Page 6 of Cutthroat

“Oh my God!” Eve screamed as she watched her sister bend at the waist and give up everything she had eaten.

“Edy, let’s just go to my house.”

Eden shook her head no. Instead, she wiped her mouth and reached for her phone, dialing her husband’s number. As she listened to the ringing, she couldn’t wait to hear what lie he’d come up with.

“Hey Beautiful, I’m almost done here. I should be home in a few hours,” Jermaine said. His tone was as cool as a cucumber. Had he looked up, he would’ve seen his wife and other sister-in-law watching him kiss their sister as he spoke on the phone.

CHAPTER 3

As Eden watched him, she couldn’t speak. Too many thoughts raced through her head. Is she who he’s with every Thursday? How long has this been going on?

Jermaine noticed the silence and with obvious concern asked, “Babe is everything ok?”

The tone in which he spoke made another surge of sickness race up Eden’s throat. It truly sounded like he cared about her wellbeing. That thought was funny. Eden swallowed the sickness and tried to bring some normalcy to her voice.

“Yeah, I’m good. I just wanted to see how the meeting was going. Eve and I are on the way to Ribeye’s. I wanted to know if you wanted me to pick something up for you,” She lied. She shocked herself by the calm way that she spoke.

“Everything is good. You don’t have to get me anything. My secretary got my specialty order, so I don’t need anything,” Jermaine lied unaware that he had been caught.

Eden shook her head. She smirked as she watched him hold the phone to his ear while he walked out of the restaurant hand in hand with her sister. Hewas so caught up in his lie that he didn’t even notice that she was parked directly beside him. Nor did he realize the large dent in his driver’s side door.

“Well babe, I don’t want to intrude. Try to make the best of your night and I’ll see you when you get home. Bye.”

“Bye?!”Jermaine repeated. The simple word with lack of emotion stunned him.

They never ended a call or conversation without expressing their sentiments. They both knew it.

“What happened to I love you?” Jermaine asked as if he was offended.

Eden ended the call and scoffed. She wasn’t surprised to see The Husband flashing on the screen. Unlike the times in the past, seeing his moniker filled her with hate.

“He has a lot of fucking nerves?” Eve said as she tapped the red button on Eden’s phone.

“What could I have done to make my husband fuck my sister? Most men have affairs with random women. A bitch from Facebook, a gas station, shit a coworker. What did I do for him to have an affair with my sister?” Eden asked as she slapped at the tears that rolled down her face.

The last thing she wanted to do was cry over someone that could betray her like this. The rage outweighed the pain. She couldn’t stop the tears even if she wanted to.

“You are not about to blame yourself for the actions of a whore and an undisciplined man. Men that have no boundaries are not men, they’re little boys dressed up in a man suit. Envy has always been a bad apple. She goes out of her way to make everyone’s life miserable. So, to answer your question, you didn’t do shit.” Eve said as she watched Jermaine exit his Bentley and walk into the Red Roof Inn.

Eden threw her head back and laughed.

“Longhorns and the Red Roof Inn. Envy probably thinks she hit the jackpot tonight. She’s always been low budget. It’s been a long time since I had to turn on my knuck if you buck. Let’s go.” Eve said as she watched her little sister traipsing into the $50 a night hotel like the queen of the universe. The sight in front of her made her sick to her stomach.

“Give me five minutes,” Eden said as she watched her husband comfortably scroll into the budget hotel.

Of all the things she expected to see today, seeing the man that begged her to start a family less than an hour ago, walking into a cheap motel with herflesh and blood was not it. If someone told her that she’d discover her husband having an affair, she would’ve called them a liar.

“Five minutes?!” Eve shouted in disbelief, “Edy you had laser surgery, so I know you’re seeing what I’m seeing. What are you waiting for?” Eve was appalled.

At the first sight of Envy and Jermaine together, she wanted to shake shit up. She couldn’t understand what Eden was waiting for. She couldn’t understand that Eden’s internal dial was moving slowly but steadily to the bad side.

Her actions were calculated and deliberate. She knew what she needed to see and why. This was her marriage. Her methods weren’t meant for Eve to understand. This was her situation, and she’d move in five minutes when she was ready.

When she was ready, she grabbed her purse and exited her car. The sliding glass door chimed alerting the clerk on duty that another guest had entered the establishment.

“Why are so many people coming here tonight?”The front desk attendant thought.

She had taken the job at the hotel because the foot traffic was so light that she could study in peace and still collect a check. But tonight, she had to earnher check because more than twenty people had already checked in during her 3-11pm shift.

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