Page 1 of Homewrecker

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Ashley

What kind of man gets married the day after his divorce is finalized to the woman he cheated on his wife with?

What kind of man cheats on his wife with his daughter’s best friend?

Her dad was forty-nine, and Rebecca was twenty-six, a year younger than Ashley. So gross.

Jaw clenched, Ashley stared at her father, her stomach roiling with disgust as her Uncle Kellar straightened her dad’s bowtie. Just looking at her dad made her feel sick. Or like throwing things. If she could projectile vomit all over his tuxedo, maybe this travesty would come to an end.

Maybe she’d wake up, and it would all be a horrible nightmare.

Finding out that her dad had been cheating on her mom had been bad enough. Discovering he’d been cheating with her best friend, Rebecca, who Ashley had invited on a family trip two years ago had been… there wasn’t a word for it.

Devastated didn’t cover her emotions. Neither did enraged. Disgust was closer but still not all-encompassing enough.

“What do you think, honey?” Her dad turned to her and spread his arms out, a kind of desperate cheer on his face.

Ashley stared back at him.

“I think I’m going to throw up.” Jumping to her feet, she rushed from the room, ignoring her dad as he called after her, grateful to Uncle Kellar, who she heard stopping her dad from physically chasing her down. Probably reminding her dad he was lucky she was there in the first place.

I don’t want to be here.

Bile rose in the back of her throat, churning her stomach, and she hurried to the bathroom. Empty. Thankfully. Going into one of the stalls, she pulled her phone out of her purse and called her mom’s number. She couldn’t do this, and her mom was just going to have to accept that.

Her mom answered on the first ring, as though she’d been waiting for Ashley to call.

“Hey, baby.”

“Mom, I can’t do this.” Tears surged instead of bile, stinging her eyes, and she angrily swiped beneath her eyes. She didn’t want to ruin her makeup because she still had to walk out of the building, and who knew who she might see on the way? That or she could hide out here in the bathroom until everything was over. That didn’t sound so bad, either.

Basically, anything that didn’t involve having to watch her dad marry her former best friend the day after he’d divorced her mom.

There was a long moment of silence on the other end.

“If you really can’t, I understand.” Her mom sounded so sad, it tugged at the guilt in Ashley’s stomach. She was trying to make her mom’s life easier, not harder. “I just… I don’t want you to end your relationship with your dad over what he did tome.It’s probably selfish, but I feel so guilty?—”

“No, no, Mom, it’s fine.” Ashley choked back her tears. She wanted to shake her mom, tell her it wasn’t her fault and that she didn’t have anything to feel guilty about… but her mom had been through enough. Ashley’s dad had put her through enough. She wasn’t going to add to her mom’s issues by refusing to attend one freaking event. “I’m sorry. I think I just freaked out for a minute. I needed to hear your voice.”

“I appreciate that so much, honey. I never want to come between you and your dad.” The guilt infusing her mother’s voice at the very idea was even greater than the guilt wracking Ashley for being at her father’s wedding. This was what her mom wanted. She just had to keep reminding herself of that fact, and she’d be able to get through the day.

Today wasn’t about her. It wasn’t about her dad and her ex-bestie. It was about making her mom feel better.

Why her mom had chosen this as something she wanted, Ashley had no idea, but it didn’t really matter why, did it? It just mattered that Ashley got through it. Besides, no one said she couldn’t leave after taking the pictures. Though her dad would probably notice if she left before dinner.

At least he’d been smart enough not to ask her to make a toast. Slut-becca, as Ashley now thought of her, hadn’t bothered to ask Ashley to be in her wedding party, either. She’d been keeping her physical distance since Ashley had tried to pull the hair from her head when her father and Slut-becca had broken the news to her. Too bad Ashley hadn’t managed to get more of her hair. She still remembered the way Rebecca had screamed and the silky strands of hair that had clung to her palm. It had been one satisfying moment in the midst of a bunch of absolute shit.

“You’re too good for him, Mom. In every way.”

“I know you’d choose me if you had to, baby, but you should never have to choose between your parents.”

Not even if she wanted to, apparently. Ashley squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, baby. Try to have fun. For me.”

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