Incandescent

I had to not only get past Beau, but also make it out through the gates to get to Holly. I was screwed.

I ended up sneaking out through the back and creeping around to the side. Fate was on my side. As I made it to the gate, there was a commotion with some guys about to ride out.

Somehow, the guy at the gate wasn’t where he was supposed to be and I walked straight out and into Holly’s car before they noticed I was gone. I kept the text from Zane and what I was going to do from Holly. I didn’t need her following me and going all badass on him. I needed to get this over and done with before Nix found out I left.

My phone rings as if on cue and I look down and see Nix calling. Ignoring the call, I throw my cell in the back of the car. I can’t be tempted, and I need to get this over with.

My palms sweat and a wave of nausea grips me as I drive past our old house. No signs of the fire that destroyed my home, but I know different. The memories of the flames and the smell of the charred remains will always stay with me. Pulling up in front of the old park, I spot a figure sitting on the park bench.

Getting out of my car, I walk the short distance down the old path. Zane stands and walks forward, his dark hair now longer and pulled back into a short ponytail. He looks so different from the last time I saw him. His expensive cut suit fits his body like a second skin, and I can’t help notice how well he looks. The thought makes me angry; he took something away from me and left me broken. Not broken, Kadence, just scarred.

The last time I saw Zane, I had gone to bed defeated. His behavior in the weeks leading up to the fire was out of character. He was acting strangely, snapping at me one minute and then being over-attentive the next. He was fidgety and secretive. Holly suspected drugs but I put it down to stress; working for an impressive architect firm here in Rushford wasn’t what he wanted anymore.

He worked hard to move his way up, and that hard work paid off. Their sister company had just acquired a bid for a new development in California, his dream job, and we had to make a decision if we were going to pack up and move closer or try the long-distance thing. I’d just secured a full-time position at Rushford Elementary and wasn’t prepared to give up my dream of being a teacher in my hometown, but Zane wanted me by his side and it was something we fought constantly over.

That night Zane had received a call that he took outside; we were going out for the night with some of his work friends to celebrate his promotion. I put the night down to being a bust after that phone call. He came back inside with a mood and snapped at everything I did, what I was wearing, how I had my makeup, even the way I smelt. We had been together for three years, only recently engaged, and he stood there and tore me to shreds. I tried to ignore the words he spewed at me, but the ugliness of them was too much. Each insult broke me down with every blow he dealt. I was pathetic. He could do so much better. He wasted three years of his life.

I tried everything not to believe them. I was lost and thought the man I was going to marry was having a hard time dealing with the stress of work, the uncertainty of where we were going, and I wasn’t making it easier for him. It was only natural that he would take it out on me. I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be his partner and stand by his side through it all, so I brushed off his abuse hoping once we made our decision regarding his job, everything would go back to normal.

The whole night he continued being in a foul mood, his work buddies not once looking uncomfortable with his constant digs at me. By the end of the night, I was beaten down. I realized, in between listening to the venom he spat out at me and the looks he was giving other women, that Zane was no longer the man I agreed to marry. I didn’t know what was happening to him. I was concerned for him, for me and for us. I made it in the front door back home before unleashing my anger on him. We argued for over an hour, me accusing him of anything and everything. He was accusing me of being paranoid, not supporting him. I went to bed exhausted and drained, with no idea what I was going to do. When I woke up in the middle of the night to our house burning around me, I had no clue that it was because of Zane. I only later found out Zane wasn’t coming back.

Determined not to fall down the hole of why, I straighten my shoulders ready to meet him.

“Kadence,” he greets me, reaching for my hand. I pull back, not wanting his fingers touching mine.

“Cut the bullshit, Zane,” I snap back at him. “What the hell do you want?” He looks taken back for a moment. His blue eyes look shocked, not used to my attitude. He wouldn't. He missed the phase of me dealing with my anger after I almost died.

“I need your help—” he begins before I instantly cut him off.

“Do you think I’m dense? Do you honestly think I’d believe you’ve come back to town for my help?” I laugh, knowing I won’t fall for his shit.

“Is this how you greet your fiancé after three years, Kadence?” His question angers me, but not as much as his disregarded that it has been just that. Three years.

“After everything you have done to me? What you put me through? Yes, I would say that’s just about right,” I manage to fire back without clawing his eyes out. What is wrong with this man? What is wrong with me for even thinking I was in love with him?

“Kadence, cut the dramatics. Yes, I did a shitty thing, but you’re okay. You're fine. I’ve seen you the last few weeks. If anything, you’ve bounced back well.”

“I’ve bounced back? My life isn’t a fucking ball game, Zane. You destroyed it; took it all away from me. I can’t believe I even agreed to come here.” I begin to feel more stupid with each second that passes.

"You don't mean that, baby." He steps forward, giving me the look that used to get me.

“Baby? Jesus, you are fucking dumb. I’m done. Leave me alone. I’m not getting involved with whatever bullshit you have gotten yourself into.” I turn to go, ready to be out of his presence. I know he threatened me with Holly’s house, but standing in front of him, that terror that he once placed in me is now replaced with pity. The man is pathetic. I don’t know that he won’t follow through, but standing here, listening to him telling me I’m being dramatic proves it wouldn’t matter what I did. He is going to do what he wants.

“Kadence,” he calls out, as I walk away. “I need my money from the house,” he tries again, and this time I bite.

“You what?” I ask, wanting to double check what I just heard, hoping I heard different, ‘cause there is no way in hell he just asked me for money, considering the asshole cleaned me out.

“The money I put into the house. It’s mine, and I want it back.”

I laugh in his face. The guy has a screw loose that’s for sure.

“Zane, the house sold last year. It has been three years of no contact from you, and now you want money? Do you even care that you left me alone in that house to die? Do you understand the surgeries I went through and the pain? You missed it all.” The memories of feeling lost and alone slowly seep their way out. I’ve kept them so deeply locked away, having them surface again feels foreign to me. “You never returned any of my calls. Do you even care that I could have died, that I nearly did?” I shake my head, knowing it’s all lost on him. He doesn’t care, doesn’t give a shit.

“You stole from me. Cleaned me out. You no longer have the rights to anything that came from that house. You had a chance to come home. You didn’t. What did you expect? That I was going to wait for you? You left me to burn, all over an unpaid debt to a motorcycle gang,” I scream, finally losing it. Fuck him and his indifference. A rage boils within, my hands itching to lash out at him. Every moment I lived through because of him comes to the surface as I let everything out.