“I said you might as well get over my sister’s self-centered ass and acknowledge that I saved you from a life of mediocracy. You should repay me for a job well done. You should come over here and award my hard work,” Envy said seductively as she sat in front of her bedroom mirror completely nude.

She couldn’t lie, she wanted it badly. The downfall of her sister’s marriage, Eden losing her baby, and Jermaine tussling with the bottle excited her. Envy moaned at the thought of Jermaine, but he hadn’t heard anything she said after ‘self-centered.’

He was just hard as a brick. Now he was as limp as a noodle. It was the simple lie that made him feel worse than he already had. Eden was not self-centered. She was the most selfless person that he had ever met, and he had fucked it up.

“Fuck you Envy.” He said quickly before ending the call. He knew he needed to speak to his wife. A sense of urgency gripped him as he dialed Eden’s number.

“The number you have dialed has been changed, disconnected, or no longer in service.”

“Fuck!!” Jermaine screamed when the automated out of service message began to play.

“Eden, I’m sorry Baby. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just need another chance to-”

The monologue Jermaine was on the verge of beginning stopped when he saw Eve’s number. His heart stalled. Eve had made it clear that she didn’t want anything to do with him, and she had always been a woman of her word. He knew that if she was calling that something had to be wrong with Eden.

“Eve, what’s wrong? Is Edy ok?” The concern and panic in his voice was apparent.

“It’s me. Can we talk?”

CHAPTER 8

“It’s me. Can we talk?”

The tearfully laced words that came through the phone sobered Jermaine instantly. The pain that dwelled within her because of his betrayal was evident. In all the years that he knew Eden, she had never sounded this broken. It made his heart sink knowing that he was the cause of her pain.

“Eden, yeah. I mean yes, we can talk. I’m glad you called. I’ve been trying to call you, you changed your number. I’ve been beating myself up for real Edy. Baby, I messed up. I’m sorry. How are you? Are you ok?” Jermaine asked quickly.

The words flew out of his mouth like they were running a race. The only time he ever sped through a speech quickly is if he were lying or nervous.

Eden could sense his nervousness and laughed flatly.