Ex-Wife Ecstacy

CHAPTER 3

Sheila took a deep breath, steadying herself. “Alright,” she said, her voice firmer than she felt.

“Talk.”

The man gave a small, knowing smile before stepping closer. “First things first,” he said. “My name is Victor.”

The name did nothing to jog her memory, but it sent a shiver down her spine nonetheless.

“Victor,” she repeated, tasting the word like it might hold some hidden meaning. “And what exactly do you want from me?”

Victor studied her for a moment before shaking his head. “It’s not about what I want, Sheila. It’s about what happened. I promise you, last night wasn’t just some drunken mistake. You got yourself tangled in something you shouldn’t have.”

Sheila’s pulse quickened. “What are you talking about?”

Victor opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, another knock echoed through the apartment. This time, it was heavier, more impatient. Sheila flinched. Not again…

Victor exhaled sharply and stepped back as she hesitantly moved toward the door. With trembling fingers, she turned the knob, bracing herself for whatever new chaos awaited her on the other side.

Her breath hitched as she took in the man standing before her. Tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a sleek, dark suit, he looked every bit as put-together as she remembered him, perhaps even more so. His sharp jawline, the steel in his gaze, the faint crease of his brow. Aww…Sheila felt as though she had stepped into a past she had long tried to bury.

“Daniel”, she gasped…Her ex-husband.

Daniel’s expression remained unreadable, but his eyes, those familiar, piercing eyes, held a storm behind them. “Sheila,” he said, his voice low, measured. “We need to talk.”

Sheila’s hands clenched at her sides. “Now’s not exactly the best time.”

Daniel’s gaze flicked past her, landing on Victor. His jaw tightened. “Clearly.”

Victor folded his arms. “Friend of yours?”

Daniel’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You could say that.”

Sheila exhaled sharply, already exhausted by whatever this was turning into. “Daniel, what are you doing here?” She said, finally looking right into his face.

He ignored the question, stepping inside without invitation, his presence immediately filling the space. “I’ve been hearing things,” he said, his voice edged with something close to concern. “Things about you. And I needed to see for myself.”

Patricia’s words lingered in her mind. ‘Someone is always watching’.

Sheila crossed her arms. “What exactly have you been hearing, eavesdropper?”

Daniel hesitated, glancing at Victor again before finally answering. “That you’ve been getting yourself mixed up with the wrong people, and also that you’re in danger.”

Sheila scoffed. “And you care why?” “We are no more a thing my darling?”

There, something flickered in Daniel’s expression, she couldn’t quite read. “Because,” he said after a moment, “whether we like it or not, I still know you. And I know when you’re in over your head.”

Sheila felt the walls closing in. Patricia, Victor, Daniel, none of them had any right to dictate her life, but here they all were, circling her like vultures. She needed her space…“Why am I always the victim”? She thought…

She took a step back, exhaling slowly. “I don’t need you to save me, Daniel. Not anymore.”

Daniel’s jaw tensed. “Then tell me the truth, Sheila. Are you in trouble of any sort?”

Sheila hesitated. She wanted to say no, to dismiss his concerns as nothing more than lingering possessiveness. But the truth was, she didn’t know, because the night before was still a haze and Patricia’s cryptic words still clung to her skin, while Victor here… Victor had yet to reveal what he truly knew.

Daniel took her silence as confirmation. “Dammit, Sheila.”

Victor finally spoke up, his tone unreadable. “I think she needs answers first, don’t you?” Daniel said, shooting a sharp glance at Patricia.

Daniel shot him a glare from the side, he really thought of pouncing on him. “And you are?” He forcefully said, trying to let his voice sound above his anger, which was at that point chocking him.

Victor smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “Just someone who knows what happened the previous night, and who’s willing to tell her as well.”

Daniel’s expression darkened. “Then start talking, Sire.”

The air between them grew thick with tension, but Sheila had no time for their posturing, she was fed up.

“Enough,” she snapped. “If either of you actually care, then stop dancing around the truth and tell me what the hell is going on and right now.”

Victor and Daniel exchanged a red hot glance. For a moment, it seemed like neither would speak. But then Victor sighed. “Fine. You want the truth?”

Sheila braced herself. “Yes.”

With Victor’s eyes locked onto hers, he said, “then you better sit down, because you’re not going to like it.”