Cassidy POV
Liam’s Apartment
The room looked like a tornado just passed through with clothes strewn everywhere. Slapping sounds filled the room as Liam hovered over Tricia, pumping into her as if his entire life depended on it.
“Tell me baby,” Tricia drawled “Who is better in bed? Me or your stupid fiancée?”.
“For Pete’s sake, Tricia,” Liam paused as he pressed a kiss on her lips “Why would you even ask? Cassidy is as frigid as ice. We don’t have a lot of intimacy going on,”.
“But it’s her you’re marrying and not me,” Tricia accused.
“Baby,” Liam sighed and rolled off Tricia’s body “You know I wouldn’t purposely marry her. Her mom was my grandmother’s best friend and you know how Nana is… she is so insistent that I must marry her and you know it’s the only way I can claim my inheritance,”.
“You always have an excuse, Liam,” Tears welled in Tricia’s eyes “Sometimes, I feel like I’m being used as a s*x toy,”.
“Hey now!” Liam gathered her into his arms “You’ll be Mrs. Fuller, I assure you. The first thing I’ll do is to kick her out once I get my inheritance and that would not be a hassle. You know she has no family, nor anyone supporting her,”.
“Yeah,” Tricia sighed “I guess I’ll just have to wait a bit more. I can’t wait to become yours, Liam. I’m tired of hiding in the shadows,”.
“You won’t wait for long now, I promise,” Liam said as he nuzzled her neck, pressing open-mouthed kisses on it.
Hot tears pooled in my eyes blocking my vision as I stared at my fiancée; the man I’ll be marrying three days from today naked in bed with my best friend Tricia. A surge of nausea passed through me as my chest tightened in resentment.
They were on my bed… my supposed matrimonial bed that I would share with Liam on our wedding night and Tricia… Tricia was the only person I loved and trusted. We’ve been friends since college and she saw me through the worst of my pain especially after losing my mom.
Even Liam had always been sweet, gentle and kind to me. I had made up my mind to marry him because I thought he truly loved me despite the marriage being arranged. From their conversation, the affair seemed to have been going on for a while. Clenching my fists, I barged into the room, kicking at the door with every anger I felt.
Liam saw me first.
“Cass?” he stuttered “What are you doing here?”.
“What am I doing here?” a dry laugh escaped my throat as I folded my hand across my chest “Liam, this is supposed to be our home when we get married in three days or did you already forget,”.
“N-no, I didn’t” he stuttered again, “You could have called or something,”.
Behind him, Tricia was trying to make herself invisible under the duvet. If I had not been so angry, I would have laughed at the wasted effort.
“How long do you plan to hide, Tricia? Or do you think I am blind?”.
Slowly, she raised her head up as she settled the duvet around her naked body “Hey, Cass,” she whispered, her doll-like face was sober.
“Hey, Cass!” I mimicked “Is that what you’ve got to say to me? I just caught you in bed with my husband to be, Tricia and you’re saying hi to me?” I screeched “How did I ever offend you? I was a good friend to you for the most part. How…”
I swiped angrily at the tears that were rolling in torrents on my cheeks now. I wished everything was a bad dream, a nightmare.
“We love each other, Cass,” Tricia continued with no trace of remorse “I – we tried to fight it but we couldn’t. Besides, you told me you don’t love, Liam, you should be grateful I didn’t tell him that be also thankful that I’m taking him off your hands,”.
“OMG, Tricia,” I gasped in unbelieve “I didn’t love, Liam because we were not even friends. It’s an arranged marriage but I wanted to marry him. He was kind and sweet to me and I’ve made up my mind to be with him,”.
“Or you’re just after the money and the name?” Tricia sneered. “Listen, Cass… This is the perfect opportunity for you to disappear out of our lives. You’re poor, Cass. Your family is not even known and you think the Fuller’s will accept you like that. Oh, please, my darling,”.
“Don’t worry, Tricia,” I offered her a small smile “I won’t be marrying, Liam again but with what I have on you, do you think the Fuller’s would accept you? At least, I had the approval of Nana who loves me so dearly,”.
“And as for you, Liam,” I turned to him “You’re an illegitimate child struggling to be accepted into the family. You know marriage to me was going to buy you that spot and give you an inheritance but I wonder what Nana would do when she finds out,”.
Tricia’s delicate futures turned white with fear as she grabbed Liam’s arm.
“Liam, what is she talking about?”.
“Don’t worry, darling, Cassidy is anything but cruel,” he turned to me with a snarl on his lips “Besides, you don’t have any evidence and if you dare try to slander me, I’ll sue you and make sure you rot in jail. You’ve got no one, Cass. No family, no friend, just give up,”.