Chapter Six
Ava’s POV
“We need to call Kyle,” Phoenix suddenly said, snapping me out of my spiral of thoughts.
My head jerked up. Kyle?
“No.” The word left my lips before I could stop it.
Phoenix froze, her fingers hovering over my purse. Slowly, she turned back to face me, her sharp gaze narrowing in suspicion. I looked away immediately, afraid that if I met her eyes for too long, I’d break, She had that effect on everyone; like she could see right through you, like she could pull words from your throat
before you even realized you wanted to speak.
“What do you mean, no?” Her voice was low, but I heard the irritation beneath it.
I swallowed. Although we are best friends and share almost everything, some things simply can’t be said so easily. How was I supposed to tell her? How do I even begin to explain that I couldn’t call my husband because he had walked into our home with another woman, a woman pregnant with his child, and then had the audacity to ask me to be his mistress? The mere thought made me cringe, my heart pulsating as if it were being stabbed over and over again. I clenched my fist against the pain I was feeling.
How could they even think of such a thing? Do people even do that?
“There’s something you’re not telling me.” Phoenix’s voice cut through my thoughts like a blade once. “I knew it the moment I heard your voice over the phone, then finding you cold, wet, and unconscious on a hotel floor? Ava, do you even know how scared I was? I kept telling myself it was probably nothing serious, but now? Now I know something is wrong. “And this,” she gestured at me, frustration evident in her posture, “this isn’t just a lovers‘ tiff. So spill.”
Her hard gaze pinned me in place, fierce and challenging and I knew ignoring her would do me no good. Phoenix is hot–headed and never lets things go. She never backed down, never looked away until she had the
truth
I twisted my tongue behind my teeth, trying to come up with a lie, anything to derail her from her growing
suspicion.
“It’s nothing serious, really” My voice was light, forced. Convincing? Maybe. Maybe not. “We had an argument, and I was just too stubborn to stay at home. That’s all,” I forced a weak smile, but she didn’t look convinced. “I had just gotten out of the shower when the pain started. It was probably stress… or maybe not,
since I’m..”
I bit my lip, swallowing the rest of my sentence.
Phoenix’s expression darkened.
Til call him later,” I added quickly, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her.
For a moment, she just stared at me, and I feared she didn’t believe me. My heart pounded in my chest, waiting, praying that she wouldn’t push further, and forcing me to spill my humiliating dilemma, even though i knew the truth would come to light very soon. Not just in whispers behind closed doors, but in full, blinding exposure for the entire world to see. After all, I was married to a talk–of–the–town billionaire.
1/3
Chapter
The mere thought of that kind of embarrassment was enough to make me want to disappear, hide forever. I wasn’t sure I could endure the pitiful looks and silent judgments that would follow
I had experienced something similar before when my family lost our company. The pitying looks, and the cruel whispers disguised as sympathy had been unbearable. It had crushed my mother and drained the last bit of fight from her until she gave up on life. And my father perhaps it had broken him too.
All I knew was that it left me with a wound so deep, so raw, that it tore into me, choking the breath out of me every time I faced the press, the public, and the world at large. And telling Phoenix, my best friend about my situation felt just as terrifying as standing before them all.
Phoenix let out a slow breath and grabbed her purse from the nightstand.
“I’ll pretend I believe that,” she muttered. Her voice was tight, controlled. I could see that she wasn’t convinced, but for now, she was choosing to let it go. “Get some rest. I’ll go grab us something to eat.” She paused, then added, “You’ll need to eat. You aren’t just one anymore.”
I froze.
I froze once again because I still wasn’t used to the word or the realization that I was truly carrying a life inside me. My hands trembled as I placed them on my stomach, the warmth of my skin seeping into my palm. A life. A child. Mine. How could God be so wonderful in a moment like this?
How could something so beautiful come to light in this painful moment?
Lost in thought, I completely forgot Phoenix was still in the room, watching me until she spoke again.
“I’ll be quick.” Her voice was strained, and the next thing I heard was the sharp bang of the door slamming
shut behind her.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
She was pissed.
And she was going to be even more pissed when she found out the full truth.
Two Days Later
I should have called a ride.
I should have left two days ago instead of letting Phoenix take me back.
But here I was, sitting in the passenger seat of her car, staring out the window as Phoenix drove me to the place I had once called home.
Phoenix hadn’t said much since she picked me up from the hospital. Her usual chatter had been replaced with silence, her hands gripping the steering wheel a little too tight.
She had put the pieces together by now. I could tell from how tightly her brows were furrowed, her knuckles almost turning white on the steering wheel. But she was holding back, giving me the time to speak first.
As best friends, we had an unspoken rule, we didn’t meddle in each other’s marriages. It was a line of respect for our spouses, even though Phoenix was divorced now.
But I knew her silence wouldn’t last.
The doctor had cleared me to leave this morning, but the most embarrassing and heartbreaking part, one that made Phoenix even more irritated was the fact that Kyle hadn’t called.
2/3
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Chapter Six
Not once.
Not on the first day. Not on the second. And now, on the third day, my phone remained silent.
I wanted to believe he was too busy. That something had come up. That there was some reason for his silence. But deep down, I knew the truth.
He simply didn’t care.
Was this what I had meant to him all along? Had I always been this… worthless in his eyes? Had our relationship been so meaningless that he could just walk away, leave me suffering, without a second
thought?
I had asked myself those questions over and over, but no answers came. It felt as if he wouldn’t care whether I lived or died, and that thought made me wonder, where had it all gone wrong?
Was it from the very start, when I made the decision to share my kidney? Would things have been different if I hadn’t been so selfless? Should I have let them find another donor instead of trying to play Mother Teresa? Even if I hadn’t given him my kidney, would I still struggle with a weak system?
Or was I being punished for something I didn’t even understand?
If I was… then I begged for mercy. Because right now, that was the only thing I had left to ask for. Mercy
I
The oddluna
What if Ava giving Kyle one of her kidney has nothing to do with her weak health?
H
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