Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 34 -

I sighed and rubbed at my temple, where a headache was beginning to form, likely due to hunger. "It's okay, I just...I'm still so confused and I don't want to make any major decisions until I'm certain it's the right one."

I instinctively went to touch the finger with my wedding ring, then realized I'd stopped wearing my wedding band the day I'd asked Aiden for a divorce.

The ring, a 12-carat, east-west marquise diamond, had easily cost over ten million dollars, and had earned me a number 12 spot on Brides Magazine's article: 'Twenty most expensive wedding rings amongst Manhattan's Upper class.' It was now back in its box, tucked in a drawer in my former bedroom, stashed away out of sight. In my original plan, I'd intended to leave him a note explaining where Aiden could replace the ring and dispose of it as he wished.

I stared at the spot where it used to encircle my finger, the area still much lighter than the rest of my skin. A deep sense of loss washed over me, even though I'd never been particularly fond of the gaudy ornament. It hadn't been my style; I much preferred something simpler; something picked with a lot of thought and care. Still, I'd worn it out of a sense of duty and some foolish sense of hope. God, I'd really been delusional, hadn't I?

I dropped my hand and curled my fingers into a loose fist. "I'm still married, Anna. I can't exactly start something with a man while I'm still legally bound to another."

Sensing my distress, Anna scooted forward in her chair so she could take my hands between hers. "You've got this, Jess. Just know that whatever you decide to do, it will be the best choice for you and my little goddaughter and I will stand by you and respect your decision."

"You're going to make me cry." I gave her a watery smile and sniffed. She handed me a paper napkin and I used it to dab at my eyes. "I know I can count on you, bestie."

My phone rang just then. Giving Anna another, calmer smile, I got it out of my purse.

"Oh!" I exclaimed when I saw Vincent's name on the screen.

"Hey, Jess. I'm at your place right now, but Martin says you're out?"

I checked the time and realized it was way past the time we'd scheduled to meet. "Oh gosh! I'm so sorry, I lost track of time. Can you give me ten minutes, I'm nearby and I'll hurry back."

"Oh no, you won't. Not in your condition." He scolded, sounding stern for a minute. "You said you're close by? I can come meet you, just give me directions."

'Who's that?' Anna whispered, eyes lit with curiosity. I gestured for her to wait while I reeled off the directions to the restaurant.

Vincent promised to be there soon and I hung up.

"That was Vincent," I said, tucking the phone back in my purse. "He's my one 'o' clock appointment and - Anna? Are you okay?" Anna had gone white, a panicked look on her face.

Concerned, I leaned closer, wondering what had triggered this reaction. "What's going on? Are you sick?"

She shook her head, my usually chatty friend seemingly lost the ability to form coherent words. She grabbed her water glass and drank like she was dying of thirst, while I watched and waited for an explanation. Glass drained, she set it down with a thump and glared at me. "Why didn't you tell me it was Vincent you were supposed to meet?"

My mouth fell open at the accusatory tone. "Excuse me?"

"Shit." She looked ready to bolt, casting nervous glances at the door. "I don't want to see him. Not today."

"See who? Vince?" I shook my head, totally confused because she was not making sense. "Why? What's going on, Anna?"

She seemed to deflate then, looking resigned and muttering to herself.. "I guess it had to happen sometime, I can't exactly avoid him forever."

"Anna," I reached out and grabbed her hand, giving her an intense look. "You're not making sense and I need you to make sense and tell me what's going on. Why don't you want to see Vince?"

I already had a niggling suspicion forming at the back of my mind but I needed her to confirm it.

She sighed and looked at me. "Because I may have sorta had a thing with him?"

Despite my suspicion, the info hit me hard. I let go of her hand and leaned back, to process this bit of news. "Sorta? You sorta of had a thing? What the hell does that even mean?"

"It means we hooked up, okay?" She replied with a grimace.

I stared at her in disbelief. "When did this happen? And why am I just hearing about this?"

"It was that time you were in the hospital." She mumbled and I was even more thunderstruck. She noticed my expression and winced. "It wasn't intentional, I swear. You were unconscious and I was...upset about your condition. I made a scene when I realized Elisa was a patient there too and I confronted Aiden and screamed at him. I almost got kicked out for making a ruckus, but then Vince intervened and took me away."

She studied her hands and I could see a hint of red staining her cheeks. "He drove me home then dropped by the bar to check on me the next evening. We got into this stupid drinking competition, he couldn't drive home so I invited him back to my place. We ended up in bed...the end."

I took a moment to digest all I'd heard and there was a lot of new information I hadn't heard till now. The screaming match with Aiden...gosh! She'd almost gotten kicked out? Her and my husband's best friend having sex... Our food arrived then, as promised, Kenzo had added more dishes, all filled with delicious goodies. Distracted by the food, I let the matter drop and inhaled, savoring the tantalizing aroma.

"I'm in heaven, so much food." I gushed, using my chopsticks to stir my bowl of noodles, my stomach growling at me to hurry up. My first mouthful had me shutting my eyes in bliss at the burst of flavors that hit my taste buds. "Oh my god! Anna, you've got to try this."

I opened my eyes to see Anna staring at her bowl despondent. I swallowed my food set my chopsticks down and reached out to nudge her forearm. "That's not all that happened, is it? What's made you so uncharacteristically scared of him?" My face darkened as an idea crossed my mind. "Did he hurt you?" So help me, pregnant or not, if Vince had done something to Anna, I would feed him his own teeth.

"No...no...he didn't do anything." Anna hurriedly added. Then she blushed and looked away. "He was...great...the problem was me."

"You?"

She took a deep breath and let her words out in a rush. "I called out another guy's name while he was...you know...inside me."