deaths.
Chris smirked. “Mason, you do realize–she’s not your wife anymore.
I ignored him. I had bigger fish to fry.
“I don’t care,” I said. “If you’re right, and she hasn’t actually betrayed me, I’m not done with her.”
“Maybe she’s done with you.‘
I didn’t like hearing that. Was Florence really into Raiden? Did she actually want to be with him, or was Chris right? Did she just say things to me so I would sign the papers?
“Yes, well…” I sighed, “It’s not over until it’s over.”
“Mason… it doesn’t get more ‘over‘ than divorce papers!”
I pocketed my phone and left his house. I was far too stubborn to let this stop me.
