Chapter 37 Chapter Thirty Seven
CANDY’S POV
That moment in Adrian’s office takes the whole day replaying itself in my head, a welcome distraction from every other thing going on at the moment. For all the hours I spent behind my desk, working, I didn’t think about the fight with my sister or the void Nikandr’s lies have left permanently in my chest, I thought of nothing besides Adrian saying my name like it’s something divine.
After work though, it all came rushing back like it’s on timer, flooding my head and sinking my mood until it becomes impossible for me to want to go home.
As a last, ditch effort to avoid having to face anymore confrontations and accusations, to put my life back into perspective and remove myself from my current situation, I make a quick decision and head to my apartment instead, the one I got after I landed my first job outside of dad’s company and let Brent and Lindsay move into with me.
The same one I caught them fucking like damn rabbits in after the worst day I’ve ever had at work. The one I abandoned and ran home from because I couldn’t bear to be inside it without wanting to cry and throw up.
How bad can it be now after the time that’s passed?
It can’t be any worse than having to stay in the same house with my parents and sister knowing they all hate me for standing by what I believe is right while letting my secrets crush me because it won’t help anyone if I let it out now.
Sighing, I slide my key into the key hole, pushing the door open to reveal the space looking exactly the same way it had after I cleared it out the first time.
There’s not much left in it the apartment in terms of properties but the memories are stark and haunting, swamping me like a merciless flood and I have no idea my eyes are misting until I feel the first tear run down my cheek.
My two favourite people in the world and they didn’t even have the decency to spare me the nauseating sight they made in my bed, my bed! Naked and going at it with such reckless abandon was repulsive to behold. I can close my eyes right now and still see it, the forbidden image of Lindsay clawing the sheets while he screamed her name.
I can still smell them in the air even though it’s been almost three months since the incident and I can still feel my heart breaking over and over again as I prayed to wake up from the nightmare.
But I can’t let them have this, I can’t let them win and have my rent waste forever while I stay trapped in a home where I don’t even have it any better.
I’m not sure how long it takes but I finally manage to get through the tears and then sink into anger, the kind that fuels you into mindless function and blocks everything else out until it’s just a haze of red left behind.
I toss their remaining stuffs together into a left over moving box from when I moved in- the claw clip I got her because she liked it, the dress I gifted her on her birthday, his tooth brush, her hair brush, his ties, his shoes, her Christian Louboutin that matches the one I wore to work today. It’s a surprise she didn’t take that one herself when she left because she made sure to take all the other designer things she owns and the ones I gifted her.
I wipe my house down with bleach and every other cleaning supply I can lay my hand on, only stopping when it starts to feel like I’m going to pass out from exhaustion.
My clothes are dirty now and I have no idea where I lost my heels but I feel good. I’m better knowing I wiped every physical trace of them from my apartment.
Picking myself off the floor, I lift the box that now holds the last remnants of what should have been the best years of my life and walk out the door. I know it’s late, but I bet I can find a way to get it to Lindsay’s parents’ house where it can now become her problem not mine.
I take the elevator down and just as I walk out into the streets, still undecided on how best to send the box off, I bump into someone.
It’s a miracle I don’t fall over considering how exhausted I am but my gratitude takes an immediate back seat as soon as I get a whiff of an all too familiar cologne. My body goes rigid, all the anger and hate I just worked hard to purge from my soul flooding back in at the sight of fucking Brent smiling at me like he’s not the last person on earth I want to condemn my eyes to beholding.
Well, him and Lindsay and Nikandr all the same.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I spit with all the venom I can find inside me, more repulsed at the sight of him now than I gave myself credit for.
He looks mostly like he did when I walked away from their mess if you ignore his slightly longer hair, dark circles under his eyes and his visible weight loss. Not that I give two piece of flying fucks but his new relationship doesn’t seem to be handling him all too carefully.
I know it could be anything else besides the relationship sucking out the life force from him but I feel better imagining this is the consequences of his cruel betrayal.
“I’ve been calling you.” He starts, fiddling with his fingers like a child.
“How....how are you?”
“Please cut the bullshit and either get to your point fast or get out. We both know you don’t give a fuck about my well being, you never did.” I bite out, furious at his question.
He takes a step forward and I take two back from sheer revulsion, my last memory of him dancing before my eyes.
“Candy, I know I fucked up but I genuinely care about you.”
I nod in mock agreement, playing the dumb ex he so desperately craves.
“Well, you should have thought about that before letting me walk in on you fucking my best friend.”
I shove the box against him and he catches it as a reflexes before dumping it on the ground. It’s his problem now, whatever he decides to do with it.
“Don’t let me catch you around here or around me ever again or I swear, you’ll hate my reaction.”
I turn to walk away but the bastard reaches out and grabs my wrist before I can, dragging me to a stop.
“We need to talk, baby. You won’t take my calls or anything, just give me five minutes and I’ll leave.”
“Brent stop, let me go, and don’t you ever call me that!” I say trying to yank myself free from him, my voice more scared than commanding.
In all my years of knowing and dating Brent, he’s never hit me or anything but there’s something feral in the way he’s looking at me right now that has my heart slamming hard against my rib cage. I can’t put it past him.
“Please let me go.”
“Just listen to me for fuck’s sake.” He snaps, his eyes glinting and morphing into something more sinister than I’m comfortable with.
Before I can mutter another plea, I notice his eyes shift to something, someone, behind me and go wide with something akin to fear, his hold faltering a bit.
For some reason, an instant sense of relief and safety envelops me even as I struggle to free myself and without looking I get a feeling I know what, who, exactly is behind me.
“Don’t let her ask again.” A deep, bone chilling voice says calmly from behind me, causing my heart to pick up beats for a different reason.
I’ll recognize that voice anywhere too.
“Who are you?” This time, it’s Brent’s voice faltering.
“Well, fuck around and find out.”