Apologies for the cliffy.
But hey, two chapters today —and this one is almost 2,000 words.
What could possibly be worse?
She lied.
She cheated.
She even fucking married me.
I didn't want to drag this out any further.
I needed to do this.
I pressed play.
Jenks must have gotten pretty close to the pair when he shot this.
Table for two.
In the corner.
Cosy.
Champagne and lobster.
Tanya got up, ran her hand over his shoulder and kissed his cheek, whispering something into his ear.
I had never seen that dress before.
It was a shade of white, shiny, resembling a pearl as it glistened in the lighting.
Conservatively cut, right at the knee.
Snug at the waist.
Boat neck.
Large, shimmering necklace dangling from her bare neck.
Hair swept up in a chignon.
Looking like a Stepford now, Tan?
The guy stopped their waiter and slipped him a bill.
Money.
It seemed like Tyler Crowley had plenty.
The camera zoomed in on Jenks iPhone, showing the date and the time.
She was back.
Sitting down, enjoying her fancy champagne and putting her hand on his forearm.
"I was about to shut off the camera, but you thank your lucky stars I didn't," Jenks remarked as my eyes almost fell out of their sockets.
He was right.
Worse than sex.
Worse than any tape she could've made.
There he was.
Tyler fucking Crowley.
One one fucking knee.
Proposing to my fucking wife.
"Are you kidding me right now?" I was so angry I wanted to smash that laptop to the wall.
"No fucking way," I shook my head as tears started to burn.
I refused to let her make me cry.
I refused to care.
I fought against everything.
The sound in the video was faint —other patrons talking and the subtle music in the background dulled it. But I didn't need to hear it, to know what was going on.
Tanya seemed to gasp, clasped her hand over her mouth.
She smiled.
Beamed.
Full of emotion.
Full of love.
I couldn't remember the last time she looked at me like that.
I couldn't remember if she ever had.
She nodded her head violently, some hair escaping her delicate updo while she did, standing from her chair and crouching down onto the floor next to him.
Bare knees on the hardwood floor.
Heels almost off her feet.
Hands around his neck.
Lips touching.
Tyler slid the ring onto her finger.
Onto her empty finger.
That's why she left the ring.
My wife was getting married.
"Is this real?" I managed to get out.
Jenks nodded and let his head hang a little bit before topping off my glass with some more whiskey.
"I'm sorry to say this, Edward. But it's clear that whatever this is, is real."
"Why didn't she ever talk to me?" I started to feel the tears making their way down my face. I scrubbed them off with my sleeve, hard.
"Why didn't she tell me she wasn't happy? Why didn't we just talk? I would've let her go and I bet we could stay somewhat civilized… But this…" I took a deep breath to steady myself.
"This is too much. I cannot forgive her. I just can't."
"And you shouldn't, Edward. She had clearly been manipulating you for a very long time now. I bet she was convinced that you would stay with her no matter what."
I know, Jenks. I know.
"She even tried to have sex with me, Jenks. Today." I uttered, disgusted.
"I can't tell you why she does what she does, of course. But let me ask you: does she have anything?"
I started thinking and snorted.
"No."
"Nothing?"
"Her car was a gift. She needed a new one to be honest, and I let her pick something for her birthday last year. What I didn't know, was that she'd go for a BMW convertible," I trailed off.
"The house?"
"On my name. She decorated everything of course, but I was the one who bought it after I got my trust fund from my grandparents."
"Did you have a prenup when you got married?"
"Yes," I was so naive that I didn't want one, but mom and dad insisted.
"Tell me, Edward. How long and how much?" Jenks pressed.
He probably knew this was painful for me, but I too knew —this needed to happen.
"After five years she'd get her share, alimony or child support if we ever got a baby. I know I would have had to care for her financially. But she doesn't know that my current job and the business don't cover my in dollar bills. I worked my ass off for every single penny. Most of my money is in the apartment. She was the one who wanted to live there, after all." I shrugged.
"If she is marrying this dude, then why does she need anything from me? He's clearly loaded."
"Edward, let me explain. Tyler Crowley has a sports empire. His magazine is clearly only part of is. He owns several bars, sponsors tons of teams and retired after playing basketball in Europe."
I wasn't a sports man, so I had no clue who he was.
"I had one of his insiders tell me about Tanya. How they were glad he met someone so much like him. A self made woman, who built her own career and wasn't afraid to work hard as long as she could play harder." Jenks sighed.
"Are you saying she's lying to him as well?" I was flabbergasted.
"I don't know about the lying. But Tyler clearly thinks Tanya is quite comfortable on the money front. Besides, his first marriage was one with a heavy, airtight prenup. If he chooses to marry Tanya, it'll be with one of those as well."
I got it now.
She needed the money.
My money.
To impress her fiancé.
"Filthy bitch." I muttered under my breath and finished my drink.
"I assure you, Edward. She won't get a dime with all of this."
Jenks handed me a flash drive.
"Please, keep it close. It's filled with more pictures and little videos. Your lawyer will feel like Christmas morning hit him over the fucking head."
I nodded and collected my thoughts.
This was it.
I thanked Jenks with a handshake that ended up more like a man-hug and I left his office feeling slightly empty but with a clear mind.
By the time I calmed down enough to drive my car, I'd smoked three cigarettes and my shaking hands were back to normal.
Hour of truth.
I messaged Carmen from the car, asking her to push my appointments to another day.
I wasn't going in to the office today.
I wouldn't be useful anyway.
I asked her to put me up for a few jobs with Paul, I could talk to him.
Paul'd understand.
His ex cheated on him as well.
He hated Tanya ever since I told him things weren't going well.
He almost punched me when I shared the fact that she cheated, admitted it and then I married her anyway.
I called a realtor after that, asking for an appointment to look at my apartment.
No way I was staying there.
No was I was letting her stay there, as well.
"How can I help you, sir?" The raven-haired receptionist greeted me after finishing up a phone call.
"I'm Edward Cullen, here to see Mr. Biers."
"Edward! Hi, man. I'll be right there." Riley appeared from a door on my right, stuffing one hand into the pockets of his charcoal slacks as his other one raked through his blonde, shaggy hair.
"Bree, could you make sure Mr. Cullen is comfortable in my office? You can bring up two coffees, black —please." He smiled at his receptionist.
"Alright," she grinned and lead me to Riley's office a few doors down.
Riley knew me well.
"Just make yourself at home, Mr. Cullen. He'll be here in a minute, he just has to sign a bit of paperwork."
Bree left me in Riley's office and I stood in front of the big window.
How in fuck's sake could I feel guilty for feeling a connection with someone? It's not like I'm marrying another woman, while being married to Tanya.
He's so much wealthier than I am.
He's successful.
He has a daughter.
Then it dawned on me: he could give her everything with a snap of his fingers.
I had to work for that, hard.
My head was spinning because I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she'd stay with me. But then it hit me:
If she filed for divorce, she wouldn't get anything.
The door closing behind me slightly started me.
"Edward, hi." Riley came up to shake my hand and pointed to the chair in front of his desk.
I was doing a lot of sitting down in front of desks today.
"Now, knowing you this is quite urgent. You wouldn't push this hard for an appointment if it wasn't." He remarked.
I smiled weakly.
"I need you to get me divorced ASAP. And I don't want her to walk away with anything."
"A man on a mission. I like it although I am sorry to hear it went south," he said as Bree entered with coffee.
"Hard, fast divorced need heavy and true facts. Give me all you got," Riley sat down and rolled up his sleeves.
I handed him the flash drive.
After several minutes of silence, he spoke again, but not to me.
Riley pressed a button on his desk phone and asked Bree to hold his calls and to reschedule his next appointment.
"I'm sorry if this causes you any inconvenience," I said.
"This is urgent, buddy. We need a game plan. How far are you willing to go? Do you want all of this to fly under the judges nose? Do you want to serve her papers out of the blue, or do you want to make a statement?" Rileys questions swam through my head, fighting for a winner.
"Make it as big as you need it to be. I'll do anything, she's hurt me too much."
"And they say there ain't nothing like a woman scorned. Clearly they haven't met Edward Cullen." Riley cocked a brow at me.
"For starters, I need Tyler Crowley's address but it seems like your P.I. Did a great job. It's all here."
"Why do you need his address?"
"Because I'm sure he doesn't know Tanya is married, Edward. What fun would it be to have her papers arrive at his doorstep per registered letter?"
"You're a genius." I smiled and it was genuine.
"Give me a few days to write it all up, I'm sure she will sign and she will agree to our terms. I'm sure little miss Stick Up Her Butt won't want anyone to see these pictures."
"Okay."
"I'll call you as soon as they're finished so you can come by and I can translate them to normal English for you."
"You have no idea how great you are," I chuckled.
"A little bird might have told me," Riley winked.