Chapter 3

Riley's POV

"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel." My younger sister, Diane said to me.

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Jane." 

"Oh."

Our youngest sister who happened to be just eighteen years old was getting married. Yup, you heard me right, she was getting married. I felt it was too early for her to be tying herself down to someone already but it's not like I was her mother and in my mother's eyes, I'm the failure in the family. The oldest sister was still unmarried. Diane was twenty-six and was already expecting her first baby with her husband. Sometimes, I get jealous of how in love they look with each other especially when I'm the one at fault for everything happening in my life. There was a time when I was the apple of my mother's eye. I had the perfect fiance and my life was going well until I spoiled it. My mother doesn't know I cheated on Ash but she does suspect I did something to have caused the break-up and she still has not forgiven me. More so, after Ash's company became famous and he started being referred to as a billionaire.

She never even considered the fact that I had also opened my dream bar slash club. Nope. To her, a female should be either a housewife or should do something delicate as Diane did. 

"Mum is all for it. Frankly, nothing we say will deter Jane from going ahead with the marriage." I said to Diane.

"And that's the issue. He looks like trash. I mean, I don't know what she sees in someone almost twenty years her senior." Diane said to me.

"His money?" I asked her.

It wasn't a secret. Jane was the one who took after our mother. Our mother's wayward ways resulted in three girls from three different men, all rich men except my father. I think that's part of the reason why my mother dislikes me more. My father was just an average man who lied to my mother just so he could get to spend some time with her. Sometimes that resulted in me. He asked her to marry him when they found out she was pregnant but she refused. Two weeks later, my father found out she was getting married to some rich guy and she gave him a document so he could rescind his parental rights.

While my dad may not have been rich. He refused to sign the document. He wanted to be a part of my life. And I wanted him to be a part of mine also. Too bad cancer thought otherwise.

"How am I not surprised?" Diane said with an eye roll.

My best friend, Rain, joined us just then and she released a loud sigh.

"I'm ready to get out of here." She said to us,

Diane sighed. "Yeah, me too. We should be celebrating Riley's club but instead, we are stuck here with people I don't even like. And Christian is a no-show."

I turned to her. "He still wants nothing to do with Jane?"

Diane sighed. "Jane and mum. I can't blame him though, I almost lost the best thing that ever happened to me because of them."

I still remember everything Diane went through because of my mother and sister. They thought Christian wasn't good enough for Diane. He wasn't rich enough but he was handsome enough for Jane to seduce. He had told Diane about it but she thought he was joking and never gave him any mind until she saw everything play down in front of her. It was with luck that Diane was still able to end up with Christian and I am happy for her.

"He just needs time." Rain said to her.

"Nah. I'm not sure he will be able to get over the fact that everything was planned. He almost lost everything he worked hard to get. He doesn't trust himself around them and while he may not be abusive, he may be just because of them….does that make sense?" Diane asked us.

"I think the drink is getting to your head." Rain chuckled.

"I'm just drinking lemon water," Diane replied to her.

I saw my mother approaching us. I was not ready for a confrontation with her, at least not at this party.

I turned to my best people. "How about we get out of here? The demon approaches."

Diane dropped her water and picked up her purse as she wobbled her way out of the party. 

"You don't have to ask me twice." Rain said as she followed after Diane and I followed a moment later.

I don't know what prompted us to go home and get wasted. Okay, so maybe Diane was sober but she sure as hell wasn't behaving like she was.

"Now this is what we should have been celebrating. We should have done this from the beginning." Rain said as she downed another shot.

I had lost track of how many shots that were. All I know is, I was feeling buzzed, giggly and everything in between.

It wasn't until the next day that I realised I had done something I never would have done if I was sober.

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I stared at my phone in horror. This wasn't possible. Why would I text him? Why? Why did I still have his number? Okay, calm down. I took in a deep breath before I had a panic attack. It could be that he never got the message. I mean, what was the probability that he still had the same number from three years ago? 

I tried hard not to freak out. I thought about sending him another message just to let him know that this first one was a mistake but then what if he asked questions? Wait, I still don't know if he was using the same number. 

"Fuck."

I knew there was only one thing to do. I wasn't sober enough but I could as well just go to the club and get drunk. Maybe then, I would be able to come up with what to do since drunk me was capable of more reasonable thoughts than sober me. 

Yeah, that was what I thought when I walked into my club slash bar. It was everything I could ever wish for and a part of me wanted Ash to be with me. It would have been nice if he was by my side while I celebrated my success but I was the one who caused the split. I should have known that there was no way Ash would take me back after finding me in bed with someone else. A person whose name I don't even remember. 

I never even thought of the fact that he had also betrayed my trust by hanging out with that cougar. I never thought of it, I just wanted him back and I swore I was going to apologize if that was what it took to get him back. Too bad my pride got in the way and I never got a chance until recently.

I had no idea there was someone next to me when I took a seat at the bar. I was concentrating on getting alcohol into my system. The bartender did not need to ask for what I wanted. He already knew what it was which was why he placed my drink in front of me immediately after I sat down. I made the mistake of turning to see who was seated on the other chair.

He had a familiar scent and I felt a pull towards him. I turned and my eyes came in contact with green eyes. Vibrant green eyes I remembered staring into every day and night. Tanned skin, kissable lips and a slightly crooked nose.

"Ash," I whispered in surprise.

What was he doing here? Did he know I was the owner of this club? No. I doubt he does. If he knew then he wouldn't be in here. I could not take my eyes off him which was why I saw the mocking smile take form on his lips.

"Hello Riley, you look like shit."

"I feel like shit," I replied to him as I took a sip of my drink. 

I did that mainly to calm my nerves. My heart beat erratically. A million thoughts were going through my head. Like, did he see the message? Why was he here? How was he doing? I wanted to know everything about his everyday life now.

"I'm glad to hear that." He said to me with a smile.

I paused and gave him a look. He was glad to see me in this shitty state. He took joy in seeing me like this. I not could understand why he would…oh, scratch that. I could understand very well why he would be happy to see me in this state but it still hurt.

Compared to me, he looked better. He looked manlier and he had added a few extra pounds which looked good on him. And compared to when we were dating, he exudes sexiness. It was bleeding from his body.

He took a sip of his drink before placing the glass back on the table. 

"Tell me Riley, what did you mean by that text?" His voice took a more serious tone and his stare hardened.

What was the probability that he had seen the message and was still using his old number? A hundred percent. Fuck me sideways and call me Samantha.