When There Is Nothing Left But Love

I smiled, amused at how predictable women can be.

“Is Ashton not back yet?” Nora asked after noticing how quiet and empty the villa was.

“Yeah, I think he’s been pretty busy these days.”

I had tried calling Ashton earlier, but there was no answer. After a few attempts, I gave up on it.

Just then, the yard was illuminated by a car’s headlights. Nora turned to smile at me. “Could that be Mr. Fuller?”

I shrugged, secretly hoping for her to be right. Alas, my hopes were dashed when the car parked at Armond’s house.

Nora’s eyes lit up when she realized it was Armond who had just come home. “Our poor punching bag is back! That’s my cue to leave. Bye!”

With Nora gone, I headed back into the villa. The food I prepared had gone cold by now, so I decided to call Ashton again.

are you? Are you on your way home? I’ve made dinner for us. Will you be

we could have a heart-to-heart talk over dinner. I had gotten sick of arguing with Ashton, so I knew compromisations had to be made for our relationship to be more sustainable. It was all about

of the call gave me butterflies in my stomach. I was worried about him being upset about Marcus and not giving me a

it’s Rebecca. Ash is currently in the shower. I don’t think he’ll be home tonight, so you don’t have to

I heard Rebecca’s voice. She had answered Ashton’s phone before, but that was in the past when I had braced

of responsibility. But now that I knew

tone got even more condescending. “Ms. Stovall, I’ll let Ashton know that you want him home. But please have your dinner first. I’m afraid it’d be late by the time he makes it back, and you know food doesn’t taste as good when it’s

snubbed by her anymore, I promptly ended the call. I stared at the

and trust? That’s

tried to keep my anger at bay, I couldn’t get the dripping sarcasm from Rebecca’s voice out of my head. I had so much faith in myself that

memories came flooding back. At that moment,

yet another sleepless night as I tossed and turned in bed, fraught with worry and pain. Then, to make matters worse, my stomach started to hurt. I was suffering from emotional

too early for bed, or the emotional rollercoaster I was on kept me awake. Either way, falling asleep no longer

calm me down, so I headed