A roll of nausea rushes through me, as if my gut knows what’s coming before my mind can register it. I watch as the three little dots appear, letting me know that she’s not done yet. She’s about to drop a bomb into my life. I can feel it. I look up at Rex, about to ask him to explain, but my phone pings again.
After I found out about the video of you proposing to Rex, I looked up the date it happened. I had no idea Rex and you were together when we met online. We’d already been talking and seeing each other for about six months by the time you proposed to him on air. He’d already purchased his ticket to Hawaii to come be with me later that same week.
Blood runs cold in my veins as I finish reading the last line from Juju.
I look up at Rex. He looks pale.
“Who’s it from?” He sounds nervous. Afraid that I might actually know the truth about him. Aboutus. “Is it from Dom?”
I shake my head, watching cold fear run through him.
“Juju?” His voice cracks.
“Tell me when you two started dating.”
He swallows, unable to speak.
“You were cheating on me for six months?” My voice is dripping with venom.
I want to wring his neck.
Right here, right now.
“Just let me explain.” He steps toward me.
I hold up one finger to stop him, taking a bigger step back than the one he took forward. I don’t want him touching me anymore tonight. Not now, not ever. My whole body starts shaking. I should have never agreed to talk to him.
“All this time, I knew something was off. I should have listened to my gut.” I don’t stop the wild-eyed grin creeping over my face. After everything that’s happened tonight, I feel unhinged. “I don’t think I ever truly wanted to marry you, Rex. Did I tell you it was all my producer’s idea? That she was the one to tell me to ask you?”
Something in me breaks free, like a rope snapping from a pile of dead weight. I study his face as the last ounce of respect I have for him drains from me. Forever.
“You’re not the man for me,” I tell him coldly. “Not now, not ever again. But I think I know who is.”
Chapter 69
I run to the front door, praying against all odds that I’ll see Dom waiting for me on the driveway. But, just as I feared, the driveway is empty. There’s no sign of his car anywhere.
He’s gone.
I run back inside, grabbing my phone off the counter where I left it when I rushed out. No missed calls, no new messages.
I hit his name in my contacts list, my heart pounding, but the call goes straight to his voicemail.
I hitCallagain, but his voicemail picks up without a single ring.
“I guess he wasn’t the man for you after all,” Rex mocks, bitterly. The back door is still slung open, and he’s sitting on a lounge chair silently watching me. He looks like a villain, hiding out in the dark, and my heart pounds even harder knowing that he has a front row seat to all this.
I slam the door and pull the blinds across the glass so he can’t see me. Then I type a quick text to Dom.
That wasn’t what it looked like. I swear. Come back
Three little dots appear, then disappear.
“Fuck!” I ignore the urge to throw my phone, and I start typing again.
I saw you typing, so I know you have your phone in your hand. Please call me. Rex was out of line. I don’t know how much of that you saw, but it wasn’t what it looked like. Please come back.
I wait to see the three little typing dots appear again, but this time there’s nothing.