Chapter 56 Keep your hands off
Zita
“Quinn, I want to kill someone,”
The subtle sound of chewing came to an abrupt stop,the fork making a clang as it dropped next to the burger. Honestly, who ate burgers with cutlery? Only my best friend, apparently.
My eyes flashed up to hers as she chewed slowly—almost painfully—before swallowing down. She watched me with dark eyes, leaning forward as she kept her voice low. “What’s wrong, Zita? You haven’t been in a good mood since you picked me at the airport, took me to the hotel, and now—”
I could feel my chest tighten, the tears that stung the back of my eyes as they closed briefly. “Do you think that it is normal to harbor murderous thoughts towards someone?”
Her eyes softened as she nodded. “Yes, it is completely normal but what matters the most is what you do with those thoughts,” She reached for my hand on the table, squeezing my fingers gently. “Now, tell me what is bothering you? Who made you mad?”
Different emotions flooded through me. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Verena!” I choked out a whisper, feeling the tears cascade down my cheeks.
“Isn’t that Kian’s wife!”
“Ex-wife!” I corrected her.
“What did she do this time?”
My breath became uneven as I let it all out. “At the party last night, I waited upstairs for Kian. I have been playing the part of a pregnant woman with crazy sexual desire,”
“I know, Zita”
“Instead of coming to me, he sent his stupid friend to distract me. I didn’t notice at first. Only recently…” More tears pressed at the back of my eyelid.
“Quinn, you won’t believe that while I entertained his friend, he was with Verena making out. I’m sure they almost had sex last night. How could she do this to me?” I broke down.
She sighed, still holding my hand as she watched me cry.
The moment I was done, she reached into her bag, handing me a handkerchief. I sniffled, dabbing my tears with it and I could feel the weight of her unspoken words.
“Have you let it all out now?”
I gave a curt nod. “Yes,”
“So, I can speak now, right?”
“Right,”
Her fingers left mine as she leaned back into the booth. “Zita, you stole her man and she is taking him back. I don’t see what the problem is. This is just karma coming back at you”
Anger slowly took over the emotions building inside of me. “Really Quinn?” My voice clipped.
“Yes—” She deadpanned.
“I am always going to be honest with you and your tears don’t make any sense to me. You ruined Verena’s marriage…”
“I…” I cut in but she held a finger up.
“No, I don’t want to hear ‘oh, I liked him first’. ‘She stole him from me’ blah blah. As long as you and Kian never dated until now, she did nothing wrong to you. You knew he was married, had an affair with him,”
“It was what everyone wanted,” I countered. “His parents wanted us to be together. They didn’t want Verena with him anymore,”
“Even though that was the case, couldn't you think for yourself? No. I am not even having all of this. Your selfishness landed you here, Zita. That is the reason you are stuck with a man who doesn't love you,”
“A man who doesn’t want you. A man you had to fake a pregnancy for just to trap him into a marriage. A man that doesn’t even care for your existence. I promise you can disappear tomorrow and he wouldn't even blink,”
Anger. More anger. Then I snapped. “Enough!”
“You don’t get to judge me just because I opened my heart to you. No one gets Kian as I do”
She shook her head in defeat. “You are a lost cause”
Fury churned my insides out as the deafening sound of blood rushing into my ears intensified. I grabbed my purse, rising to my feet. “Finish your food and meet me outside. Kian is waiting in the lot,”
With that, I stormed outside, still appalled by the things she said. Quinn was honest, brutally honest to a point and I hated her for it even though I liked her at the same time.
No one just understood Kian like me. He needed me and with our wedding at hand, I wouldn’t allow a desperate woman like Verena to ruin it.
She needed to learn how to keep her hands off my man and I was more than willing to teach her exactly that.
Kian arrived—nice to Quinn as I had pleaded. For a second, his dashing looks almost made me forget my anger towards him but then he didn’t even apologize for kissing Verena. He didn’t give a shit.
Silence hung heavy in the car until Kian unclipped his seatbelt, glancing at Quinn, still not having the decency to look at me—his fiancée, the mother of his child, and his future wife. “I need to answer this call. I will be right back”
Jealousy burned through my soul as he went out of his car. Couldn’t he answer a call in front of me? I knew it was Verena on that line. I mean, that was why he kept almost three phones at once.
His other phone buzzed with a notification. Or could this be the phone where he secretly communicated with Verena?
Good!
The perfect time to warn Verena and tell her to leave my man.
However, when I had the phone in my grasp, it was just a weird text from that jerk—Tobias. “Since you now believe my analysis, will you do me a favor? A form of payment for my free sessions—a laughing-crying emoji. It’s a joke, have a nice day,”
What was this?
I hissed. Not me thinking that this was my gotcha moment.
Soon we arrived at the five-star restaurant where we had dinner with Jana and she was super-nice to Quinn, engaging her in conversations. “So, you and Zita have been friends for fifteen years?”
“Yes, we first started as online friends and now she is my best friend"
I smiled, even though I was still mad at her.
I watched the way Kian poked at his pasta, staring into space like he wanted to be somewhere else—that had to be with me not being there.
Quinn’s words broke my train of thought. “I have to use the restroom. Please excuse me,”
“Yeah, yeah” Jana said and the moment she left, Jana dropped heaved a frustrated sigh.
“I have been looking for a way to talk with only the three of us present. I am never inviting Daxton to any event of mine again after ruining my party by bringing Verena…”
That was when Kian’s eyes lit up. And I hated that it did at the mention of Verena.
She darted her eyes to Kian. “And I saw you speaking with Tobias last night,”
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes, there is. After their family’s hospital was sued by the relatives of three patients for wrongful death due to negligence, they lost hundreds of millions to the lawsuits,”
Kian’s brows furrowed in confusion. “I heard about it, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“It is that bad,” she said. “Investors pulled out, and another branch in Chicago just shut down after losing the public’s trust. They’re desperate for funding right now—probably why he was clinging to you last night.”
“If you decide to invest in Montalia Hospital, be prepared for losses. Don’t be gullible, and don’t fall for Tobias’s schemes.”
My eyes narrowed on Kian whose gaze flicked around like he was trying to add one and two together. “Really?”
As they kept talking about Tobias and his family, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to Verena.
How do I make her pay for making out with Kian last night?