Midst of Chaos

LAUREN

“I knew it! I just knew it!” Athena exploded, not giving a damn that we were in a public place.

She leaned in closer to me.

“I knew your marriage to Mason wasn’t real.”

“Shh! Keep it down!” I shot her a glare, quickly scanning the café to make sure no one was paying us any attention. Thankfully, it seemed like Athena’s outburst had gone unnoticed.

I was already regretting spilling the beans in such a public setting. But honestly, I hadn’t expected her to react like this.

I’d figured she’d be mad, not celebrating like she’d just won the lottery.

“For now, Athena. Before they fall in love with each other for real,” Beth chimed in, grinning from ear to ear.

I rolled my eyes and took a sip from my straw, already dreading this lunch with my friends.

After spending too much time cooped up in my room and getting a text from Mason that he’d left the house, I decided to follow suit. I needed to vent to my friends.

Confessing my arrangement with Mason to Athena felt like a huge weight had been lifted. I hated lying to her.

And if I was going to deal with Mason, I needed someone on my side who knew him well. Who better than his own aunt?

“We’re not going to fall in love. Get that idea out of your head. Besides, he’s a jerk and incapable of love,” I grumbled, my cheeks burning with frustration.

I was still pissed about him refusing breakfast. But I blamed myself.

I was the one who thought—hoped—he could have breakfast with me, just shortly after marriage.

I thought the nice guy inside him was going to come out after we took our vows, but I was fooling myself.

“That’s what you think, Lauren. You’ve got to be patient with him. And Mason is a man, you just have to know how to handle him. Use your feminine wiles and he’ll be eating out of your hand.”

I covered my face and groaned at Athena’s words.

“Please, don’t join in on this too. I don’t want him like that, I just need a friend in him, but he’s making it so hard!” I stomped my foot in frustration and glared at my drink.

“Are you okay, Laurie? Did you sleep well last night?”

“Barely,” I replied to Beth. “I woke up so early today and I think it’s because it’s a new place. I don’t do well with change.”

“Or it’s because her husband isn’t paying her any attention,” Athena added.

The girls chuckled, and I felt like bolting from their stupid comments and teasing glances.

Instead, I decided to steer the conversation in a safer direction.

“How’s Jade?”

At the mention of Jade’s name, Athena smirked, the corner of her mouth curling up.

“Still reeling from the shock of you being Mason’s wife,” she answered with a chuckle.

“She came to me and begged me to get him to divorce you and marry her. She said, and I quote, ‘I will make him happier than her.’”

“I don’t know her, but I believe her,” Beth interjected.

Athena smiled. “If Jade was our friend and she had been married to him, there’s no doubt that she would listen to us and wouldn’t hesitate to make him fall for her.”

“What did you tell her?” I asked with a small smile and a shake of my head.

If only Jade knew this marriage wasn’t real, and there was no way Mason would ever marry her. With or without me in his life.

“That it’s none of my business. And she said she’s going to talk to you about it. She’s willing to lose everything for him.”

My mouth dropped open, and I could only stare at her in stunned silence before I recovered.

“Wow.”

“I know, right?” Athena burst out with a chuckle. “Anyway, I’m going to tell you something you should never tell Mason.

“If he knew I was telling you this, there’s no doubt he would kill me, and he’d make sure my body was never found.”

I won’t lie and say I wasn’t eager to hear what she was going to tell me. It sounded like a secret Mason wouldn’t want me to know.

I was desperate for something, anything to help me understand my husband better.

She leaned closer to us and whispered in a low voice.

“Mason fell in love.”

Beth’s hand slipped from the table in shock, and I choked on my straw.

“You’re shitting me,” I gasped in disbelief, replaying her words in my head. “Mason in love with someone? How’s that possible?”

Then, my eyes widened in realization. “Wait! Are you talking about Chloe? Mason fell in love with Chloe?” My eyebrows shot up in surprise.

She nodded in confirmation. “She was his high school sweetheart. They had their whole future planned out before Chloe cheated on him with his cousin,” Athena replied.

She seemed genuinely amused by my surprise, but not shocked that I knew it was Chloe.

“His cousin?” Beth choked out in disbelief. I already knew that part.

Athena nodded. “Mason loved her so much. He almost gave up everything for her, but that bitch was sleeping with his cousin behind his back and laughing about it.”

She frowned and I could hear the venom in her voice when she continued. “I don’t know what happened, but Mason forgave her and took her back.

“Turns out the little bitch lied to him, and when he realized that, he broke up with her. That was twelve years ago, and he still hates her.”

“This is why he doesn’t trust women,” I pointed out in bewilderment.

Suddenly, everything he had said to me started to make sense, but I wasn’t going to excuse his bad behavior toward me.

Not every woman he met was untrustworthy.

Clearly, he didn’t know that, or he just wanted to be right. Besides, I wasn’t sure it was the only reason why he hated women.

There was more to it, something only he would know.

“He’s convinced every woman will do to him what Chloe did.”

Beth’s eyes lit up at this revelation. “This changes everything,” she said, her voice filled with excitement.

I looked at her, my face a mask of confusion.

She quickly filled me in. “It’s you!”

“Come again?”

“You’re the one who can change him! Everyone who knows you knows you’re nothing like Chloe. Everyone except your husband. You need to change his perspective on women, Lauren.

“You need to earn his trust, and in the process, you two might just fall in love!” she blurted out, her excitement palpable.

“Beth, this isn’t a movie,” I said, my voice laced with irritation.

Her constant attempts to play matchmaker between Mason and me were starting to grate on my nerves.

“How many times do I have to tell you to let it go? Focus on your own love life.”

Or the lack thereof.

Beth looked like she was about to argue, but then she just grinned at me. “I’m just trying to help, Lauren. I saw the way you looked at him at your wedding reception.”

I narrowed my eyes. “The way I looked at him?”

“Absolutely! I can’t blame you. Mason is a total heartthrob! Anyone would be captivated by him, and you were no exception.”

“I wasn’t looking at him like that!” I protested, feeling defensive.

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I felt the need to defend myself.

“I was actually bored of looking at him.”

That was somewhat true.

I had spent most of the time looking anywhere but at him, avoiding his permanent scowl and clenched jaw.

Athena snorted.

“Really?” Beth asked, trying to suppress her laughter as she pretended to examine her nails.

“You find his gray eyes, his jawline, his lips, his hair boring? Every inch of him from head to toe is boring to you?”

“Yes,” I replied, trying to hide my amusement at her obvious infatuation. But I was lying through my teeth.

There was no way I would admit to Beth that I found Mason incredibly attractive, and that my heart pounded every time I looked into his gray eyes.

“Sure, Laurie,” she said in a hushed, awestruck whisper, “let’s pretend I believe you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t invite you guys out to talk about him all day,” I grumbled, worried that if they kept prying, they would uncover my secret.

I would take my attraction to Mason to my grave.

“All I care about right now is finding a job and getting my mind off everything that’s going wrong in my life.”

“You’re so dramatic.”

I shot Beth a glare.

“Why didn’t you mention that before?” Athena asked, pulling out her phone and starting to scroll through it.

“I can get you an interview at my friend’s company. He’s actually looking to hire someone.”

My eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yes. I’ll call you as soon as I set up the interview. And trust me, he’s nothing like your old boss.”

“Thank you so much, Athena. You’re a lifesaver.”

She winked at me. “It’s the least I can do for family.”

Family.

I couldn’t help but smile.