Vivian’s POV

Of all of the things that Vivian had expected Amy to say. Hearing her friend tell her that she had to tell Vivian about her own breakup had not been on the list at all.

The exhaustion that she had been struggling to get rid of, as she’d tried to make herself excited for her planned meeting with Bryce, lifted as she focused on her friend. Her mind more alert than it had been in days.

"What could you possibly have to say about it when you were not even there? It was just me and Ryan at the time,"

Amy opened her mouth to speak but Vivian silenced her by shaking her head. Whatever Amy had to say, it was probably not anything that Vivian did not know already.

"You know what? Whatever it is I do not wish to know. I’m sorry you wasted your time by coming all the way over here so early," Getting up Vivian began heading to her shower. With all of the verbal bashing that she was going to receive from Bryce, she could at least make sure that her personal hygiene was not on the list of things that he had to complain about. The man would no doubt talk bad about her clothes, her weight, her hair and every other little thing that he could find to complain about.

Before she could even make it half way there, her progress to the bathroom was blocked by Amy coming to stand in front of her. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Amy, stop blocking my path, I have to go and shower," Her friend would not budge though. Whenever Vivian tried to step to the side, the other woman moved with her. Making it impossible for her to go any further without using force.

"Amy please." Vivian said tiredly.

Her friend responded by placing her hands on Vivian’s shoulders and guiding her backwards, forcing her to take a seat again before joining her.

"Vivian I know that this is going to sound crazy but please hear me out. You got it wrong that night. Ryan was not sleeping with that woman,"

Amy’s words refused to make sense in her head.

How in the world could there have been a naked woman in his penthouse without Ryan having invited her there?

Opening and closing her eyes, Vivian tried to dispel whatever illusion she was under, but that did not work. She looked down at herself, then she looked over to her best friend. Oh, now she realized what was happening. She was probably still dreaming, that was why she was in sleepwear, and Amy who was dressed for the day was telling Vivian who had been the one to see Ryan’s other woman, his main woman, that she had somehow misread the situation.

Closing her eyes again, the preschool teacher tried to will herself into wakefulness but when she lifted her lids she found Amy staring at her with a worried look on her face. Not only that she was still dressed in pajamas. Shaking her head, she pinched herself, letting out a startled gasp as she felt pain. Realizing that she was not dreaming, she turned back to her best friend.

"I know what I saw Amy. There was no mistaking that,"

Amy shook her head. "Vivian listen to me. I have no idea how that woman got into the penthouse but she is not with Ryan. She is just a crazy ex,"

What?!

Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth was an ex! As in Ryan had been with her in the past and had decided to leave her.

Against her better judgment Vivian felt hope building in her chest.

"Are you certain?" She asked and Amy nodded.

"I tracked down his best friend to ask him what really went down and we ended up uncovering what actually happened. That day when I called you and asked you about everything we were comparing stories, he called Ryan as well," Her friend paused for breath before continuing.

"The poor guy is heartbroken Viv. He had absolutely no idea that that woman would be in the penthouse," The whole thing sounded too good to be true. But looking into her friend’s eyes, Vivian saw nothing but honesty.

Ryan had not been cheating on her. There had been no other woman. It had only been Vivian in his life the entire time that they arrangement had been going on. He hadn’t been toying with her.

Oh...Oh!....OH!

No man had ever chosen Vivian like that, and she had no idea what to do with the information. Joy like she’d never felt before rose up in Vivian’s chest and she felt it lighting her up from the inside. But before the feeling could fully take root. It burned up and turned to ash as Vivian realized exactly what she had done.

"I ruined it Amy. I had a good thing going and I tore it apart," Vivian whimpered and Amy’s hands were instantly around her.

"No, no. You have not ruined anything now that you know the truth, that it was all a misunderstanding. You guys can still fix things. One day you will look back at this moment and laugh together. All you have to do is go get your man,"

Pulling away from the hug Vivian shook her head. Unable to stop the tears that were making her vision blurry.

"There is no fixing this, Amy. I pushed him away and he ended up right in Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth’s waiting arms," Reaching for her phone, she pulled up one of the pictures she had seen earlier, and showed it to her best friend.

"This was taken at the hospital that Ryan’s grandfather is in," Amy stared at the picture of Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth walking into the hospital with wide eyes.

"Oh Viv," She said sadly and Vivian whimpered.

"It is over. I pushed him away and she scooped him up. She is the woman that he called in his hour of need. He does not think of me anymore,"