was his whole fucking world, while I stared back at a man who had become nothing but a stranger now.
It was all overwhelming.
More than anything, it was undeniably confusing.
I couldn’t decipher what was the truth and what was more lies anymore. He would say anything to get what he wanted.
Me.
I had to stay strong.
No matter what.
We. Were. Done.
He cursed. “Really, Eden? It’s been a fucking long day, and you’re sitting there trying to flirt? Can we talk tomorrow—”
“I saw you. At your office. With her.”
His face paled. “What?”
“The woman who wears the same perfume you got me for our anniversary last year. I saw her. Kissing you. I saw you stripping her. I saw you…” Tears filled my eyes. “Fucking her like any good cheater does to his mistress.”
“Eden, listen—”
“NO!” I jumped to my feet. “You listen! I gave you everything, and you cheat? What the hell, Tristian—”
He burst out laughing and clapped his hands. “Wow, I should pay you for your performance. Everything? You? Are you fucking kidding me right now? Is this a joke? You came to our marriage bed fresh after fucking my brother!”
“That was years ago, and I apologized again and again. I’d been drinking and—”
“Nice.” He held up his hands. “Whatever, I’m going to bed—”
I finally snapped. “I’m leaving you.”
He froze halfway to the door, still turned away from me.
“I can’t be with you if you’re cheating. I won’t. I’m better than that. Naz deserves better than this. You’re never home; you’re literally fucking a woman under my nose. I can’t. I won’t.”
He turned to face me, lips twisted in a snarl, fists clenched. Rage evident on his handsome face. “You think I’ll actually let you go? After all of this?”
“You think you actually have me still?” I hissed, ready for a war.
He barked out a laugh. “I’ve always had you, and I’m fucking keeping you. You’re just tired. Go and—”
“No.” I grit my teeth. “I’m taking Naz, and I’m leaving.”
His nostrils flared, and he was in my face before I got the last word out. “Like hell, I would ever let you take my son from me!”
Maybe I’d been pushed too far.
Maybe I was just exhausted.
Hurt.
Done.
But I finally spoke the truth, yelling, “He’s not your son!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“A woman doesn’t realize how precious her voice is until she’s been silenced.” —Ursula
Eden
Tristian backhanded me across the face so hard that my body flew back, and I tumbled to the floor. I didn’t have a chance to catch my bearings; in less than a second, he was gripping onto the front of my shirt, holding me in front of his face.
My head spun.
My body trembled.
I saw stars.
Bright.
Big.
Blinding stars.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” he roared in a voice I’d never heard.
If I thought I had been terrified the night he’d held a gun over my heart, it didn’t even come close to this. Nothing compared to this paralyzed state of panic I felt in this exact moment where his rage had completely taken over his reasoning.
“Tristian,” I whispered, as if his name was a sin off my tongue.
“Tell me!” he seethed, his face turning a daunting shade of red. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“You need to calm down.” I hated how weak I sounded.
How my lips trembled.
How I didn’t recognize this woman who was lying on the ground with her husband holding her captive.
“Calm down? Calm down?” He shook me.
Hard.
Fast.
Long.
I had no choice but to let him.
He was bigger than me. Stronger. Angrier than I’d ever seen him.
“You want me to calm down when you just told me that Naz isn’t my son?! Then who the fuck is his father, Eden?!”
“Tristian, please… you’re hurting me.”
He let me go, but not before he shoved me away from him. Causing my head to smack against the wood floor.
“You fucking bitch! You stupid fucking whore!”
My stomach churned, my mind reeled, and my body felt as if it was falling the fuck apart.
I was hunched over, placing all my weight on my hands and knees. Breathing in fresh air with tears streaming down my face. There was an unbearable amount of weight sitting on my chest from what was happening.
I didn’t expect it would come to this.
Me terrified of my husband.
The man who used to be my best friend.
My family.
The one I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with.
“Fuck! Motherfucker!” he growled, pulling his hair away from his face.
Through a daze, I watched as he wreaked havoc around his office. Leaving a path