Love's New Bloom by Simone Hastings

Chapter 1 Heartbroken

It was 10 pm on a summer night. A beautiful woman in a body-hugging dress and exquisite makeup sat in a hotel room at one of the city’s five-star hotels. A cigarette wisping pungent smoke dangled from her trembling fingers, showing how unstable her emotions were at the moment. She was eavesdropping on a conversation going on in another hotel room that she’d bugged, and it made her heart twist painfully.

The conversation was between a man and a woman. The woman said, “Ian, you’ve been coming to me so frequently that I’m on the verge of collapse…”

The man said, “Don’t tell me you’re unhappy about this.”

The woman giggled. “I’m ecstatic!”

“She’s going on a business trip tomorrow, so you can come over.”

“Ian, I’m curious about something. Back then, Erin was known as the belle of our university. Don’t you love her anymore?”

Ian said, “She’s worse than a sex doll. We’ve been married for a year, but I haven’t even laid a finger on her. That’s what she deserves for acting all high and mighty and leading me on! I’m not even interested in her anymore.”

The woman gasped. “That’s terrible. What’s the point of your marriage, then?”

“Who cares? It’s all she deserves. Alright, let’s stop talking about her…”

blankly at the floor

the grogginess out of her. Tracy? Was he talking about Tracy Brown, her classmate from university? They’d lost contact after graduation, though. How

a design for their bathroom because she wanted to renovate it. Tracy had come over that afternoon, and Erin took the

how she’d sent Tracy on her way, but she recalled how she’d scoured Ian’s bank statements. Over six months, he’d gone to the same hotel 86 times…Now that Erin had a

…

the hotel. The driver asked,

to? Where could she go? At this moment, she recalled how her best friend, Holly Green, had dragged her to the city’s

look with a level gaze. Her heart felt like it had been soaked in acid; she was in so much pain she could barely breathe, and her chest felt unbearably heavy. She pressed a hand to her chest

later, the driver turned to look at her. “We’re

returned to her senses and dazedly tugged a

watched as she stumbled into the club. “What a pity. Such

the club, made a beeline for the front desk, and slapped a debit card on

her up and said politely, “Welcome, miss. Are

whipped out some wet wipes from her

while I make a call? It’ll only be a short while.” As Erin turned to leave, the receptionist secretly snapped a photo of her side profile and sent

“What the hell? How dare you send me a photo of such an

dollars…” The receptionist couldn’t resist giving it a shot at the thought of the commission she’d earn

I’ll give you one more chance instead

Erin stand up and walk toward

or 28 and was about 6’2”. He wore a dark, fitted suit. His broad shoulders, toned waist, and long legs made Erin’s blood rush to her head. The man was also unbelievably handsome. She gulped and trained her gaze on him, but her question was directed at the receptionist. “This is the most handsome man