Out For My Ex.

Off The Edge

Maybe it was all a dream.

A nightmare even, but maybe all was just the illusion of her weak mind.

Pierre and Eveline manipulating her to sign away her share of Lumière Couture.

The divorce. And even… The nightstand Aveline had with that stranger.

Maybe everything was an illusion. Or she was being purely delusional;

As the warm rays of the sun danced on her face, her eyelids parted, urging her orbs to behold a ceiling.

“This isn't my bedroom” A mumble, barely audible erupted from her…swollen lips.

“Ugh” She grunted, folding her lower lip into her mouth, prompting her buds to taste… Blood.

With her mind still in a haze, Aveline tried to sit upright, only for torrents of exhaustion to rain on her body.

Still, she managed to sit at the edge of the large, and with a lazy head turn, she beheld a mirror and her… Disheveled self.

Aveline's hair, usually voluminous and glossy, was tied into a messy bun, numerous strands of it cascading down her face. And even to her…

“What the…!” She trailed a hand to her neck, her eyes widened gradually as her fingers creeped to the countless blaring hickeys.

“It wasn't a nightmare” Still gawking at her reflection, draped in nothing but a clean bed sheet, Aveline mumbled.

Shock departed from her orbs, hurt replacing it as yesterday's awful events replayed itself.

She did get tricked into signing those damn divorce papers with Eveline's help.

And the nightstand…

“Is he an animal?” Aveline, now on her feet, had freshened up. Her body was already cleaned, surely the handiwork of that stranger, yet she took another bath.

Now she was donned in a simple floral gown — again, courtesy of the stranger.

Standing in front of the mirror, she yanked the hand band off her hair, allowing it to cascade down her back like a sunset kissed waterfall.

Still, some hickeys were in view, and a slight pain throbbed at her middle.

Her nose seemed to be unable to get rid of the thick yet pleasant smell of something…smoky.

She couldn't pinpoint what it was yet knew it must be from that stranger. But it wasn't lingering on him at the pub.

Yes, Aveline was intoxicated but not dumb, this smoky scent, hovering around, does it belong to him.

Aveline sighed, fragments of her night with him swirling in her mind as she shut her eyes.

"His face. I don't even remember it" She parted her lips, having mixed feelings about her inability to remember his face.

Yet she was certain of one thing - he was.. otherworldly. His frame, those insanely dark orbs that lack color.

She should feel grateful she doesn't remember him, preventing any future encounters but..

Recalling being slammed against the wall, his lips continuously arresting hers. His cold touch that ironically filled her with warmth. His voice – the hard strokes and–

“Ha!” The abrupt blaring of her ringtone, loud and sharp, burst Aveline's bubble of thoughts.

She spun her gaze to her phone lying on the coffee table, then ambled to it. But towering over it, the sight of the caller ID birthed a groan from her lips.

“I know she's calling to mock me” Still, Aveline reached for it, the ringing dying and the image of Genevieve flashing through her mind.

News about Eveline taking her spot as Pierre's wife, and participating in that ruse would've reached the ears of many by today's end.

But their parents might have already heard.

“He'll use my flame to burn me then dance and f**k on my grave” Aveline recalled her mother's words, her angry face then let out another sigh.

Lucien and Genevieve were right, but also wrong — none knew Eveline would join in the dance.

★

Hurt flowed in her veins like blood, but so did reason. While approaching her parked car, Aveline's mind was flooded with thoughts. Intentions. All centered on her next course of action.

There was no way she'd go down without a fight. Pierre did outsmart her but…

“I'm getting Lumière back” While fishing for her keys in her purse, Aveline whispered, determination flashing in her eyes.

Finally, she managed to unlock the door, then collapse onto the driver's seat.

“I'll contact my lawyer then gather video footage of the scheme and…” As Aveline began the engine, her orbs of green caught a glimpse of two cars parked across the street, sounds of their engines purring softly.

Though the distant cursed her with the inability to clearly see the drivers faces, Aveline's instincts were prickled.

“Pierre can't be that evil, right?” She chuckled, anxiety clinging to the sound as she tried to brush it off as paranoia.

But as the cars suddenly sprang into life, their tires peeling off their parking spots and speeding towards her, Aveline's heart skipped a beat.

“s**t!” Sharply, she started the engine, its roar blending with sounds of racing cars as she floored it.

Aveline sped out of the parking lot, and into the winding road. The morning traffic was sparse, yet she weaved in, her hands turning the wheels as she was desperate to shake her pursuers.

Yet, they persisted — the sight of their cars careening through the street urged beads of sweat to glide down Aveline's forehead.

“You want me dead huh Pierre!?” She gnashed her teeth, her hands tightened on the steering wheels as her attention flickered from the rear view mirror to the road ahead.

Returning her focus to the rear view mirror, she hoped to see the cars.

But her pursuers had abruptly moved in a tandem, blocking the road and Aveline barely managed to swerve to a side.

“Christ!” She shrieked, her body shaking with fear as her tires sped on a narrow winding road that led to the town's outskirts.

“What should I do? What should I… There's… There's no f*****g road!” Aveline nearly screamed out her lungs as she beheld no gravel ahead of her.

Her trembling hands, already soaking the leather steering, tried to swerve to a side once more, but it was too late.

The car hurtled off the cliff, soaring through the air before crashing into the war below.

“Ah!” The impact was immense, leaving Aveline's body in the air before it plummeted into the war.

The world around her blurred, water seeped into every hole available in her head as darkness closed in on her.