**CHLOE**
He closed the distance between us.I shut my eyes, but I could feel his breath on my nose; he was so close to me."Not today," he said, and a loud, sarcastic laugh ripped from his throat.My eyes flew open, a confused heat rising in my cheeks.Wait..What the f*ck!Not today? What does that even mean?He moved back, tilting his head. “Why did you close your eyes? Were you thinking I was going to kiss you?” His laughter softened this time, but a spark of irritation ignited within me.I fucking hate this guy, and I never want to have anything to do with him.“No,” I snapped. “Why would I think that?” I added defensively.I really wish the ground would open up and swallow me.“Okay good.” He said. I stared at him, bewildered. Wow, what just happened?"I would definitely get to the bottom of all this," he said firmly, gesturing with his fingers between us before making his way to the door.“And before then,” he opened the door and then turned to look at me, a mischievous smile spreading across his face, “We're not getting a divorce.”He shut the door behind him.I sucked my teeth.Who does he even think he is?Furious, I rolled onto my bed and kicked repeatedly.What was that? “Not today”?Does he think I'm pathetic?I should have pushed him away, though; why didn't I? He must think I'm so easy.I can imagine Lily laughing until she peed herself. This is definitely going to the grave with me.**JEFFREY**Why could I have gotten married to her, though?I know Laura wasn't perfect, and I had wanted to break up with her, but I couldn't have just married someone else.***Earlier today***Laura walked into my study and sat on the desk in front of me.She crossed one leg over the other, which made her dress hitch slightly, revealing a glimpse of her lacy underwear.“What are you doing here?” I met her gaze.Her voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned in, her palm landing on my face. "Is this what you say to someone you were supposed to marry?"I flinched away from her touch.I scoffed. “Someone I was supposed to marry?” I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “Yeah, that explains why pictures of you on a vacation in Dubai surfaced on the day of my funeral.”She looked a bit surprised. She must have thought I had no idea what she had been up to.“I agree; I wasn't exactly perfect. But I didn't think you'd get married to some low-life country girl behind my back,” she continued."You weren't exactly perfect? This clearly shows that you never even cared about me." I stood up, "Our relationship was agreeable, but we never talked about marriage. Or did we?”I never proposed to her, nor did I confirm that I was going to get married to her.“I.. I thought it was obvious,” she said, trying to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes. “I thought our intimacy implied...”I shrugged and cut her off. “If intimacy always implied marriage, you'd have been married long ago.”“Jeffrey,” she called out softly, and she moved very close to me. “We can work things out.”I wasn't willing to work anything out with Laura. She had tried to deceive me.My fists clenched, and I took a step backwards. I couldn't stand her acting all innocent."Laura, there is no working things out," I said, my voice leaving no room for argument.Her brows shot up in surprise, and then she glared at me, “Is it because of her?”I heard a brief knock, and then the door swung open before I could respond.“Can I have a word?” Relief washed over me as I turned to see Richard standing by the door.Laura stood up from my desk immediately, she was a bit flustered. She tugged on her dress, covering her exposed underwear."Sure,” I replied.“I'll walk her out,” I said to Richard, and I stepped out of the study with Laura by my side.I turned to see Chloe standing by the stairs, I sighed internally. She really needed a change of wardrobe.I saw Laura off and went back to the study to meet Richard.I slumped into a seat beside him.Richard turned off the lights and activated the projector. The screen flickered with the scene of the accident.Chills ran down my spine as I watched. No wonder I couldn't remember Chloe. The damage to my brain must have been significant compared to the rest of my body."I've watched this a dozen times," Richard admitted, his voice tight, "and each loop confirms my suspicion. Someone orchestrated this." He gestured towards the screen, its harsh light stark against the shadowed room. The black truck was a missile aimed squarely at my car.Anxiety gripped me. I stood up and raked my fingers through my hair, pacing the length of the room.Someone wanted me dead. And they must have known I was going to be taking that route.Who could it be?I felt Richard's eyes on me, the unspoken truth hanging heavy in the air."Someone wanted you gone, man," he finally said, his tone flat but his eyes filled with concern.“Great, like I didn't already know that. This footage practically screams it, you know?” I blurted.My pacing continued, and my heart was beating faster.We might just be overanalyzing. This might have been a coincidence. What if the truck wasn't actually aimed at me?I looked up at the projector again, the footage still on repeat. I watched the scene for the umpteenth time.Fuck, it wasn't a coincidence."I don't like what I have to say, man," Richard said, his voice heavy. "Your wife…she can't be trusted."My feet stilled, and my stare drilled into Richard, demanding elaboration.**JEFFREY**"You don't remember the wedding, do you? And let's face it, if you'd gone, well… she'd inherit everything." Richard leaned back. "A wife you have no memory of, surfacing just before a near-death experience? The pieces, Jeff, just don't fit."The confusion was driving me crazy. I'd never been this lost in my life. “We’re like brothers; we never keep anything from each other. Do you think you'd have gotten married without informing me first?” He asked.He was right. Even if I had wanted to keep it a secret from my family, I'd have definitely told Richard.“So how do you explain the marriage certificate and the pictures?” I blurted. My eyes searched Richard's face, hoping he'd give me an answer for all this confusion.He was silent.I continued pacing, raking my fingers through my hair even more. This was making me frantic; I had no idea what the heck was going on. “Ok, let's say she had actually managed to forge the certificate and picture somehow, which can't be true.” I
**CHLOE**I got into seven other dresses.Still no luck. “I won't be able to try on all these dresses.” I said with disappointment, as she unzipped the dress I was wearing.Some had slits cut too high, others too short, or had really open backs, or both. "Oh, ma'am, if you're not satisfied, we could call the store and have them bring over more dresses.”“No, it's fine,” I said. “Seems I'll be sticking with this,” I said as I lifted the first dress I had put on, the emerald colored dress.She helped me get into the dress again.Cilia brought out what I assume to be a 6-inch heel; the silver color matched the straps of the emerald dress I was wearing. “There's no way I'm wearing that,” I let out instinctively, and she giggled.I seemed to be amusing her because she had laughed a couple of times already this evening."There's something a bit lower, but it's black," she said as she pulled out a pair of black heels. "Would these work for you, ma'am?”"Okay, I can work with that." She h
**CHLOE**She arrived at our table dressed to kill as usual in a stunning black dress, her hair and makeup flawless.Her gaze met Jeffrey’s, and with a gesture, she beckoned him to stand for a hug, which he hesitantly offered.“Hello, Laura.” I said, giving a small wave in greeting, but Laura seemed oblivious. “I see you brought company,” she said to Jeffrey and pulled out a chair. Her eyes landed on me as she sat, making it hard for me to swallow my food. She turned to Jeffrey, "why did you bring her?" I gulped down hard on my bottle of water. I must really be invisible.“I didn't think you'd show up, would’ve accompanied you myself. I thought you'd still be resting," she continued, darting a pointed look in my direction every few seconds.Jeffrey did not respond.“Thank you all for honoring my invitation,” Richard announced on stage."As you all know, we're having a fundraiser for my charity.” He continued. “My charity supports five worthy causes: the orphanage, widows, the disab
**CHLOE**Chills ran down my spine as I tried to stay silent. “I'll call you back,” I heard him say, followed by the sound of his footsteps approaching the door. In a hurry, I barged into Lily's room.Lily looked startled, jumping up from her bed. “Chloe?” she exclaimed. I rushed over to her. “What…” I used my hands to muffle the words coming out of her mouth. “Shh,” I hissed, gesturing with my right hand. I pressed my ear against the door, straining to hear Robert's footsteps.“You're scaring me, Chloe; what's happening?” Lily whispered again.“I'll tell you soon,” I whispered back.Once the footsteps faded from the hallway, I crashed onto Lily's bed and let out a relieved sigh.“Care to explain what just happened?” she said, glaring at me.“It's Robert,” I panted.“What did he do this time?”“I overheard him talking to someone in a room. Turns out he might have an accomplice.”Her eyes widened. “An accomplice? What did you hear?” She probed further.“Not much detail, just that the
**CHLOE**“Oh, who doesn't know that his middle name is Jack?” Robert announced, walking in.Oh goodness, perfect timing!“You already knew that, didn't you?” He turned to ask me.“I did.” I admitted.I suppressed the smile curling up my lips.“And how do you know that?” Helen asked, turning to Robert. I blinked and turned to Robert too, anticipating his response.“She mentioned it to me earlier, after Jeffrey's funeral. I had asked why he didn't include his middle name on the marriage certificate.” Robert said.He's so good at lying, I almost believe him.“Isn't that right, Chloe?” He asked me.“Yes, it is.” Phew... I ran a hand down my already smooth dress. That was close.“Hmm, why didn't you say something sooner?” Helen asked me.“You saw she was choking, and you kept on asking her weird questions,” Robert retorted.“Robert!” Helen called out.“No lies told. I mean, they're married, bold of you to assume she doesn't know his middle name.” Robert pulled out a chair.Helen leaned b
**CHLOE**"Oh, brother,” Robert muttered, taking a step back. “I was just trying to put her in her place.”“And what place is that?” He growled, his brows furrowing into a dark line. “I know her type; I'm sure she’s only here for the money. You should divor…”“I can handle my business myself, I don't need you to interfere.” Jeffrey barked, cutting Robert off.“You can leave now,” he added with finality.Robert seemed to have more to say, but Jeffrey's final tone left no room for argument. He stormed out after throwing a stern look in my direction.When Robert was out of sight, Jeffrey turned to me and asked, "Is he bothering you?”“No.. Not at all.” I replied with a shaky voice.“Are you sure?” he probed.“I’m sure.” I insisted, forcing a smile.“Okay, good. Because Robert can be a bit...” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Let's just say Robert has a certain... approach.” Yeah, of course, a certain approach indeed."Mmmmh,” I mumbled, and then left.**JEFFREY**Richard walked in
**CHLOE**“How typical.” Laura scoffed. “Just a phone is getting this much excitement from you?” “What do you expect?" Rachel laughed. "She’s never seen a phone like this in her life.”Rachel took a drag of her cigarette and breathed the smoke in my direction. I coughed. Lily sneered at them and asked, “Why do you keep bothering her?” Then she turned to me, “Let's go, Chloe.”“Aww, isn't that the brave sister?” Laura cooed.“What’s wrong with you, Rachel?” Helen scolded, appearing from the swimming pool in a blue swimsuit. “Don't the two of you have anything better to do?” Helen snapped at Rachel and Laura.“Go on inside,” Helen said to Lily and me. Lily sucked her teeth before pulling me away.My heart was as heavy as lead. I sank onto my bed as soon as I got into my bedroom. “Ugh, those girls,” Lily clenched her fists as she paced the length of the bed. “Don't let them spoil your mood. You know what they say about birds of a feather...” she paused and dropped her gaze to me. An
**JEFFREY**“Come by the house at noon. You'll be accompanying my wife for some shopping,” I said to Cilia over the phone.“Okay, sir,” she responded, and then I hung up.Walking downstairs to my study, I passed Chloe's room. The door was slightly ajar. Reaching out to shut it properly, I overheard her sister say, “So, how big was it?”How big was what? Grasping the doorknob, the realization struck me. They were talking about me.I pushed the door open, and they didn't even notice me. I saw Chloe blush, sliding her hand down from below her elbow pit. “Like this,” she whispered.Was she describing my …? I swallowed hard. There's no way it's that big.“That big?” Her sister gasped. Ugh, really? These ladies…So much for not having her glasses on. I thought she was supposed to be sweet and innocent. I finally cleared my throat, and they turned to look at me, startled.“Hi.. Hi.. how.. long have you been here?” she stuttered.“Long enough,” I replied flatly.They shouldn't think I was