Jilted (2 page)

The thought of food made Skylar nauseous. She’d had no appetite since the incident and the few times she’d managed to get a few bites down, mainly to satisfy her mother, she would immediately get sick. Not that it mattered. Eating was the last thing on her mind. Nearly two weeks had passed since Ashley had pulled that stunt at the wedding and she had yet to recover.

By the time Skylar figured out what had happened, the entire church was abuzz. People pointed and stared at her, most of them looking on with pity while a few actually seemed to enjoy her embarrassment. Some even snapped pictures and took recordings on their phones and cameras. Tears streamed down her face, unheeded. The embarrassment of the situation didn’t quiet register yet because the pain was almost debilitating.

The heavy hand of the pastor fell on her shoulder as he murmured something that Skylar didn’t quite catch. They were probably words of comfort but she didn’t care. There was nothing anyone could say that could make her feel any better about this situation. Her ears were ringing and heart was pounding as she wondered how her fairy tale had turned into a horror movie. The loving, thoughtful man she’d fallen so hard for wouldn’t have humiliated her this way in front of friends and family and leave her devastated. This had to be some kind of mistake.

And with that thought she shrugged off the pastor’s hand, hiked up her dress and raced down the aisle. She had to talk to him, see him, and demand answers. She made it out the church just in time to see him getting into his car.

“Ashley, wait!” she yelled to get his attention.

He paused. Their eyes locked and for a second, his expression softened but then just as quickly as it happened, it passed. Ashley clenched his jaw and glared at her before ducking into the driver’s seat.

Skylar raced to the vehicle before he could take off. She managed to make it in front of the car and pounded on the hood as anger set in. “You don’t get to do that to me and walk away with no explanation!”

Ashley rolled his window down. “Get the hell off of my goddamn car!”

“Fuck your car! Talk to me. Why are you doing this, Ashley? This is supposed to be our wedding day!”

He revved the engine, signaling that he would plow her over if she didn’t move but Skylar didn’t care. Being run over wouldn’t hurt half as much as what he’d just done to her. Refusing to budge she glared at him through his windshield and he gave her one of his own hard glare. Skylar wasn’t sure how long the stare down lasted before Ashely finally turned off the car and stepped out to face her.

Skylar stalked over to him until they were nose to nose. “Why?”

He raised a brow. “I find it inconceivable that you can ask me why when I’m sure you know I’ve figured you out.”

She shook her head in confusion. “What are you talking about? Figured me out? How?”

“You would have stood up before our friends and family and lied to them all, and lied to me about how you planned to loved and cherish me about how you would always be true. But you’re just a lying whore!” He yelled the last few words, making her flinch.

Skylar took a step away from him. It was official. Ashley Hollingsworth had lost his ever-loving mind. “Why are you saying this?”

“Are you going to deny you’ve been fucking someone behind my back basically the entire time we’ve been together? Laughing about the fact that you’re only with me because of my money and connections?”

“Are you insane? That’s not true. I love you, Ashley. You know that. And you’re breaking my heart. I can’t believe you’re doing this to us.”

She grabbed him by the lapels but he pushed her off hard enough to make her stumble backwards. “Get the fuck off of me. I’ll give you one thing, you’re a great actress. You almost made me believe you’re not a lying bitch. And before you even open your mouth to tell another lie, I have proof. Photos with you and your boyfriend.”

“There can’t be any photos because I don’t have a boyfriend. You’re supposed to be my husband. Today is our wedding. You’re talking crazy. I don’t—”

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t want to hear any more of your lies. I’m going to get into my car now and this time if you get in my way I’m going to plow your ass down.”

She grabbed his arm. “No. Don’t walk away. We haven’t finished talking. We have to figure this out.”

Ashley shoved her off. “Don’t touch me! Don’t you ever touch me again!” He got back into his vehicle and started it up. And like he promised he put it in motion not caring if she was in the way or not. Skylar jumped out of his path to avoid being hit. She watched as his car sped off. Once again she heard whispers, and for the first time she noticed the crowd from inside had gathered to witness her final humiliation. The first thing she noticed was her mother pushing her way through the throng of people to get to her. Izzy was visibly crying and then there was Ashley’s family. His mother wore a smile of smug satisfaction while his brother Owen smirked and his sister Colleen giggled with malicious glee.

Skylar fell to her knees, totally and utterly defeated.

Thinking about that day sent a fresh ache hurdling through her body. Everything Skylar believed about love was dead, because if love was real how could someone who claimed to care for her do something like that?

Ashley refused to answer her calls. She couldn’t get past security when she went by his apartment. It was only when she’d gone by his office did his office manager take pity on her and told Skylar that he had gone away for a few weeks.

She’d even swallowed her pride and had gone to Ashley’s mother house to find out how she could get in contact with him only to be rudely told to leave the property. But not before Katherine Hollingsworth told her that he had gone to Dubai with someone more suitable.

Their honeymoon was supposed to be a surprise gift from Ashley. Skylar had begged for hints but Ashley had been mum. Now she knew where he’d intended to take her. She’d mentioned her dream of going to Dubai one day. Learning that he’d taken another woman to the place where they should have been having their honeymoon at this very moment was more salt added to an already festering wound.

Skylar appreciated that her mother was concerned but she didn’t care about food. At the moment she didn’t much care about living either. It felt as if a heavy weight rested on her chest, making it difficult to breathe. Every inch of her spirit hurt, and she wanted to close her eyes and not wake up. With a sigh, she turned onto her side to face her mother. “I’m sorry Mom, but I’m not hungry.”

Pricilla gave her a long measured look before releasing a sigh of her own. “That’s been your excuse for the past several days. My heart is broken on your behalf, so I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now. But starving yourself isn’t going to change anything.”

“It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose. I’ve tried to eat something but the idea of food simply isn’t appealing to me. When I put something in my mouth, I literally want to throw it back up.”

“Well it’s not just your lack of appetite that worrying me. You haven’t left your room in over a week. I’ve brought meals to you that go untouched. You haven’t showered, brushed your teeth or even combed your hair. You sleep all day and when you’re awake, you cry. I’m sure you’ve lost weight and frankly I’m getting scared. It’s painful to watch you suffer like this for a man who obviously isn’t worth two red cents. Please tell me what I can do to make this better for you. I can’t stand to see you like this.” The pain in her mother’s voice was evident, making Skylar raise her head.

Her heart pinged within her chest as she gazed at the tears silently sliding down her mother’s face. Her mother was the strongest person she knew, single-handedly raising two daughters while maintaining a full-time job and going to school part-time. Priscilla had been her rock for so long; it hurt to see that she wasn’t the only one who was suffering. Skylar realized that even though she would probably never experience anything that hurt quite like this again, she was being selfish. She was the cause of her family’s worries and fears. They had been the ones to check in on her and cried with her, held her and told her that everything would be all right. Izzy would lay in bed with her and read to her just to distract Skylar from her misery.

And then there was Monica, who came by every day to check in on her despite having a demanding job of her own. Skylar had a couple of friends who called to check in on her and though she hadn’t been in the mood to converse with anyone, Skylar still appreciated that they cared. She realized that although her circle of family and friends was small, she was lucky to have them.

Skylar forced herself into a sitting position and ignored her sudden dizziness. She wiped the tears from her mother’s face. “I’m sorry, Mom. You’re right. I’ve been a big mess and I don’t know what to do to feel better. Two weeks ago, I had my life figured out. I found the man of my dreams who swept me off my feet. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, have a family and just be happy. But instead the man who I thought was my knight in shining armor turned out to be the devil in disguise. I don’t understand how he could do that to me, and make up those lies to justify what he did.

I would never cheat on him and he knows it. I’d still be hurt if he’d just simply told me he was having second thoughts about marriage, but to treat me the way he did was soul crushing. He said…that his family was right about me all along. His mother called me and my family trash and he agrees with them? Out of all the things he could have said to me, he said that? How does one move on from that?” For what seemed like the hundredth time since getting left at the altar she broke down into tears.

Priscilla pulled Skylar into her arms and rocked her gently. “Shh, it will be all right, baby. I know things seem bleak now but we’ll get over this by taking things one day at a time. Once you weather this storm, you’re going to come out of it stronger than ever.”

“I hate him. I hate him so much,” Skylar cried sobbing even harder.

Pricilla stroked the back her head. “I know you feel like you do because what he did was foul. I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t want to cave his head in with a baseball bat but maybe he had a reason for doing whatever he did. Whatever it was, you have to be prepared to accept that you may never get the answer you want. But what you can do is move on and be happy. That’s the best revenge. What the Hollingsworth clan thinks of us is inconsequential. No matter how much money they have they will always be perpetually miserable people. Those types of folks like to put others down to feel better about themselves. Don’t let them win by buying into their bullshit. You’ll get through this and you have me and Izzy and your friends sticking by your side, no matter what.”

Skylar sniffed, snuggling against her mom’s bosom. For the first time in several days she felt like things could maybe get better. “I think I’m going to get out of bed today.”

<><><><><>

“I would have been better off staying home if I knew all you’d do is sit at the bar the entire time.” Tiffany’s high-pitched whine was threatening to ruin the nice buzz Ashley had going.

He took another healthy gulp of his drink. It was his third. He intended to be completely fucked up within the next couple hours and maybe pass out on the beach later. The ultimate goal was to be so numb that he no longer felt anything. “Wasn’t inviting yourself along enough? I let you stay with me in the suite after you refused to get other accommodations for yourself. You expect me to entertain you as well?”

Ashley glanced at Tiffany briefly to see that she’d poked her lips into a pout. He fucking hated when she did that. It made her look like a child. And though she’d probably paid good money to plump up her lips, they still didn’t compare to Skylar’s natural fullness. Shaped liked a heart, Skylar’s mouth had been the first thing he’d noticed about her. Too bad those lips were attached to a lying, cheating tramp. Ashley couldn’t stand that Tiffany of all people had reminded him of Skylar. Hell, everything reminded him of her which is why he’d come on this trip anyway. To forget.

It was probably a mistake even coming to this resort when it was initially supposed to be where their honeymoon would take place. But he had to get out of the city and away from her. It was unfortunate that no matter where he looked, there she was. Even when he closed his eyes at night, she haunted his dreams.

Tiffany clutched his arm; her perfectly manicured nails scraped his skin. “Are you even listening to me?”

Ashley took another swallow from his glass before answering, “No.”

“Your mother wouldn’t be too pleased if she heard how abominably you’ve treated me. You have practically ignored me since we’ve been here. You know, I didn’t have to come but we’ve all been worried about you and I didn’t want you to be alone.”

Ashley placed his drink down and swiveled in his stool to give Tiffany his full attention. “You’re absolutely right. You didn’t have to come because as I’ve already pointed out, you weren’t invited. Imagine my surprise when you just showed up at the airport and expected to go on vacation with me as if this was something we’ve been planning for months.”

“But your mother—”

He held up his hand to silence her. “I know my mother couldn’t wait to tell you where I was going. I’m sure she even gave you her blessing to ambush me the way you did, but whatever you think is going to happen on this trip, forget about it.”

For as long as Ashley had known her, Tiffany had never been one to easily back down from a challenge and this time was no different. She moved closer to him, pressing her breasts against his arm. She stroked the side of his face. “Look, I understand that you’re upset. I mean I would be too if I found out the person I was going to marry turned out to be the trash everyone thought they were. But consider yourself lucky. You dodged a bullet. I don’t want anything from you, Ash, other than to be there for you as your friend…or anything else you want.” Her voice dipped suggestively lower. Her last few words left no uncertainty in his mind what she wanted.