Page 83 of The Stallion
If this session were anything like the previous year’s, Connor would have arrived home late last night or early this morning, depending on whether he had to stay late on the final day of training.
Entering through the front door, I found the main level unusually quiet. It was almost eleven, and Connor, being an early bird, I’d assumed he would be up by now, relaxing in the living room—only he wasn’t.
To my surprise, I heard light, bubbly laughter filtering down the stairs from his bedroom, and my stomach immediately flipped at the sound.
Of all thetimes where I thought he was out cheating on me, I never imagined that I’d actually catch him in the act—not that I ever wanted to—because who the fuck wants their heart shattered into a million pieces on purpose.
The pit that hollowed in my stomach made me want to vomit directly onto the entryway rug. But my feet had an entirely different idea in mind, carrying my body one excruciating step at a time up to the second floor.
The laughter grew as I approached his room. The door just barely cracked open, letting a string of sunlight filter into the hallway.
The strangest part of this situation was that the woman’s laughter sounded oddly familiar…
With a long-held breath, I gingerly pushed open the door and immediately froze when my eyes reached Connor’s.
“Connor…” I breathed, sucking on my bottom lip, my throat closing as I tried to force a dry swallow. My gaze shifted to the naked woman snuggled up beside him, the duvet pulled up to cover her bare chest.
Motherfucking Tahlia.
I could recognize that dark-haired whore a mile away—and in truth—I had thought she’d left for California the day she lost her leadership position to me.
Evidently not.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” As if thinking she were any other woman would have made this low of a blow feel any gentler… perhaps.
“Bri, I was goingto—”
“We’re consummating our marriage, or was the white dress on the floor not enough to give that away?” Tahlia’s smug grin of satisfaction had me digging my nails into my palms, threatening to break through the skin.
Married?! He fucking married her?! While we were still together?!
“Of all the things… This is fucking low of you Connor.” I didn’t have words—utterly speechless. There was so much I wanted to say, but I could barely process the scene before my eyes, let alone figure out how to contain my feelings. “You couldn’t look me in the face and end our relationship before running off and getting fucking married?!—And let me guess, you’re the one hes been fucking for the past three years, right?” The moment everything between us took a hard left turn.
It took every ounce of self-restraint not to break down in the doorway as I set my furious gaze on Tahlia, who again looked entirely unperturbed at my presence.
“Four—but three sounds more favorable from your perspective of this whole—” She gestured her hand in a waving motion to encompass the three of us. “Situation.”
“Bri—”
“Spare me the petty excuses, Connor… You had every goddamn chance—for four fucking years—to end this the right way and you chose not to.” My voice broke as I fought to hold on to my sanity.
Did I want his explanation? Did it even matter at this point?
Suckingup what little courage I had left I turned on my heel and made my exit toward the stairs, hearing Tahlia’s cold voice echo from behind me.
“Karma’s a bitch, sweetheart. Maybe try not to be so much of an oblivious pushover next time.”
My lungs felt heavy, and my breathing strained as I reached the bottom of the staircase.
I gripped onto the railing as if it were the only thing keeping me from collapsing to my knees.
Those two… all this fucking time….
How could I let this happen…
A pushover…
I clawed my nails into the wooden railing as red slowly bled across my vision, and my eyes lifted from the floor to the kitchen.
