HIS FAKE BRIDE

CHAPTER FIVE

As she turns to leave, she hears Ashley call out to her, the voice that once brought comfort now sending chills down her spine.

"Erin, wait!"

She didn't dare to look at that slut. Erin ducked inside one of the stalls in the female bathroom, locking herself in the nearest stall. The cold metal of the lock offered little comfort against her trembling fingers.

"Erin?" Ashley's voice echoed from outside the stall in a little sweet voice. Then, like a switch being flipped, that sweetness turned to venom. "You need to get over it already. Kevin's with me now."

Ashley's heels clicked closer to Erin's stall, each step a deliberate taunt. "You always do this, you know? Make everything about you. Poor little Erin, always the victim." The words bounced off the tiled walls, multiplying like daggers.

The words hit harder than any physical blow. Erin pushed open the stall door, staring at her former best friend in disbelief. The woman before her was unrecognizable or she was too blind to see her for who she really was. Years of friendship shattered in the fluorescent bathroom light.

A cruel smile played on Ashley's lips, her eyes glittering with malice. The expression transformed her once-beautiful features into something almost demonic.

Before Erin could stop herself, her palm connected with Ashley's cheek. The sound echoing through the bathroom, sharp and final like the period at the end of a sentence.

Ashley's smile only widened, and something in that expression sent chills down Erin's spine. Without another word, Ashley spun around and rushed out, her fake sobs already starting before she reached the door, the performance worthy of an award.

"Kevin!" Ashley's wails carried through the walls. "She hit me! I was just trying to apologize, and she attacked me!" The lies flowed as naturally as breathing.

Erin stood frozen by the sinks, her reflection in the mirror showing a woman she barely recognized, one whose trust had been betrayed not once, but twice, by the two people she'd loved most in the world. The harsh bathroom lighting emphasized every shadow under her eyes, every line of stress around her mouth.

She came out a couple of minutes later and saw Kevin and Ashley at the front of the door. She wanted to run back in but she had already been caught. Kevin's face twisted with anger, transforming the features she once loved into something ugly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He advanced toward her, looming like a storm cloud. "I'm tired of your nonsense. How dare you put your hands on Ashley?"

Erin backed away, tears burning her eyes. This couldn't be the same man who'd once promised to love her forever. The memory of his gentle words now felt like acid in her mind.

"You don't get to play the victim here," Kevin continued, his voice rising. "Ashley is the woman I love now. If you ever touch her again—"

"I suggest you step away from my wife."

Lucian's voice cut through the tension like ice. In three long strides, he was beside Erin, taking her hands in his. His presence radiated protective fury.

Kevin's laugh was ugly. "Wife? So this is why you're acting so high and mighty?" His eyes raked over Erin with disgust. "You had someone on the side all along, and you had the nerve to call me a cheat? What a slut."

Lucian growls, his strides quick as he throws a punch on Kevin's face, sending him sprawling across the bathroom floor. The impact echoed through the space.

"I warned you about speaking to my wife that way." Lucian's voice was deadly quiet as he stood over Kevin, who was clutching his bleeding mouth. "The next time would be your f*****g last breath." The threat hung in the air like smoke.

Lucian turned back to Erin, his touch gentle as he guided her toward the door. The contrast between his tenderness with her and his fury with Kevin was stark.

Back in the car, Lucian's knuckles were white as he gripped his knee, adjusting his tie occasionally. "Drive," he commanded, his voice still tight with anger. The tension crackled in the confined space.

The silence stretched between them until Erin couldn't bear it anymore. "Do you pity me?" she whispered, staring straight ahead, afraid to see the answer in his eyes.

"What?" Lucian turned to her, genuinely surprised as to where that was coming from, even after he had just defended her. His expression softened with concern.

"I said, do you pity me?!" Her voice rose, weeks of hurt and anger finally spilling over. When he remained silent, she continued, "Don't ever pity me, Lucian. I will marry you, but on one condition." She met his eyes, her gaze intense. "Help me make them pay. Everything they did to me, every bit of pain they caused – I want them to feel it all. I want rev—"

Lucian leaned forward, taking her lips in his. Surprising her but her body refused to reject his touch as she delved in kissing him back with the same intensity. The moment was charged with unspoken promises.

At her apartment, the intensity between them built. Every touch felt electric, charged with something more... like a burning desire.

"Stop thinking," Lucian murmured against her skin. "Just feel."

"I want you to have me this time for real," she whispered with ragged breaths. He pulls her up from her feet and takes her to the couch where his lips begin to trail her thighs and his hands found her breasts, raising her skirt up higher, her breath becoming heavier as soft moans escape her lips.

"I always knew you were a slut!" A voice suddenly calls out from one side of the room— her stepmom? How had she gotten inside her house?!!

Erin jerked away from Lucian to find Victoria standing in her living room doorway, phone raised and recording. The intrusion felt like ice water in her veins.

"How did you get in here?" Erin demanded, horror and fury warring in her chest. The violation of her private space added another layer to her trauma.

Her stepmother's smile was pure poison. "Darling, did you really think I wouldn't keep a spare key? I had to make sure you weren't embarrassing your father any further." She waved the phone. "Though I must say, you've exceeded even my lowest expectations." Her words dripped with contempt, years of hidden hatred finally showing its true face.