Chapter 2

Leah sat on her dark peach sofa, shaken. 

Tears streaked her face, and her eyes were wide open. 

Her hands would not stop trembling and her mind was in a whirl.

The stranger who had messaged her had shifted her entire world upside down in a minute and Tim wasn't taking any of her calls.

Leah sat in the dark, wondering what to do as all of the things Tim had said to her, all the times he'd kissed her and all the times he'd walked her home or bought her a gift flashed through her mind.

A churning was going on inside her chest and she heaved several times thinking of the picture she had seen.

The message under it had not made it better:

"Didn't he tell you?"

Her eyes burned with another set of vicious tears and she let them fall. Her blond hair now sat in an untidy bun and several rebellious strands glued to her cheeks because of the tears.

Her lips trembled.

Was it better that her cousins weren't home now?

Maybe the picture she'd seen was one from his previous relationships. That must be it. He was so nice when they sat together and always knew her favourite dishes and treats. That one time she thought they shouldn't be together, he had waited outside her workplace for hours with roses and her favourite cake.

He had been crazy for her… hadn't he?

Had she been cheated.

If so, for how long?

Apart from what he was like when around her, what held her to him? 

What did they talk about?

Did Leah know anything about him? About his past?

Her heart sank as she realized something that stopped all her tears and started a very slow pain across her chest, she didn't know about any of his previous relationships.

He had never told her.

She had been curious but never asked.

The more her mind struggled, the more she realized he hadn't told her anything about himself at all.

She knew his favourite colour and favourite place. She knew he liked cheese on everything he ate. She knew he was allergic to milk. She knew such basic things.

The emotions that warred in her mind became uglier and uglier.

Some of the emotions of betrayal morphed into feelings of guilt.

Was she a bad girlfriend? Maybe relationships required more trying. Maybe she should have talked more, asked more questions even when he had looked uncomfortable, not just badgered him to spend more time with her.

What did they talk about on those dates?

Had it always been about her?

Leah's phone rang and the name flashing across still sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.

With it, her mind associated fear.

What would she do now? What would she ask him? What if it were true?

Would Tim really hurt her?

---

"THIS.IS.BIG!"

Sasha laughed at the way her cousin Rayne spelled out the words, "I know, Rayne. I can't believe it either!"

Rayne fell dramatically into his chair, a hand plastered over his forehead, "We're going to be rich!"

Sasha laughed again, "You're so over-dramatic!"

Rayne threw one of the documents on the low table between them, at her. "Did you not read this, Sash?"

Sasha nodded, her curly dark hair bobbing up and down, "I did, I did! I'm excited!"

"Has Leah responded to your text yet?"

Sasha sighed as she picked up her pretty pink phone, "Nope."

She let it fall to her lap before reaching up and stretching her arms.

"She's been a little off-balance since last week."

Rayne sobered immediately before grazing a hand through his blond hair, "Ever since her boyfriend's crazy ex sent her a picture of them together?"

Sasha nodded with a sigh, "Yeah. Since then. I saw the picture… It was his ex and him… pretty intimate together."

Rayne frowned, "They talked it over, right? He took her out to dinner and bought her a ton of expensive things."

Sasha sighed, her pink lips were set in a downward line, "Yeah… I think she got really alarmed for a minute that he might be cheating on her."

Rayne groaned before kicking his feet up onto the table, relaxing his lean physique deeper into his chair, "Her boyfriend is… so…"

"Suspicious?" Sasha raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Rayne didn't look happy, "I just… never really see him and he's never asked to meet us or anything."

Sasha frowned. Her dark eyes were losing their usual twinkle.

"Doesn't Leah realize he's not as dedicated as he should be for a boyfriend of two years?"

Sasha sighed for the third time, "She really likes him and if I'm being honest, I hate her for it."

Rayne agreed. The cousins were quiet for a minute. They knew Leah wasn't as strong emotionally as she thought she was, but she seemed so happy with her new boyfriend.

Sasha fidgeted with her pastel-green skirt, "He still seems like her 'new' boyfriend but they've dated for two years. She's also changed so much and so gradually…"

"She's so… different now. She sees him as some kind of vacation. Some kind of prize after a long day. I don't have a lot of dating experience, Rayne, but aren't people you date supposed to be life-long partners for you?"

"They should be attractive to you," Rayne mused, "But this guy is too distant from her to be a boyfriend if I'm being honest."

Sasha sighed, "I don't think Leah is very comfortable around him, but she won't admit it."

"She doesn't even know," Rayne finished as he got to his feet.

He sighed long and hard as he raked his hands through his dyed hair before he stopped them midway, "Shall we go out?"

Sasha looked up, "What?"

Rayne's eyes lit up as he bent to meet eyes with his cousin, "Wanna go to a fancy dinner? This project we just landed is huge! We have to celebrate!"

Sasha sighed, "I want to, but you know how much work we have!"

There was a pout in her lips before she began, "We haven't been managing events for long and it's only been three years since we started this company? Four? Rayne, how did we land such a big project? I still can't even believe it! The daughter of the city's richest and most powerful family wants us to host her 21st birthday?! Don't they probably have Event managers and companies already? Why are they coming to us? We only did one big event and that was because the mother of the rich bride was your high school teacher and-"

Rayne clasped a hand over her mouth and Sasha blinked.

"Dinner. I'll get us a table. Get ready and please, pleeease," he looked really annoyed, "Grab that brat Leah from wherever she is. Please?"

Sasha nodded and he let go of her face.

Her pretty eyes were starting to twinkle again, "You know what? You're right! We scored with landing this project and we're going to be busy for the next month! I say we go out and celebrate!"

"That's the spirit, Sash!"