Page 60 of Due Process
Epilogue
FELIX
Six months later…
I wandered the supermarket, aimlessly filling my basket with junk food. There were no groundbreaking plans for my Saturday night, since it was Stella’s weekend with the boys.
The past six months had been hard and filled with much change, but I was slowly settling into my new norm. I worked hard—in my job and on the fractured relationships I had broken.
Although some time had passed, it was still difficult to reconcile that I had single-handedly destroyed my marriage for the cheap price of mediocre sex. Sometimes, I liked to dream that I hadn’t lost Stella—the one and only woman I’d ever love.
The physical affair wasn’t revolutionary or even remotely memorable. I soon realised those acts only served to feed my overinflated ego and self-entitlement. And Heather was a willing accomplice who gave me the gratification I believed I deserved.
It didn’t take long for all of that to come crashing down.
Toxic, devastating behaviour could only be reciprocated with the same, and karma didn’t hold back when dealing with us.
Due to the seriousness of her crimes, Heather remained in federal custody, awaiting her trial. And as the dumb bitch refused to cooperate, the authorities decided to throw the book at her. With the dirt they’d managed to dig up, she was facing four different charges with a max penalty of twenty years.
Michael kept me up to date, and she’d even tried to reach out a couple of times. He took care of that with a swiftness only a lawyer with his reputation could, but it still left me feeling tarnished.
I had given that thief the opportunity to take from those I loved, to destroy my life so thoroughly that I was left scrambling in the wreckage left behind.
And that was where I deserved to stay.
Therapy helped some, providing insight into the situation that I had recklessly made. But I could never fully forgive myself, and didn’t believe I ever would.
Distant music brought me out of my mind, and I realised I had been standing in the middle of the confectionery aisle, blindly staring at the array of chocolates for five minutes straight.
Unintentionally, I must have picked something up on autopilot, but when I processed what was in my hand, my mind slowed.
I was holding Stella’s go-to sweet treat—a signature dark chocolate that boasted 80 percent cocoa. Memories flooded forth. Times when Eli and I would tease Stella for eating the disgusting chocolate, and she’d laugh back in jest, stating it wasthe best thing she’d ever had. We all knew she was lying, and only bought it for the health benefits, but she’d double down and eat every last piece, smug smile and all.
So, after those years of taunting and playful teasing, tell me why I still bought that same chocolate every week and force-fed that bitterness down my throat?
Nostalgia and painful love. That was why.
“Ah, excuse me,” called a hurried male voice from behind, before he sidestepped around me.
The man had turned the corner at speed, beelining for the shelf I still stood in front of. He wore a black hoodie and jeans, so I didn’t recognise him immediately… until he turned around.
I was caught frozen, my eyes blazing into my arch nemesis, the man who had replaced me.
Curtis Wright.Millionaire ex-baseball player and Stella’s childhood friend-turned-boyfriend.
The word still left me bitter and seething inside. Stella had been straightforward in her communication and firm in her convictions. She was considerate in giving me a heads up before letting the boys know, but her generosity stopped there. Stella informed me that Curtis would remain in her life, and there was nothing I could say or do to change a damn thing.
She was lethal and exact when she had dropped that bomb, which definitely landed centre. I wanted to rage, to beat the shit out of him. But I had no right, no say in her life whatsoever. I knew Curtis had always harboured feelings for her. So, to know I was the one to inevitably push them together—yeah, you’d be correct in assuming I crashed the fuck out.
Soon after that, just as I was getting over the initial shock, Eli and Phoenix accepted him into the fold, ecstatic to have Curtis and Logan added to their blended family.
That was a difficult and emotional couple of months. My self-worth diminished more by the second. Then I’d get a wave ofremorse, knowing I was responsible for putting all of it into motion.
As my thoughts spiralled, my eyes caught on what Curtis held in his grasp—the same dark chocolate that was in mine.
I rolled my shoulders back, my gaze severe as my heart crumbled to pieces in my chest.
He’s buying her favourite candy.
