Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
It wouldn’t matter, though, once we got together. Even when she first came on the scene, I wasn’t worried. But then everyone started linking their names together in that stupid way the fans have of showing their support for their favorite couples.
I started worrying more when years went by, and they were still together, still going strong, and the fans loved them. You couldn’t look anywhere without seeing something written up about them. By then, I was old enough to date, just barely, but it was time to put my plans into action, and I did, with the help of my family and some of my newly acquired friends.
I hadn’t been idle this whole time. I’d learned everything I could about the two of them, especially her. I’d already learned everything I needed to about him; now it was her I needed to learn so it would be easier to get rid of her.
Dad had worked his magic behind the scenes, and while no one was looking or seeing me as a threat, I put my plan in motion. My new friends had no idea what my goal was, though some of my old acquaintances from back home knew since, as a young teen, it was hard to hide my obsession from them.
I wasn’t worried about them, though, since they were not part of the elite inner circle and would never make it to LA. I’m not sure what dad had done after we joined the church where all the stars congregated; that was the first step everyone said to take. It beat trying to find out where Ryder was going to be at every given moment, which is something I’d done in the past and still did, truth be known.
After running into him at church a time or two, it had been easier to get closer to him because now he knew I was a safe and familiar face. But she was always there as well, always close to him like a second skin. Still, I’d been able to outwit her, and, in the end, he chose me.
So why has she still been hovering over our lives like a specter when I’d gone through so much, done so much to get what I wanted? Why can’t I escape her no matter where I go? Even in my sleep, she’s the last thing I see before I close my eyes. It’s as if she’s haunting me.
I’d won; the whole world had seen that I’d won. I was the one to take him away from her and all the others that were lusting after him. I was the one he chose for all the world to see. So why have I never felt like I’d won? Why have I not found the happiness I thought would be mine for the taking? It’s all because of that bitch. She’s the reason this is happening.
When she’d hidden herself away from the world, I’d had a few years of respite, and the longer she stayed off the scene, the more at ease I became. But I was never truly at peace because there was always this sick feeling of dread in my gut, almost like a premonition, that it could all come crashing down at any moment.
I knew what everyone thought, that he never truly loved me, that the two of them deserved each other, that she was better for him than me. It was bad enough having to shield myself from barbs from the outside, but having to fight my own husband for his love has taken a toll on me.
At least before tonight, no one could know for sure. I always made sure he was on his best behavior when we were out together somewhere where there were sure to be cameras and when the girls came over, which was pretty often because I needed them to see and believe as much as everyone else, that I’d won my man, that he was mine.
But tonight, something had gone very wrong, and he’d stormed out of the house, and I know very well that look that was in his eyes. He was thinking about her, always fucking her; I hate her. But how did he find out about the song? I have his social media along with his outside contact under very strict supervision. I’d even convinced him that someone as famous as he is shouldn’t be handling that stuff on his own and had hired someone to take control of it.
So, how did he hear that song? Or was it something else? No, it was her; it was all about her. And it’s too much of a coincidence that he’d reacted this way on the day her new song was released. I’d already brainstormed with my team as to how to keep him from knowing about it, but it looks like we were too late.