From ex wife to sister in law - Chapter (1)

Ch. Ch 1 From wife to ex wife, from ex wife to sister in law Ch 1

Chapter 1

From wife to ex–wife.

From ex–wife to sister–in–law.

In ten years, Bernadette Connery and Nolan Colfield went from inseparable to strangers with a huge wall between them.

***

December. First snow in Los Angeles.

On their third wedding anniversary, Bernadette got nagged by her mother–in–law at the hospital until 11:30 before she could leave.

Snow covered the streets. Since she had not driven, she called Nolan.

The busy tone rang a few times before his voice finally came through, cold and flat.

“What is it?”

Hearing his voice made all the anger and hurt from the night come rushing back. Bernadette’s voice was hoarse as she said, “Can you come pick me up? It’s snowing really hard…”

“I’m busy.” Nolan cut her off, sounding bored. “If you’re tired, get a cab. Don’t bug me with these trifles again.”

Bernadette’s throat tightened. She wanted to say more, but the line went. dead.

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The busy tone stung her ears and her heart.

They had been in love for seven years. Married for three.

Back when they first started dating, Nolan would wait two hours outside her part–time job in the snow just to walk her back to the dorm. He would hold her close and say, “The roads are slippery when it snows. I’m scared you’ll fall if I’m not here.”

Now all that was just “trifles“…

The wind and snow blew harder. Bernadette pulled her down jacket tighter around herself and waited by the road for a taxi. Her fingers were numb as she scrolled through Instagram, just trying to kill time.

After she tapped “like” on a post, her thumb froze.

It was a photo from Nolan’s assistant, Kenneth Feehily–and by accident, Nolan was in the shot too.

He was sitting in the deputy general manager’s office at the Crowley Group, head down, reading through some files. In front of him sat a pink beverage.

“Nolan never drinks beverages like this, so who put it there?” she thought.

Bernadette wanted to zoom in to take a closer look, but the post disappeared. Just like someone wanted to hide something.

The cold wind howled and a taxi driver nearby honked twice, sounding annoyed. “You want a ride or not?”

Bernadette snapped back to reality and stiffly said, “Yes.”

By the time she got home, it was already past midnight.

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As soon as she walked in, she noticed the gift bag in the corner of the living room was gone.

It was the Starlight bracelet–the most popular one–that Nolan had bought. She thought it was for their third anniversary…

Bernadette was still zoning out when the door opened.

Nolan walked in. With a hand on the doorknob, he asked in surprise, “You’re still up?”

I just got back.” Bernadette pushed aside her messy thoughts and asked him softly, with a bit of hope, “Don’t you have anything to say to me today?”

“What?” Nolan did not even glance at her. He just pulled off his tie and walked toward the bathroom. “If you’re tired, go to bed.”

Bernadette stood frozen. She wanted to say something, but the bathroom door shut, shutting her out too.

He had totally forgotten their anniversary.

She let out a quiet sigh. Her heart felt empty and cold.

The next morning, Bernadette went to her studio.

She had started this architectural design studio right after graduating, and in the past two years, it had made quite a name for itself.

As soon as she stepped into the office, her assistant, Nesta Keefe, rushed over. “Bernadette, the Crowley Group said we can’t just send the design draft this time. We have to compete for it with another studio.”

She was fuming. “We’re doing them a favor, honestly. Other people beg for our designs, and now they’re making us compete? What rotten luck!”

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Bernadette was surprised too when she heard that,

However, seeing how mad Nesta was, she just smiled and tried to calm her down. “I’ll do it.”

Even though she did not know exactly what was going on, she was sure she could beat whoever they were up against.

That afternoon, Bernadette headed over to the Crowley Group.

Right when she got out of the car at the office building, she spotted Kenneth.

She thought he was waiting for her and started walking over, but then a pink Porsche pulled up right in front of her.

Bernadette stopped in her tracks and watched as Kenneth hurried over to open the car door. Then, a young girl stepped out.

She could not help asking, “Who’s this?”

Kenneth seemed to notice her just then. His face shifted for a second, but he still introduced her. “Bernadette, this is Ms. Jessica Mallins, daughter of the Mallins Group’s chairman. She’s also the rep for Arcobaleno Studio.”