Love’s New Bloom By Simone Hastings - Season 1 Episode 3

“What is it? Why do you suddenly look so serious?” Holly asked.

Erin looked at her hesitantly for a few seconds before saying, “Eugene was interested in me when we were still in university, but the feeling wasn’t mutual.”

Holly laughed. “Oh, I know—he told me all about it on our wedding day. Anyway, we didn’t know each other then. Don’t let it bother you.”

“That’s not what I wanted to tell you.” Erin frowned.

Her expression made Holly a little nervous. “I hope you aren’t about to give me a heart attack. Don’t tell me there’s something going on between you and him—there’s no way I’ll be able to withstand a double betrayal.”

Erin shook her head with a sigh. “I went on a business trip three months ago to attend a designers’ forum, and we all had some drinks during dinner. You know how well I hold my liquor, so I was barely upright when we got back to the hotel. I ran into Eugene in the elevator; he was there for a business deal. He volunteered to help me back to my room, and I agreed without really thinking about it. When we were in my room, he…he tried to take advantage of me. I was scared out of my wits and wanted to call you, but I pressed the wrong button and recorded the whole thing instead.” Then, she located the recording and played it.

Holly’s eyes were steely, but she didn’t say anything, allowing the recording to tell her the ugly truth.

The recording started with Eugene’s voice. He said, “Erin, we were brought together by fate; I want you to become my woman tonight!”

Erin cried, “Let go of me, you bastard! Let go!”

Eugene murmured, “You’re gorgeous…”

“Let me go, or I’ll call the cops!”

“Come on, let me have you…”

“F*** off, Eugene! Get away from me, or I’ll tell Holly about this!”

“Stop acting like a chaste virgin, Erin! It’s a fucking turn-off!”

The recording ended with the sound of a door slamming shut. At this moment, Erin couldn’t help feeling anxious. She scrutinized Holly’s expression, trying to decipher how she felt about this. She’d kept this secret for three months, which was far too long.

As silence descended upon them, Holly made her way through two cigarettes. Erin waited for her to say something. She was terrified that the recording would put an end to their friendship.

Holly had already made up her mind when she stubbed out her cigarette. “Alright, I’ll stick with you throughout this mess! I’ve had enough of Eugene’s scumbag ways, and he’s crossed the line by getting ideas about you. You should prepare to divorce Ian, and I’ll move out once I sign the divorce papers. Then, we can live together. What say you?”

Her words made Erin tear up. She threw her arms around Holly and cried, “I was terrified you’d dump me!”

Holly rubbed her back comfortingly. “Eugene’s the bastard here, silly. How could I possibly push the blame on you? I suppose this solidifies our friendship that much more—we’re even getting divorced at the same time!”

“I’m gonna make things clear to Ian tonight, so wait for my update. I’ll get this divorce over and done with as quickly as possible!”

“Alright, alright, dry your tears. Bastards like Ian need to fuck off as far as possible! I’m fortunate enough to have been born with a silver spoon, so getting divorced isn’t going to affect my lifestyle. Once you move out, you can pick any of the three properties under my name, and we’ll move in there. I’m fine staying anywhere; it’ll be the headquarters of our new club—the Divorcées Club.” Holly looked haughty.

Erin laughed through her tears and let Holly go. She grabbed tissues to wipe her tears and said, “I don’t have anywhere to go, so can I go to your place for now? I have to wait till night falls before I can head home.”

“Are you kidding me? From now on, what’s mine is yours. How about this—I’ll spend the night outside with you, and we can stay at my duplex apartment. Let’s have a feast tonight and curse the scumbags we married to our hearts’ content!”

“Great idea. Let’s do just that!” Erin was warmed by Holly’s unconditional support, and the prospect of divorce wasn’t that daunting anymore—trying to keep a man who no longer loved her was much worse.

…

The time was 4 pm. At the city’s finance and commerce hub, a tall building stood out among the other buildings in the concrete jungle—it belonged to Frost Corporation, the largest corporation in Azores. At this moment, the man seated in the president’s office on the top floor of the building was flicking through a document. It was a brief report on Erin’s background, which indicated she was 25 this year and married. It also mentioned that she worked for a company called Eastside Designs.

Wait, she was married?

Chandler put the report down and turned to gaze at the clouds floating by, a trace of iciness flashing in his eyes. “You can leave now, Kyle.”

His head secretary, Kyle Morn, was expressionless as he said, “Understood, Mr. Frost. I’ll get back to work.” He turned to leave and opened the door to be greeted by the sight of a handsome man.

“Why, thank you,” the man said.

Kyle nodded. “You’re welcome, Mr. Dunn.” He shut the door behind him.

Sean’s eyes glimmered with curiosity as he plopped onto the leather sofa, swinging his Lamborghini’s keys around. He said teasingly, “I heard a certain someone stole one of Twilight’s customers last night. You made the new receptionist cry, you know…”

Chandler tucked the report on Erin into a drawer without sparing Sean a glance. Then, he attended to the rest of his work.

Sean got to his feet and strode to Chandler’s desk when he didn’t receive an answer. “You, my friend, are a textbook example of a workaholic. I can’t believe you don’t even rest on Saturdays. Come on now—what happened last night? Did that woman really give you five million dollars?” He had a tiny mole underneath his left eye, which served to give his good looks a devilish vibe.

Chandler glanced at him. “Yeah, she did.”

“Damn, who is she? Is she the daughter of some wealthy upstart?” Sean looked excited to know more.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Don’t tell me you didn’t find out who she is!”

“Yeah.”

Chandler wasn’t a man of many words, which frequently drove Sean up the wall. “F***, this isn’t like you. You only pick a few women in a year, and we all know how picky you are. What happened this time?”

Chandler leaned back and said coldly, “I went to look for you at Twilight last night, but you weren’t there. That woman happened to show up just then, and I took her with me. That’s the end of the story. Can you leave now, Mr. Dunn?”

“God, this is so unlike you! Do you have a photo of her? Let me see what she looks like! I’m telling you, the receptionist came to me first, but she was too ugly for my taste. In hindsight, she shouldn’t be half bad since you were fine with her.”

“I don’t have any photos. You can go now.”

Sean was rendered speechless. He knew he couldn’t get anything else out of Chandler, so he scoffed and said, “You’re so boring. I’m gonna meet Logan for some poker. Will you be joining us tonight?”We’ll see.”