One Night Stand With My Husband’s Brother

The gloom of defeat followed Mackenzie all the way back home like lead on her shoulders. Not just defeat, but utter devastation.

It was just cruel.

Dashing all of her hopes so carelessly. She had gone there confident and sure she would get the job. All of a sudden, they chose someone else? She didn’t even see any other candidate there except her. So how?

With all those painful questions banging around in her mind, she walked closer to her apartment door. But stopped when her eyes fell on the bouquet of Pink Camilla flowers propped right in front of the apartment.

What?

That stranger had traced her house address here in Greensville as well? All the flowers they sent back in North Dakota was not enough?

Anger erupted inside Mackenzie and she grabbed the flowers, smashing it against the wall with so much force. An angry sound left her as she flung her bag away to smash the flowers around better.

All the frustrations and stress she had kept bottled in, all this time were all violently coming up to the surface. She struck harder, screaming words that did not make much sense, but she couldn’t care less as long as the damn flowers were destroyed.

The flowers scattered into bits, breaking off and making a mess everywhere.

Mackenzie didn’t stop.

All of the ruckus outside alerted Charlotte and Felicity inside the apartment, and they hurried outside. Their faces twisted with shock when they met the unfolding scene outside.

Felicity gasped in pure horror, watching the terrible state of the poor flowers. She had always cherished plant life, wanting to preserve them as much as she could. She could not bear to see damaged or withered plants. They were her babies, and she would do anything to resuscitate them.

But the flowers in Mackenzie’s hands were gone, for sure.

“Mackenzie!” Charlotte exclaimed. She was the one who found her voice first.

The sound of her voice jolted Mackenzie out from the anger frenzy she had fallen into, and she froze. Felicity moved forward to hold her hands, asking worriedly,

“What is the problem, Kenzie? What’s wrong? You’re never like this?”

Mackenzie slowly let out a breath as she saw the mess she had made. The concern in her friends eyes too, it made her feel bad.

Charlotte sidled closer, “Hey, what’s going on? You have been out if it for a while now. Didn’t the meeting go well?”

She straightened up and gave both of them a tight smile. “I didn’t mean to give you girls a fright. I’m just so sick of seeing that flower. From North Dakota, now here? At this point I never want to see it again.”

Felicity and Charlotte gave small sighs and she just shrugged and motioned at the broken flower stalks all over the ground. “I’ll come take care of this.”

“No, it’s fine. You go inside.” Felicity said softly.

Mackenzie gave her an look mixed with guilt and appreciation before stepping into the apart. The moment she stepped into the living and closed the door behind her, tiny footsteps pattered towards her.

She looked and saw Cameron rushing over with a toy in his hand.

Her heart softened. He hugged her legs and looked up at her with a big beautiful smile in his face. His blue eyes were sparkling.

“Mommy! Welcome home, I missed you…”

Mackenzie smiled and crouched down to hug him warmly, snuggling against his head with affection. “Thank you, my baby boy. Mommy missed you too. So much.”

She looked around the living room, and saw that Calista was not anywhere near. She asked Cameron, “Where is your sister?”

“She’s in the room.” He answered, then asked his own question. “Why didn’t we go to school today, mommy? I like staying home with Aunt Charlotte, but Cali kept asking me all day.”

Felicity came in from behind, adding, “Cali has been brooding all day, Kenzie. She doesn’t want to talk to anyone, except her brother.”

Mackenzie’s brows slanted with worry. “She has?”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

She grabbed Cameron’s hand and walked with him across the living room and into her bedroom. There, Calista was curled in her bed, against her huge, pink teddy bear. Her light-brown colored hair was bound in two pigtails, accentuating her round, soft cheeks.

Mackenzie moved over to sit beside her, wrapping her arm around her small form. “Hey, baby girl. What’s wrong? You can tell mommy.”

Calista played around with the hem of her dress, saying in a tiny voice, “I couldn’t see my friends, mommy. I want to see my friends.”

“I’m so sorry, baby. You’ll see your friends soon, okay?” Mackenzie cooed. “Mommy is really busy right now, but you’ll see them soon, pinky promise.”

She held out her pinky finger, hoping to cheer Calista up, but she kept sulking. “Beth and I had games to play, and now that I didn’t show up, she’s going to think I chickened out and I’m scared.”

Mackenzie looked at her in surprise, wondering when her kids got so smart to the point of understanding what it means to chicken out. They were just tiny, four year olds.

“You can play games with me, instead, Cali. I won’t let you get bored!” Cameron tugged at Calista, but she scooted away, into Mackenzie’s lap. Mackenzie smiled softly at both of them.

Cameron was all smiles, obviously not caring about going to school. Unlike Calista.

Her smile slowly faded away when reality snuck back into her thoughts. She felt so bad for her friends. Being emotionally unstable, relying on them to help her with the kids..

She felt like she was supposed to be doing things for them at this point. She left North Dakota because she wanted to be independent, letting her father live for himself and not for her or her kids.

She just wanted to take care of herself, her kids and her friends. Give them the life they deserve. With how good her skill was, she was very capable of doing all of that. But that life seemed to be just out of the reach of her fingertips.

It frustrated her more than anything.

Picking up Calista in her arms, Mackenzie placed a kiss on her head and moved back into the living room. Charlotte and Felicity were hanging around one of the couches and she moves closer.

“Hey girls.”

They both look at her.

“I’m sorry for earlier. I know I’ve been all over the place lately, and all I ask is just some more time. I’ll get my things in order and the kids can go back to school and stop being an inconvenience-”

“Why would they be an inconvenience, Mackenzie?” Felicity asked softly, moving closer to adjust Calista’s head on Mackenzie’s shoulder. The little girl had fallen fast asleep. “You know your kids are like mine.”

“Same here.” Charlotte said from the couch. “You know what, Kenzie? I think you’re being too hard on yourself. And you are overthinking. Just take it easy okay? And stop saying that. The twins are not an inconvenience, and will never be.”

Mackenzie sighed.

Charlotte looked back at something in her hands and changed the topic, “You have to see this.”

“What?”

Mackenzie and Felicity moved closer, peering over the couch. Charlotte was looking at a magazine, as usual. But this magazine was different.

Because it had a striking face spread boldly on its front cover. A face that made Mackenzie’s heart stop, then jumpstart into a crazy beat.

Chase Axford.

A flashback of that hot, deep and punishing kiss he trapped her with back in that board room filled her mind, and she found her skin heating up from the forbidden memory.

His fierce, blue gaze stared up at her from the magazine cover, but it was nonchalant and detached. Just like how he usually looked in all his pictures all over social media. He was just a cool, mysterious and extremely wanted CEO of the Axford Conglomerate.

He gave nothing else away in his blank, uncaring expressions.

It was so different from the raw intensity in those painfully beautiful eyes, and the pure male need on his gorgeous face each time he looked at her.

Then, Mackenzie’s eyes noticed someone else’s face beside his. Selene.

Just like that, the warm feeling in her belly turned cold.

“This is juicy. Oh my god. It says Chase Axford is divorcing his wife.” Charlotte said. She skimmed down some lines and began to read, “There are unconfirmed rumors that the power couple are coming back together, to cancel the divorce…”

Charlotte kept on reading, but Mackenzie’s mind had drifted. She wondered of Chase had finally found out about his Selene’s infidelity. She never told him about it, because it was not her place to do so.

After all, they had both cheated as well. Although Mackenzie had gotten her punishment, it still felt unfair that Jeffrey, an unapologetic cheat was still living happily. Without punishment.

Felicity stared at Chase’s picture for a long moment, and suddenly noticed something that was glaringly obvious. She glanced at Mackenzie and asked warily,

“Kenzie. Cameron is not Jeffery’s child…is he?”