For lunch, Renee chose a quaint restaurant nearby. Jason arrived after Renee, his mind still reeling with thoughts about Lana’s health. His eyes roamed around all the tables at the restaurant till they landed on Renee’s blonde tresses. She waved at him as he made his way to the table.As Jason walked to the table, he couldn’t help but notice how pale Renee looked."Sorry, I’m a bit late; it took me a while to find the place. Funny how it’s so close, but I've never noticed it,” Jason said as he took his seat.“I know, right? It’s like it’s been hiding itself away. Their goulash is amazing; you should get it,” Renee suggested. She smiled at Jason, but it didn’t reach her eyes. It was clear that something was bothering her.“I’ll take you up on that,” Jason said as the waiter approached their table. The waiter swiftly jots down Renee and Jason’s orders. For the goulash, he nods with a smile, confirming the choice, before moving to the next table.After the waiter left, Renee heaved a si

“Andrew, do you know why Bruno and I separated?”The words were at the tip of Renee’s tongue, and her mouth was watering to say them. Jason noticed the look in Renee’s eyes. How they burned to tell Andrew the truth and shut him up. If she couldn’t do it, then Jason would be glad to. He exchanged a look with her and subtly asked if he could, and she nodded.“Andrew, do you know why Renee and Bruno separated?” Jason said the words came out louder than she intended, her tone dripping with disdain.The moment the words left Jason’s lips, they went straight to Amara’s ears. All the hairs on her body stood up, and before she knew what she was doing, she practically ran up to Andrew.“Honey, please, I want to leave.” The words spilled out of Amara’s lips in a hurry, her voice shaky.Andrew’s eyes darted between Renee and Jason, even to Amara, who was slightly trembling. Andrew suddenly got the feeling that something was going on that he was unaware of.He furrowed his brows. “But you were t

“Bruno assaulted me,” she said through choked sobs.“What?” Andrew blurted out, his eyes widening.Jason and Renee exchanged looks of disbelief, taken aback by Amara’s lie.“You bastard!” Andrew held Bruno by his collar. “You’re going to spend the rest of your miserable life paying for what you did to my wife. You hear me?”“You and your wife are insane! Do you really believe her?” Bruno slurred as he pushed Andrew’s hands off his collar.“Bruno, she's lying,” Renee said.“Shut up!” Amara shouted. "Andy, honey, look at me.” She put her hands on each side of Andrew’s face. “Who are you going to believe? A drunk, a jealous woman, and a lowlife nobody like Jason or your wife who loves you?” She said it with a sad smile.Andrew looked into his wife’s eyes and sighed. He wanted to believe her."Oh, please save the loving wife act,” Renee scoffed.“Andrew, listen” Jason started, “Amara has been cheating on you with Bruno.”“That’s not true. Bruno assaulted me. He forced me to be with him.”

The name of the hotel that Andrew was sent to was The Haven Retreat. It was a small hotel, nestled in a tranquil area of the city.Andrew checked his phone once again to confirm what room the meeting would be held in.“Room 40,” he read aloud.As Andrew walked to the room, he made the conscious effort to only think of the business he had in the hotel and not about his cheating wife, who was sitting in the passenger's seat of his car.Finally, he reached the room and lifted his fist to knock on the door.After the second knock, the door swung open to reveal Kent, who had his phone pressed to his ears, seemingly in the middle of a phone call.Kent gestured for Andrew to come in as he stepped aside to allow Andrew to enter the hotel room. As Andrew stepped into the room, his gaze landed on a bottle of scotch on the table, and he did not hesitate to pour himself into a glass. He drank it as he watched Kent, waiting for him to finish his conversation.“I’ll fill you in later, Roland,” Kent

“Jason, Marcus most likely isn’t Andrew’s son,” Renee admitted. “And I’m sure he’s Bruno's.”Jason finally understood why Renee had been that way. Cheating on your partner was one thing, but having another family with the person you were cheating on them with was a completely different kind of pain.It was a pain that Jason knew well.It felt like the lunch with Renee was bringing back feelings that he had tried so hard to bury and sink back up to the surface.Everything he felt when he saw Lana, Diana, and Christopher for the first time seemed to come back. Jason didn’t want to feel hatred for Diana; he wanted to be indifferent towards her and not feel anything at all. But every time the image popped into his head, he couldn’t help the rage that built up inside of him.Then there was Christopher. Even though he was obviously making an effort to mend his and Jason’s relationship, or at the very least get Jason’s forgiveness, Jason couldn’t fully let go of all that happened between th