Emily woke up the next day tired and cranky. She had little to no sleep the night before. Getting comfortable was a hassle then she had to pee every five minutes it would seem. Like that wasn’t enough, Ash and his companion were too damn loud for her to get any sleep. They were going at it like rabbit, just when she thought they were done, they would pick right back up. She heard more "oh Ash" and I love you" to last her a good long while.
The ‘I love you’ was new though. She was curious to see who the lady was so she could ask her why in the world she would love someone him. She couldn’t wrap her head as to why or how someone would love Ash Hurley. The guy was as evil as they came.
She walked in the kitchen to get started on breakfast. Opting for something simple and not too much, she went for oatmeal and orange juice. She didn’t want to admit it but Ash’s words got to her. She grabbed a packet of instant oat then added some berries for the needed nutrient. When she was done eating, she wasn’t nearly as full but she refused to eat any further, hoping that Ash would have no complaints this time.
She just finished taking a sip of her orange juice when Ash and his companion walked down the stairs. The glass slip from her grip when her eyes fell on the other person walking beside him. She didn’t even noticed the glass shattering by my feet as she stared at both Ash and Cindy walking into the kitchen with their fingers entwined.
She continued to watch numbly as he directed Cindy to the kitchen stool then sat her down gently.
"What is going on?" Emily directed at her friend. "Um…" Cindy glanced at Ash before returning her gaze back to Emily.
"Do you want breakfast love?" Ash asked Cindy completely ignoring his wife like she wasn't there and didn't just speak. Cindy told him coffee would be fine since she wasn’t hungry. He nodded then walked over to the coffee maker to start the machine.
"Cindy?" Emily called softly. "Why are you here? Dressed in Ash's clothes nonetheless" Cindy was dressed in a plain white t-shirt and with the way it swallowed her, Emily knew it had to be Ash's.
Cindy bit down her lips looking around.
"Answer me damn it!! Why the f*ck are you here?!" She snarled at Cindy, her shock quickly turning into anger.
"She is here with me" she heard Ash say behind her. She ignored him looking at Cindy and waiting impatiently for her answer. Cindy mumbled she was with Ash.
"Meaning what exactly?!" Emily asked walking up to her then stood opposite her with the counter separating them.
"Meaning we f*cked last night. I'm sure you heard" Emily turned to Ash when he spoke again. He was leaning in the corner with his legs crossed at his feet and the stupid smirk etched on his face. He was topless and wearing a sweat pant that hung loosely on his hip.
"Ems…"
"Don't you dare fucking call me that!!" She snapped turning back to Cindy. "You had sex with him? My husband? And you are supposed to be my f*cking friend?"
She ignored Ash' scoff but choose to ignore him. "Why him? What were you trying to prove?"
"He is…Ash" Cindy answered softly. Emily could detect the admiration in her voice which made Emily not only angrier but also disgusted.
"What the fuck does that mean?. You could have gotten any other guy out there why this one?" Cindy took a deep breath then release it. There was no denying Ash was the total package but he was taken and for Cindy to go after him knowing that was a violation to the girl code.
"I like him. A lot actually" Cindy tried to explain her actions.
"You like him?" Emily asked, confusion evident in her voice. Why in the world would you like such an arrogant self-centered douche bag she wanted to add but held her tongue instead.
Cindy nodded and with a determined look added. "Look. I started developing feelings for him and I honestly don't care what you think" The nerves of this bitch.
"You don't care what I think?"
"No I honestly don't care" Cindy answered sitting straighter on the stool. "He clearly doesn't want you so you shouldn't bitch about who he fucks. I mean he only married you because he was forced to"
Emily couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of Cindy’s mouth. She stared at Cindy like she had grown some invincible horn. What happened to her friend? The one that listened to her and told her everything would be around when she confided in her. The one that told her to give him space to come around. It was like that person didn’t exist and probably never did. She wondered if Cindy choose to return to her life just to get close to Ash.
"And the fact that he is the father of my unborn child doesn't faze you at all?" Cindy shrugged instead. The bitch f*cking shrugged.
Emily held tightly on the edge of the counter so she wouldn't slap her across the face.
"The baby might not even be his and you know it"
All self-control left Emily as she launched at Cindy but couldn't get far because of her bump. Cindy continued despite Emily’s attempt to attack her "Stop trying to put this on him. You and his dad are making his life miserable. He doesn't want you"
Emily turned to walk around the counter so she could snatch some hair out of the broad but Ash stopped her by getting in front of her.
"Move!!" She shoved his chest. He didn't even bulge.
"You don't have to cover up what you did with his dad by saying Ash is responsible for that thing"
"DONT YOU DARE! You sorry excuse of a human being” Emily exploded pointing at Cindy. “Mr. Hurley is an honorable man. You don't deserve to have his name in your mouth" she tried to move past Ash but he wasn't having it.
How dare Cindy insinuate that she had anything that wasn't professional to do with Mr. Hurley when she was the one that was praising Mr. Hurley's good nature? Cindy had also been the one to convince Emily to take the job when Emily was skeptical of Mr. Hurley.
"You shouldn't be mad about this. It comes with the territory" Cindy uttered getting out of the stool. She looked ready to fight Emily as well as she tied her hair in a ponytail. "You have seen him f*ck other girls before. You know the deal."
"You are supposed to be my fucking friend. One of the very few friends I have. I trusted you. I could care less about the other girls but you...you betrayed me" Emily stopped trying to get past Ash; the whole thing was tiring.
"You shouldn't try to fight me because of someone that isn't yours especially in your condition"
Emily wiped her face with her hand. She had gotten quite worked up tiring to bypass Ash. She felt her heart racing faster than normal and that was something she didn't want. The doctor had instructed her to keep it easy since her blood pressure and heart rate were not very stable.
She had been shocked when her OBGYN gave her that news. Emily couldn't figure out where she would have gotten such problem except that it was inherited. It must have been the same thing her mother had and why she didn't make it when she gave birth to her.
Emily leaned over the counter trying to calm herself down. Her hand went over her rib cage when she felt the baby kick; it was the baby's favorite place to kick.
She winced slightly when it kicked again. The kicks had gotten more painful the bigger the baby got.
She continued to take deep breathes to keep her heart beating normal again. Ash didn't deserve for her to lose her life or her unborn baby. She rubbed her bump in a soothing manner hoping it would calm the baby down.
When she felt her breathing back to slightly normal, she strengthened before addressing her formal friend. "I'm not trying to fight you over him. He doesn't deserve it. Don't say shit about me or Mr. Hurley. He is by far one of the best people I have ever met. Do not sour his name like that"
"I d...."
"Are you happy now?" Emily directed at Ash cutting whatever mess Cindy was about to say off. She couldn't make out what he was feeling since he remained stoic. "It is what you wanted right? To hurt me right?"
She couldn't help the tears that ran down her cheeks. She wiped them off as quickly as they fell. "Sleeping with her doesn't hurt. That's expected of you. What hurt is losing one of my friends. Possibly my only friend"
She turned away then took a duster and pan from the lower cabinet. She tried to bend down to pick up the glass pieces from the floor but couldn't due to how her big her stomach had gotten so instead she knelt down to pick up the glass before wiping the juice off with a paper towel.
She saw Ash talk lowly to Cindy pouring her a cup of coffee. The scene made her heart ache. He had never served her. Not once, even when they were good. The tears streamed down her face at that realization.
"Do you care about her?" She asked getting his attention. She wasn’t sure it would make any difference but she needed to know.
He turned his head towards her raising his eyebrow 'huh?'
"Do you care about her?" She asked again gesturing to Cindy.
"Why does that concern you?" He asked instead of answering her. She wiped the tears off her face. "I want to know if that's the reason you did this. She said she likes you. It's more than that though. I heard her say she love you last night"
He strengthen from the counter. "She doesn't love me. She is just another gold digging slut like you…"
"Ash!!" Cindy called out in a high pitched voice. He continued like he didn’t just insult her "Birds of the same feather and all. I heard all about your wish to land a rich husband"
Emily frowned "My what!" she had no idea what he was talking about. Love had always been her motive for marriage and not material things so she didn’t know what he was referring to. "Your buddy here told me how you have always wanted to marry rich so you can leech off the loser"
Emily briefly glanced at Cindy then returned her gaze to Ash "and you believe her?" "Why shouldn't I? She is your friend after all" Of course he did. She asked him if he would take the words of someone who didn’t mind sleeping with a married man. He shrugged at her instead. Emily wasn’t surprised he would believe everyone over her. That was how much trust and respect he had for her.
"Regarding my earlier question about caring about her, I take it you don't care about her, then why are you doing this?"
"What? Sleeping with her?"
"Well yea but first why are you serving her? Of all the girls you have had over she is the only one you have served that I have seen"
She noticed Cindy's face lite up at her words and Emily wanted to wipe the look of victory off her face.
"I'm trying to piss you off" he answered turning fully to Emily now with his back completely to Cindy. Figures. One thing she could attribute to him was his honesty, well except when he told her she was the only one he was sleeping with. His honesty burnt sometimes but at least he was honest.
She asked him if that was the reason he had slept with her too.
"I slept with her because I wanted to, she was there so I did"
"And bringing her here so I can see?"
He shrugged again then added "It's my house. And I got tired of paying for hotel rooms"
Emily's stomach dropped. This wasn't the first time? "You have slept with her before?" She asked softly.
Ash nodded taking a gulp of his coffee.
"How many..."
"Almost a month now" he answered her question before she could complete it.
Almost a month. They had been doing this for almost a month. So the whole time Cindy was smiling at her face and reassuring her that her marriage would be fine, she was sleeping with him.
She looked at her former friend abhorred she ever considered someone like that a friend. She knew Cindy had always been money hungry but never suspected she would go after her husband.
"Was it worth it?" She asked looking back at Ash and their eyes met. While hers showed her pain, his was completely void of emotions. It never seize to amaze her how unattached he could be sometimes.
"Seeing you this hurt and losing a friend? Yes" he replied in calm voice.
Emily nodded, again not surprised at his answer. She had always known he would do anything to hurt her because of his unrelenting hatred for her. She couldn’t still understand why he hated her so much so she asked.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Ash returned looking appalled she had asked such a question. Not backing down, Emily repeated the question.
"I fucking loathe you. Everything about you makes my blood boil" he answered, voice filled with venom.
He told her she ruined his life. Emily didn’t understand how. He had been living his life like he had no care in the world. Nothing had changed despite his marital status. He still got to go out, drink then brought his whores home. She hadn't gotten in the way of any of that. So she couldn’t understand how she had ruined his life.
"I am stuck with you in this stupid marriage with that thing hanging over my head" he pointed at her bump. She unconsciously cradled her bump.
"You have never honored this marriage so it's like we are not even married. You don't even wear your wedding ring" she looked at his fingers, no wedding ring. He had taken it off as soon as the wedding was over and hadn’t put it back on since then. "This baby, you have never acknowledged. You go about your business like me or your child don't exist yet you still feel the need to hurt me"
Talking about it, Emily realized the hurt she had been bottling inside her. She had been putting up a front, acting like she didn’t care when deep inside her, her heart was breaking with every girl he brought home and every time he refused to know the baby’s condition.
“You are so stupid” Ash insulted harshly.
"Excuse me?" She asked confused with the change of direction the conversation just went. She thought they were now communicating like matured adult, and finally airing their issues. Despite the timing, she was glad they were finally talking about their feelings toward each other. It was the first time since the news of the pregnancy that Ash was expressing how he felt
Ash went from looking arrogant to incredibly angry. He tugged his hair hard then repeated. "You are so incredibly stupid"
Emily’s frown deepened. She asked him how.
"You want a list?" he asked grimaced. "What do you think you will achieve by marrying me? Huh? My money? The Hurley name?"
Emily shook her head. It was never about any of that. She wouldn’t have tolerated all of the things he had been doing simply for money. If it was about money, Emily knew she would have gotten someone else that would kiss the ground she worked on. She was after all a gorgeous girl
“I married you because of the baby. It’s the only way you would be here for him or her"
"The baby that shouldn't even be here in the first place?" Ash countered. It was her time to shrug. If anyone was to blame, it was him since he was the one that forgot to put a condom on. She told him that it was his fault since she reminded him to use one.
"Haven’t you heard of birth control?" he challenged. "If you had been on any form of birth control, this wouldn’t have happened"
Emily wanted to laugh at his response. She finally understood why he was so angry at her. But it was laughable he was mad at her for not been on birth control.
He added that of her the girls he had been with, she was the only one who wasn’t on birth control.
Emily wouldn’t say she was surprised since she had seen the girls he brought home; they were all nothing but fast girl, and that included Cindy so it wasn’t shocking to hear that they all had been on birth control.
But everybody wasn’t as sexually active as the whores he messed with. She tried to explain to him that she never needed to be on birth control since she was not sexually active or have issues with menstrual cramps.
"Oh please…I wasn’t sexually active" he mocked at her attempt to defend herself.
She tried again but he cut her off
"You were not a fucking virgin!" he snapped then dropped the empty mug in the sink with so much force Emily was sure it was broken.
It was true Emily wasn’t a virgin the first time they had sex but that didn’t mean she was having sex all the time.
She explained to him that she had only had sex once before him and that was in the tenth grade. He gave her a disbelieve look before telling her she should save the lies for some other loser.
He further added that she took advantage of his slip up by not agreeing to the abortion he wanted.
Emily put her hands on her hips pushing her bump further out "You think I want this? To be treated like this?" she waved her hands around her then walked towards him.
"No big deal. You" she jabbed his chest with her index finger "said" she jabbed his chest again. He grabbed her hand so she wouldn’t do it again. Emily felt the heat and static coming from his hand but she ignored it. His touch brought back memories she didn’t want to remember. She hated that her body reacted so easily to his.
He frowned with his brows scrunching together as his hand tightened around hers. "You could have taken plan B if you were so worried."
Emily reeled back at his words. Plan B? She never thought of that; she had heard about plan B being an emergency contraception but never thought to use one after she found the unwrapped condom.
But would it have worked if she was already pregnant? She didn't much about the drug but it would have been worth a shot.
She unclasped her hand from his then walked away. Could all of the hurt she had felt be avoided with a tiny pill?
She turned to see him looking down on his hand that was holding hers with a scowl on his face.
She felt hurt that he couldn’t even hold her hands without feeling disgusted.
She knew then that Ash was a lost cause and she was fighting an already lost battle. There was nothing she could do to change his opinion of her. She felt like a failure she wouldn’t be able to provide her baby with a home he or she deserved but living in a home with so much hatred would be scaring to a child.
Ash had made his choose and if a back stabbing whore like Cindy was what he preferred, Emily decided to let him be. She was sure he would regret it.
"Both of you deserve each other" she directed at Ash and her former friend before storming up the stairs.
Once in her room, Emily picked up her phone from the bed then dialed the only person she needed at the moment.
A/N
So I decided to update before I go MIA for a while. School started today and I know I won’t have time to update as often as I used to. The story has a few chapters left :( I’m still going to try to update but I can’t guarantee it will be every week. I really hope my royal fans don’t give up me. Please.