He Sent Me Home With His Buddy. Bad Idea, Ex! Chapter 02
I barely remembered making it back to the bedroom.
The nausea soon turned into painful cramps, leaving me too
weak to go out for medicine. After some time had passed, my phone buzzed.
It was Evander. His voice was low and gentle.
“Dorian returned the bracelet. Didn’t you want it?”
My voice came out faint, and he immediately heard that something was wrong.
What happened?”
Something I ate.”
Silence stretched between us for several minutes before he spoke again.
*Come downstairs in twenty minutes. There’ll be some
medicine waiting for you.
I didn’t know what to feel. Tears slipped into my pillow.
Twenty minutes later, I went downstairs to pick up the medicine.
The house had fallen quiet, but Dorian was sitting in the
living room. He held up a sticky note written in an
unfamiliar, masculine hand.
[Take care of yourself.]
His expression was darker than I had ever seen it.
“What is this?”
He rose from the couch.
“What man have you been sneaking around with, Seren? He’s
sending medicine right to my door now?”
Dorian threw the box into the trash.
Do you need some guy to do everything for you? Couldn’t you
even get your own medicine?”
“It’s just medicine,” I said, too tired to argue.
Dorian would coax Celeste into taking her pills with candy.
yet he couldn’t tolerate another man doing something as
simple as bringing me medication.
He mistook my exhaustion for indifference, and his anger flared.
He hurled the heavy glass ashtray at me.
“I went to all that trouble planning our wedding. We were
supposed to get married next month, and this is how you
repay me? You don’t deserve any of it.”
The ashtray struck my forehead and left a gash.
I didn’t try to dodge it. I was too weak, and I couldn’t stop
thinking about the four weddings Dorian had planned over
the past five years.
The first was canceled because of a problem with the venue.
Everyone told me it had been an unfortunate accident.
Before the second, Dorian’s grandfather died. The Ashfords
exchanged uneasy looks, and someone in the family called
me bad luck.
The third and fourth weddings were canceled because of
other supposed emergencies.
By then, everyone understood how the Ashfords felt about
me. I had become a joke, the poor scholarship girl who had
failed to marry above her station.
When I went home with Dorian’s friends, people had taunted
me by asking, “What, weren’t you good enough in bed for him?”
One man had even cornered me in a bathroom and tried to
force himself on me.
So why would this wedding be any different?
Dorian froze when he realized I hadn’t tried to dodge the
ashtray. His voice softened when he finally spoke.
“Why didn’t you dodge it? Come here. Let me take care of that.”
After every injury, Dorian had treated my wounds. I once
mistook that for concern, but eventually I realized he only
wanted to keep word of my injuries from getting out and
damaging his reputation.
I avoided his hand and retrieved the medicine from the trash.
Dorian watched me, looking as though he wanted to say something.
Then Celeste’s voice came through his phone.
Dorian, don’t be angry with her. We’re all still waiting for you.”
My breath caught, and my hands trembled as I opened the medicine box.
“You’ve been on the phone this entire time?”
Dorian frowned. “Yes.”
That was why he had been sitting downstairs so late. He had
been on his way out to meet Celeste.
Celeste urged him again over the phone.
Dorian hesitated, glanced at me, then left.
I stood against the wall for a while before opening the refrigerator.
There wasn’t a single bottle of water inside. Every shelf was
packed with Celeste’s favorite desserts, smoothies, and flavored drinks.
I filled a glass from the faucet and forced down the medicine.
The metallic taste made my stomach roll again.
I had no idea how many people had overheard what had just happened.
But the first person to call and confront me was my brother,
Gideon Hollis.
Did you cheat on Dorian? Do you have any idea how many
people are laughing at me right now?”