Game Over No Second Chances

Wendy stood in the rain, and for a moment it felt like the downpour wasn't water, but years of humiliation crashing down on her shoulders. She couldn't breathe under the weight of it all.

She wanted to run away.

Just as she turned to flee, a hand gripped her wrist.

It was Tara. No one knew when she had come back out but she dragged Wendy through a different entrance to the club.

The rain was now a heavy downpour.

"You're lucky," Tara said. "Getting humiliated by Sarah just earned you a bigger opportunity."noveldrama

"What?"

"Cole's interested in you. Do his dirty work, and you'll get far more than Sarah ever could."

Tara pulled open a hidden door. Inside was a world of smoke, teasing laughter, and the clinking of glasses.

The air reeked of alcohol and raw indulgence. Naked bodies and broken women sprawled across expensive sofas like discarded rags.

Dragged through it all, Wendy hurried to keep up with Tara, her eyes darting away from the grim spectacle around her.

She would not fall into the same hell as those women. She had to seize every opportunity.

Even if she had no idea who Cole really was.

That night, at The Haven, the garden was serene and soft under the glow of warm lights. Flowers glimmered under the changing hues of cool and warm lamps.

The nearby man-made lake shimmered under reflected boat lights, its surface alive under the glow of distant lanterns.

Serena lounged alone on a second-floor terrace recliner. Snuggie curled contentedly in its little cat bed beside her, batting at a ball of yarn.

The scene was peaceful and quiet-almost too perfect.

She casually sent a message to Wynne and Ruth, letting them know she had decided to move her birthday gathering to a little earlier.

Wynne, busy with work, replied quickly saying that she'd send a six and a half feet teddy bear as a gift, but would deliver her birthday wishes in person after her business trip.

Ruth, however, was furious. "What the hell? I thought you'd married a husband who was doting and romantic! But now, he's using your birthday to save his family's dignity?

"So, he's just another boring marriage-of-convenience type. I had him pegged wrong. Business marriages are all about practicality, never about love."

Ruth, a romantic and a music lover, was firmly on the "love over logic" side of the argument. Her tirade blared through the phone, practically as loud as a speaker.

Before Serena could even defend her husband, a glass of blue cocktail was silently placed on the small table beside her.

She looked up.

Hugh, in simple loungewear, sat down quietly on the recliner beside hers, claiming space without a word.

"Oh crap," she thought. "Ruth is so screwed."

And of course, right on cue, Ruth's voice roared through the phone, "Divorce him! This boring housewife life is not for you. I know a few artists-handsome, rich, romantic, and emotionally stable-"

"She hasn't asked me for a divorce," said a low male voice.

Hugh's voice sliced right through Ruth's righteous anger.

Serena froze, staring wide-eyed at Hugh. She screamed internally, "Of course I don't want a divorce!"

He was a perfect ally, the best option she had in a life without romantic complications. Hugh was her number-one strategic choice.

"Damn it, Ruth!" Serena cursed in her heart.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

Then, proving she was not the type to back down, Ruth yelled even louder, "Then prove it! Throw her a romantic birthday party! Don't just talk the talk-do something! Otherwise, you're just a deadbeat husband with a pretty face!

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