Chasing My Innocent Ex-wife Back novel Chapter 3

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FLORENCE’S POV

For eight years, I had laid flowers on Jade’s gravestone on the anniversary of her death. But clear as day, I saw her on my screen, flirting with my husband and snuggling up to him while he laughed.

I watched him as he looked at her with a smile he hadn’t given me throughout our marriage, and my heart sank. The illusion—my game of house—was shattered.

My world spun around me as I tried to make sense of the situation. Was this woman really Jade?

If that really was Jade, my “best friend” had some explaining to do. Where had she been all this time? How did she survive?

And Mason. If Jade was truly alive, he would definitely toss me aside, just like he always did when we were kids, just like today.

A fresh batch of tears stung my eyes when an uglier thought crept in: what about my father? If Mason left me, I wouldn’t be able to ensure my father’s safety in prison.

I glanced around at my belongings, realizing how difficult it would be to scrape together the money for Marco.

I texted Mason again. Please answer. I prayed.

Then I got his text.

“Working.”

Normally, I would have waited quietly for him to finish, like I always did. But this time, my problem was urgent. And the person with my husband wasn’t any random woman, she might be my perfect friend, Jade.

The one Mason had loved for so many years.

I stared at those two people on the screen and let out a bitter laugh.

Working.

Liar.

Jade’s death, Mason’s sadness, and my years of hope and love, all dissolved into a cruel joke. They dazzled in spotlights while I kept waiting in the shadows like a pathetic clown.

Like they always did in our childhood. Only this time, they were even crueler.

Anger took over me—for Mason, for Jade, but mostly for me. How could I have been so stupid?

Before marrying Mason, I was thriving as a public relations agent at Langston & Royce. But the pace of the industry was so fast that just a few months out of it would make you outdated.

And I had been out for five years.

If my life as a housewife was coming to an end, I knew what I needed.

I still had a few friends in that world… friends I hoped I could still rely on.

I searched her name, my fingers hesitating before pressing the call button. Five years. That’s how long it had been since we last spoke. Since I walked away from my career and straight into a marriage she warned me against.

The phone rang once before she picked up.

A pause.

Then, a wary voice. “Florence?”

I swallowed. “Annalise. Hi.”

Another pause. Then, a sigh—exasperated, tired. “Wow. Five years of radio silence, and suddenly I get a call?”

I deserved that.

“Look, I know I don’t have the right to ask, but… I need your help.”

A beat of silence.

Finally, she sighed again, softer this time. “You’re a piece of work, Flo.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “I know.”

She muttered something under her breath before saying, “What do you need?”

Relief crashed over me. Annalise was still Annalise—blunt, stubborn, but ultimately, my friend.

“A job. And I’ll take anything, I swear, even entry-level is fine, but…”

“Flo. Stop. I might be annoyed, but I still love you. You’re too smart for some entry-level crap, so I’m going to get you the best of the best.”

I could have cried. It had been so long since anybody had shown me such kindness. I thanked her and hung up, grateful for a friend like Annalise.

She was the only friend who begged me not to marry Mason. The others were seduced by the lifestyle, but Annalise knew something I was too blind to see. She was also the only person to stand by me after Jade’s death. Mason was heartbroken, and all my other friends stayed away from me so the police wouldn’t question them.