3. Betrayal
CHAPTER 3
BETRAYAL
(TIFFANY)
“What are we going to do if he dies?” Jasmine’s voice cracks on the last word, speaking my fears aloud.
Gramps is in surgery, and it’s unfathomable to think of him dying. Logically, I know he’s almost eighty, but he’s still so with it that I can’t imagine him passing away. It hurts to think that a conversation about advertising budgets might be the last one we ever have.
“He won’t,” I say decisively.
“But what if he does?”
I turn to look at Jasmine, sitting in the uniform hospital chair next to me. The fear in her eyes is clear as day, and I’m taken back to a time many years ago when she asked me the same question about our mom.
I put my arm around her shoulders and hug her tight. “He won’t, but if he does, we will survive. I will take over from him at Carter Group and be a horrible boss who makes you work lots of overtime because there’s no goddamn way I will let his legacy die with him.”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” she says with a laugh as she wipes away a tear.
“Definitely not about his legacy, but I will neither confirm nor deny whether I plan to chain you to your desk when I become CEO.” She breaks out of my embrace and pulls her phone out of her pocket as I frown at her. “What are you doing?”
“I need to memorize the phone number for the Department of Labor for no particular reason.”
I burst into laughter, then quieten down quickly when other hospital guests look over at us.
“Dr. Timberlake is the best. He’ll keep Gramps alive,” I assure her, but I’m really trying to convince myself.
Jasmine is on her phone, so I pull mine out and try calling Ben, but it goes to voicemail. The same happens when I call Dec. I sigh because I really hoped one of them would answer. I switch into the group chat we have with our sister Crystal as a message comes through from her.
Crystal Carter: I have my last exam on Tuesday, so I’ll fly back Tuesday afternoon. I’ll come sooner if anything happens .
The words ‘anything happens’ loom over me as I write a response.
Tiffany Carter: Sounds good. We’ll keep you updated. I know you’re going to ace your exams and become the best environmental lawyer ever.
Like Dad, Crystal has decided she doesn’t want to be a part of Carter Group. Since being in California, she’s decided to go into environmental law instead of commercial law. I’m proud of her for doing what she wants, even though I’m disappointed that she won’t be working with us when she gets her degree.
Time drips away slowly, and seven hours have passed before Dr. Timberlake tells us the surgery was a success. I’m flooded with relief, and I realize how certain some part of my brain was that Gramps was going to die today. I’m a wreck by the time he wakes up, and we get to see him in his hospital room.
“Why do you look stressed, girl?” he asks in his gruff voice.
“Probably because you had to have open-heart surgery last night, Gramps,” I laugh through my tears and look at Jasmine, who looks as stressed as I feel.
“We do actually love you, old man.” She grins at him.
Gramps smiles back at us. “I’m glad to hear it. Don’t worry about me, girlies. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got a wedding to attend before I do.”
He has us in fits of laughter by the time we leave, and a nurse comes in to tell us visiting hours are over, and we need to go so he can eat lunch and get some rest. We say goodbye and share an Uber home.
The driver drops Jasmine off first before we get to my apartment building. It’s literally my apartment building. Gramps bought it for me as a twenty-first birthday present. He did the same thing for Jasmine and Crystal when they each turned twenty-one.
I take the elevator to the penthouse, exhausted right down to the bone. I desperately need sleep. I couldn’t get any last night because I was so worried about Gramps and unable to sleep in a hard chair in the hospital waiting room. I get a glass of water, and I’m walking through the living room toward my bedroom when I hear Ben’s voice.
“Tiff.”
I jump about a foot in the air and squeal as I turn around, water sloshing out of the glass and onto the carpet at my feet. “Holy shit, Ben! You scared the living crap out of me.”
He doesn’t reply. He just looks at me. He looks like a mess and is wearing the same outfit he had on last night. His hair is messy, and his clothes are disheveled. I know this man better than I know myself, and I know something isn’t right with him .
“What’s wrong, Ben?” My heart beats faster as a sense of alarm comes over me.
“I’m sorry, Tiff,” he says quietly.
“Sorry for what?” I frown at him, and my breathing rate increases to match my pounding heart.
“I had sex with someone else last night.”
He says it quietly, but he might as well have shouted it at me because the words are so loud in my head. I feel cold and completely numb, memories of wasting precious moments searching the club for him with Jasmine before we left for the hospital.
“Was that where you were when I couldn’t find you?” I say in a deadened voice that I don’t recognize as my own.
He nods back but doesn’t say anything. I feel sick. I don’t even know what to do with this information.
“So, while I was dealing with my grandfather’s heart attack, you had your dick in some other woman?”
He doesn’t get a chance to respond before I run to the nearest bathroom. I make it there just in time to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet. There’s not much in there because I’ve barely eaten since yesterday, and it’s not long before I’m dry retching.
Benjamin. My Benjamin.
He slept with someone else. It feels like my heart is shattering in my chest. Memories of the last decade spent together play through my mind, all colored by the knowledge that he cheated on me last night.
I wash my face and rinse my mouth before returning to the living room. Ben is still sitting where I left him.
“Who did you sleep with?” I ask.
Ben shakes his head. “No.”
“I’m sorry, what do you mean, ‘no?’” I grind out, my jaw tensing as I do.
“I can’t tell you…” he trails off, looking tortured.
Anger courses through my body as I look at the traitorous man in front of me. The fact that he doesn’t want to give up the name of the woman he cheated on me with means it’s someone we know.
“I think you fucking can. Tell me,” I demand, knowing deep down that I don’t want this answer.
Ben meets my gaze for ten seconds before looking away. “Ashley Kirkpatrick.”
If my heart wasn’t in pieces before, it is now. Ashley is someone we’ve known for years. We’re not friends, and she’s not a part of our group, but we’ve always been friendly. I didn’t think she would do something like this.
“Get. Out.”
I spit this at him, unable to put a voice to any of the millions of thoughts I have right now.
“Come on, Tiff. We can get past this, can’t we?”
I laugh bitterly. “I don’t fucking think so. Get out of my goddamn building before I call the police to see you out.”
I pull the diamond ring off my finger and throw it at him. It hits him and ricochets off his chest. He looks like he might say something more, but he doesn’t. He just picks the ring up off the floor where it landed and walks out of my apartment.
I stand in silence for thirty seconds before the stress of the last twenty-four hours hits me, and I burst into tears.
Two hours later, I’m lying on my sofa and crying into a tub of ice cream while I listen to a breakup playlist on Spotify. My phone pings with a message from Jasmine.
Jasmine Carter: What. The. Fuck.
She’s sent through a picture of Ben kissing Ashley, and I rush to the bathroom again, where I vomit up all of the ice cream I just ate. When I get back to my phone, I reply to her message.
Tiffany Carter: Who sent you that? He cheated on me. I called off the engagement.
My phone starts ringing, and Jasmine’s name is displayed on the screen. I reject her call and send another text.
Tiffany Carter: I can’t talk right now. Sorry.
My heart feels like it’s bleeding inside my chest, and I can barely stand this. Jasmine’s reply pushes the picture of Ben and Ashley off my screen, which is a welcome relief.
Jasmine Carter: Okay, sis. I’m so sorry. Fuck Benjamin. What an asshole. You know that if you ever need me, I’ll be here.
I send her a thank you, then sigh and pick up the quickly softening ice cream to eat some more. Everything is so fucked up. A wedding magazine Ben and I bought together on Sunday sits on the coffee table in front of me, mocking me. It’s utterly bizarre that I was so happy less than a week ago. So in love and ready to marry the man of my dreams. Blissfully unaware that six days later, I would be betrayed by him.
My phone pings, and I look down to see a message from Jasmine to the group chat with all our friends.
Jasmine Carter: Fuck you, Benjamin Littrell, you asshole. I hate you.
She’s attached the picture for everyone to see. She didn’t even end up telling me where she got it. My phone starts blowing up immediately. I mute the conversation so it stops sending me notifications, then turn the music up before I scoop the last of the ice cream out of the tub.