Adrenaline coursed through me as I quickly tried to rinse the soap from my body. After what had happened with Melissa, I was already on high alert and my anger was right beneath the surface, and there was nothing like standing naked by yourself to make you feel vulnerable.
“Is she in here?” the voice screamed as whoever it was stormed into the bedroom. I heard the door slam against the wall and heavy footsteps coming closer. “She’s in the fucking shower, isn’t she?!”
The door to the shower burst open and I barely had time to snatch a towel from the rack and throw it around my body before a furious-looking woman barged into the room looking like she was ready to kill someone—me.
“There she is!” she shouted, pointing an angry finger at me. I cried out as she lunged at me, but she moved like a ninja and lashed out with a slap before I could get out of the way.
Her palm stung my cheek and I froze in shock. She wound up for a punch and would have landed it had it not been for Alden, who leapt out from behind her and grabbed her in his arms.
“Laura!” he roared. “Get away from her!”
“Fuck you!” Laura shrieked, thrashing out with her elbows. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode.
“Go, Belle!” Alden cried out. “Get out of here!”
“Yeah, whore!” Laura snarled. “Get your whore ass out of here and leave me and my husband alone!”
Alden started to respond but was cut off when one of her elbows slammed into his mouth, causing him to stagger back against the sink. I wasted no time racing out of the room and back into the w
alk-in closet where I’d left my clothes.
Husband!?
My heart started to shatter as I scrambled back into my clothes, the shouting growing louder from the other room. As I stepped out into the hallway, a severe-looking man in a suit passed me walking quickly in their direction.
“You need to go,” he said as he passed me.
That was it.
You need to go.
Like I was no longer welcome in Alden’s home.
The world felt like slow motion as I ran down the hall, took the stairs to the first floor and raced out the door into the night.
What was I thinking? I thought as I ran over to my car which looked as out of place here as I suddenly felt.
Laura, despite being hysterical, was gorgeous—model material. She was obviously one of the elite, one of those women who belonged in the Hamptons among the Who’s Who crowd and old money.
And what was I? Just a broke girl who’d been swept off her feet by a smooth-talking playboy who was no doubt practiced in the game he’d just run on me.
I bet he even had himself snipped and that’s why he didn’t care about coming inside me.
“Leave me and my husband alone!”
Her words stung like a thousand wasps, but they were nothing compared to Alden’s that had hit me like a gut shot.
“Go, Belle! Get out of here!”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I was like a prey animal in flight mode as I climbed into my car, turned the key in the ignition and gunned it out of the driveway. Thankfully the gate was open for me, as I would have just rammed it out of my way if it hadn’t been.
Tears began to streak down my eyes as I sped through the neighborhood. The beautiful homes taunted me as if to reinforce the truth that I was just a girl who didn’t belong here.
How could Alden be so fucking perfect and a liar at the same time?
I’d never understood how women managed to get themselves roped into relationships with men who weren’t faithful to them, but I guess I’d been duped too.
I should have never gone in for the interview.