Trouble in Paradise



Nicholas laughed suddenly after hearing what I said. His eyes were red, and his voice held a tinge of despair.

"Yes, I'm filthy. I let another woman climb on top of me. I wish I could tear off this skin of mine. But Ariana, if you truly don't love me anymore, why would you care if I'm filthy or not?

"If you really cared, you would've dragged Claudia off me by her hair. I was drunk, but were you? If you cared, why didn't you stop her? Instead, you waited until after everything had happened to say that I'm filthy."

Nicholas's dark eyes began to glisten with tears. He let out a bitter laugh before looking up at me again.

"Ariana, if you truly cared, why didn't you tell me sooner that Claudia had inappropriate feelings for me? If you had made me realize earlier, would we have..." Would we have ended up like this?

If he had known earlier, we wouldn't have divorced. There would be no Pete, no Tabitha Shelman. It would've been our daughter, Tabitha Hawk.

For a moment, I thought I had just heard the funniest joke of the year. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to laugh. I stared blankly at Nicholas, trying to make sense of each word he said.

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I understood every word. But somehow, I couldn't grasp what he meant when he put them all together.

This was Claudia-someone he once claimed he couldn't live without. She was his sacred, untouchable first love, the one he constantly restrained himself from with his rosary beads.

How did it all become my fault when our relationship fell apart?

But things between us had reached a point where there was no turning back. If he wanted to blame me, I would accept it.

Worst case, I would leave for another three years. If that wasn't enough, then 30 years. Once we both grew old, maybe we would no longer have the energy to talk about love or hate.

"Nicholas, let's talk another day. I don't think you even know what you're saying right now." I glanced down at my wrinkled dress and smiled abruptly. "Let me go. I can't attend a birthday party like this."

My voice grew softer. The tears I had been holding back silently slid down my cheeks as I blinked.

"Just let me go... Let me go..."

Whether or not Claudia sat on top of Nicholas was no longer the issue between us.

The issue was that our relationship had never been about her. It wasn't her presence or absence that caused us to part. We simply couldn't be together anymore.

I reached out to unlock the car door, but Nicholas grabbed my wrist. "You still haven't answered me. If you really cared-

"Enough!" I cut him off before he could finish.

"What does it matter if I care? In your heart, you've already decided that we're both filthy. Let's stop making each other sick! Besides, we divorced three years ago! We divorced right in that ward!

"Oh, right. You wanted to get revenge on me, didn't you? Wanted to see me cry? Well, you did it. My makeup is ruined, my dress is wrinkled, and my hair is a mess. You've turned me from glamorous to this. Are you satisfied now?

"Let go of me!" I almost shouted.

The small space inside the car fell into a suffocating silence.

"I'm the only one who can turn you into this." Nicholas reached out to smooth my hair and wiped away the smudged lipstick at the corner of my mouth.

His eyes grew last and uncertain as his fingers traced my lips. He muttered softly, 'From now on, no other man is allowed to touch you here. Otherwise, I don't know what I'll do..."