Chapter 1
Ember
I’d had a long and stressful day at work. I wasn’t meant to be on my way home, but with the impending snowstorm that was due to hit, I decided not to travel to see my parents this evening.
I pulled up outside the house I shared with my fiancé just after six o’clock and noticed that he was already home, which was unusual.
He was a senior manager for a manufacturing company, and with the big order they had just received, he usually wouldn’t have been walking through the door until at least nine in the evening.
As I walked inside, I was astounded to find that all the lights were off downstairs. Perhaps Wayne had dropped his car off because he was going to a dinner meeting and would be drinking? He had done that a few times before and then gotten a taxi home.
Deciding that had to be the case, I walked into the kitchen to make myself a mug of hot chocolate. With the cold weather that was coming in, I just wanted to snuggle in front of the fire and veg out for the evening.
I filled the kettle and turned it on, then headed upstairs to the bedroom to have a shower and get changed into something more comfortable. As I walked towards the bedroom, I could hear a noise coming from inside and stopped dead in my tracks.
It was a woman, and she was moaning Wayne’s name. I burst into the bedroom just as the woman was screaming out with her orgasm while Wayne was pounding into the woman, obviously trying to reach his own release.
I stood there for a moment in shock, unable to comprehend what I was seeing. Pain and anger started to build inside of me, and I couldn’t hold back the tears as I screamed out to him.
“What the fuck is going on here, Wayne?!”
He instantly stopped, rolled off, and looked at me. As I looked at the woman lying there, I instantly recognised her: his secretary, Stacey.
Wayne instantly got out of bed, grabbed a robe, and put it around himself while he started to walk towards me. “It’s not what you think, Ember, sweetheart.”
“How the fuck can you say it isn’t what I think? You are in our bed. With another woman. And you were fucking her! How the fuck is that not what I think?”
He stood there for a moment looking at me; I could see his brain ticking over trying to come up with some excuse. But how could he? I had caught him red-handed, and there was no explanation for it apart from the truth.
“How could you, Wayne? In our own fucking bed, and today of all days!”
“Well, you haven’t exactly been putting out lately, so I had to get it from somewhere.”
I let out a bark. “Maybe if you came home once in a fucking while, then we could have done something. But you’ve been out fucking your secretary for the past six months, I suspect, seeing as I have hardly seen you in all that time.
I’m fucking done with you! You can forget our wedding and all the money I have as well.
Let’s see how this bitch does and if she can keep you in the life you’re accustomed to, because I bet she can’t. ”
I could see both his anger and panic starting to grow with every second.
He may have been a senior manager in the firm, but I was the main breadwinner in the house.
I was a partner in the firm of solicitors that I worked for, bringing in six figures every year.
Right now, I was just grateful that I had insisted on separate bank accounts, along with a joint one that we used to pay bills.
It meant that most of my money was safe.
As for the house…well, I had let him put that in his name only, but I helped with the mortgage. That was going to change from now on. He could go fuck himself if he thought he was getting another penny from me.
“Ember, can we just talk about this, please? I’m sorry. I made a foolish mistake.”
I didn’t bother listening anymore as I walked into the wardrobe, grabbed a small suitcase, and filled it with enough clothes to get me through a few days.
I would come back for the rest in a couple of days, leaving him to live in the mess he had made for himself.
I walked out of the room and found a now-dressed Wayne and no sign of Stacey.
“I hope Stacey didn’t leave on my account?”
He walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, which I promptly shrugged off.
“Please, Ember, let's talk about this.”
“There is nothing to talk about. I’ll come and get the rest of my stuff in a couple of days. I can never forgive infidelity. If you’re doing this now, then what’s to stop you when we are married? Don’t bother to call or message me or my family again, unless it is through my solicitor.”
I started to walk out of the bedroom until he grabbed my arm to stop me.
“You’re not leaving here until we talk this through!”
“I’ve already said there is nothing to talk about. We are finished. Can’t you get that through your thick skull? Or are you still thinking with your dick?”
I pulled my arm away, walked down the stairs, and headed out into my car. Wayne was still shouting my name from inside as the realisation of his mistake hit him, but I just ignored him and got into my car.
The snow had already started to fall, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before the roads became covered.
I had to leave now if I was going to make it to my parents’ before the roads became impassable.
I started the engine and pulled off my driveway, then pulled up my parents’ number on my phone and called them.
“Hi, sweetheart. Are you okay?”
The tears were streaming down my cheeks as I answered my mum. “I’m on my way to you. I found Wayne in bed with his secretary. It’s over between us.”
“Sweetheart, should you be driving in this weather? Surely you could find a hotel nearby—”
“I just want to come home, Mum. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you in a little while.”
“Okay, well, drive safely and be careful. We’ll see you in a while.”
With tears still falling, I continued down the road as the snow started to fall heavier. I wasn’t going to let Wayne get away with this. No matter what, I would make sure everyone knew what a lying, cheating bastard he really was.
I’d been driving for thirty minutes now, and the roads were already becoming treacherous.
I was starting to wish I had taken my mum’s advice to get a hotel.
I was currently driving at a ridiculously slow speed through the woods, hardly able to see more than a few feet in front of me.
At this rate, I wouldn’t make it to my parents’ house until midnight.
It was usually only a forty-five-minute drive to their house, but because of this snow, I was only about ten minutes into my normal journey, which had taken me thirty.
I had finally managed to stop crying, but that had more to do with the fact that I had to concentrate on the road ahead.
If I managed to make it there without crashing the car, I would be eternally grateful.
Suddenly, the car started spluttering and I lost all power.
“What the hell?!”
The car grinded to a halt as I pulled over into the layby that was conveniently next to me. I tried to start the car again, but it just turned over with nothing.
“Why now? Come on, you stupid car. Start!”
Still nothing. I pulled out my phone to call my parents – and hopefully someone who could rescue me. I looked to see my phone was as dead as a dodo.
How had I gotten so unlucky in life? I never forgot to charge my phone, but the one time I really needed it, it was dead.
“Fuck. My. Life!” I was hurt and angry and could feel the tears starting to build again.
Not only did it feel like my life come had to an end, but now I was stuck in the worst snowstorm for centuries, and I had no way of getting in touch with anyone or getting this car started.
In the distance, I could see the lights of a house. Thank God, at least they should have a phone that I can use. I got out of the car, grabbed my handbag, and locked the door, heading in the direction of the house…and hopefully salvation.