Chapter 143

Hannah

Viona continued to stay with me for the next few days, although the atmosphere in the house remained icy whenever Noah was around.

Throughout the days, I made a point of avoiding Noah at every turn. Whenever he would enter a room, I would find an excuse to leave. If he ever tried to speak to me, I would turn up the music or start a loud conversation with Viona.

By the evening of the third day, the tension in the house was palpable. Even Viona seemed to be getting sick of it, and over dinner, she made it even more clear.

“You need to talk to him. I can’t take this anymore.”

I paused just as I was about to pop a piece of steak into my mouth. “There’s nothing to talk to him about.”

“Come on, Hannah. Whatever is going on between you two, it’s not helping any to give him the cold shoulder whenever he tries to talk to you.”

Yeah, right, I thought wryly. Nothing ever helped anyway; I could have tried to make amends with him all I wanted, but the fact of the matter was that Noah was still in love with Zoe, likely sleeping with her, and I was going to catch him in the act.

I was in the study later that night, going over some paperwork for the eating disorder campaign, when I heard the sound of someone knocking on the door. “Come in,” I called out, expecting it to be Viona.

But as soon as the door opened to reveal Noah, I regretted not locking it earlier. “Get out,” I said coldly, returning my gaze to the papers in front of me.

“Enough, Hannah,” he growled, striding into the room and shutting the door behind himself. “We need to talk.”

I kept my eyes on the papers in front of me, not even deigning to look at him. “I’m busy.”

Noah slammed his hand on the desk, making me jump. “I know what you’re doing.” He jabbed an accusatory finger at me. “You planted that picture in my offering bundle at the Lunar Festival, didn’t you?”

That got my attention. I looked up at him, my eyes narrowing into slits. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Hannah,” he snapped. “You’re trying to make me look bad. Create a cheating scandal that doesn’t exist so you can look better during the divorce. It’s just like you to scheme like this. And to think that I thought you had genuine remorse after your last scheme against Zoe.”

I felt a surge of anger rise in my chest at his words. I did have genuine remorse… before I realized that Noah was still madly in love with Zoe and likely having sex with her on the regular.

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you,” I sneered. “I don’t need to ‘scheme’ anything, Noah. You act suspicious enough on your own. I’ll catch you in your lies, and then you’ll really be sorry.”

Noah huffed in annoyance and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up uncharacteristically. “What do I need to do to prove to you that I’m not sleeping with Zoe?” he hissed.

I simply shrugged. “How about you travel back in time and decide not to place that picture of you two in your offering bundle?”

“I’ve told you a hundred times, Hannah… I didn’t put that picture in there. Zoe still has her copy, so she didn’t put it in there, either. You’re the only one who could have known where I kept it.”

“Is that so?” I scoffed. “Why did you even keep that picture anyway, Noah?”

“It’s just a picture. I’m allowed to keep old photos from my past.”

“It’s more than ‘just a picture’ and you know it, Noah. Zoe wasn’t just some ex who you’d like to reminisce about once in a while. She was your fated mate, and you never got over her.”

A muscle in Noah’s jaw ticked as a weighty silence fell over the room. Satisfied, I rose from my desk and tossed my pen down. “I’m tired,” I said, rounding my desk and making my way toward the door. “And this conversation is over.”

Noah reached out to grab my arm as I brushed past him. “We’re not done here,” he said, his fingers tightening around my skin.

“Move,” I growled, my eyes flashing.

“Not until we talk this out.” He didn’t let go of my arm.

“Noah, if you don’t move, I’m going to throw you to the ground.”

Noah’s eyebrows raised, a challenge flashing in his eyes. “I’d like to see you try,” he whispered through grit teeth.

In that moment, something in me snapped. Without thinking, I used one of the moves I had learned recently in my training sessions with Drake. It all happened so fast: I grabbed Noah’s arm, pivoted, and used his momentum to flip him over my shoulder.

Noah hit the ground with a thud, the air rushing out of his lungs. He lay there, stunned and gasping for breath, his eyes wide and his hand clutching his chest.

I stood over him with clenched fists, my heart racing. Growling deeply, I pressed my high heel into his chest and bent slightly to meet his eyes. “Don’t ever try to corner me again,” I warned.

Noah was silent, too stunned to speak—or maybe still too breathless. I bared my teeth at him before removing my heel from his chest, stepping over him, and sauntering out.

…

A few days later, I found myself in a bridal boutique with Emma, Viona, and an ecstatic Amber. The night that I flipped Noah onto the floor was still fresh in my mind—it would likely go down in my personal history book, if I was being honest, although I hadn’t told anyone else about it. Not even Viona.

Noah, for his part, had given up on talking to me. I hardly even saw him anyway, and he had stopped sleeping in the house again; he was likely staying at Zoe’s house, I figured.

As we waited for Amber to try on her first dress, Viona leaned in close to me, her voice snapping me out of my reverie.

“I hate to say it,” she whispered, “but I always kind of thought Jake might be... you know... gay.”

I nodded slightly, thinking back on all of the times that Amber’s long-term boyfriend had exhibited more of an interest in men than women—such as at last year’s New Year’s Eve party, when he had brought his ‘friend’, Doug, and had not left his side the entire night while Amber cried in the bathroom.

“I’ve had the same thought,” I admitted. “I’m more worried for Amber than anything.”

Emma overheard us and joined the conversation. “You guys think so too? I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, but…”

“But getting married to a woman if you are would be unfair to everyone involved,” I finished, eliciting nods from both Viona and Emma.

Our hushed discussion was cut short as Amber emerged from the dressing room. She was radiant in a flowing white gown, her face beaming with joy.

“What do you think?” she asked, twirling for us.

As I watched my friend glow with happiness, I felt my cynicism slowly starting to melt away. Maybe I was projecting my own marital issues onto Amber’s relationship. Or maybe I was just the scheming, judgmental bitch that Noah thought I was.

“Amber,” I said, clasping my hands together, “You look… beautiful.”