spanng="EN"Roger’s POV

    spanng="EN"The front door mmed shut, and my sister’s shrill voice cut through the house, screaming out, “Roger!”

    spanng="EN"came out slowly, because as far as I’m concerned, nothing she had to say was actually important to me. I’ve been hiding out in my father’s study while at home since Sasha agreed to the divorce. My mother came downstairs, looking at Regina like she had grown a second head.

    spanng="EN"“Regina, why are you screaming like a fishwife? All those etiquette sses I sent you to, and still you behave like this. You have manners, use them. There is nothing that could happen to constitute an emergency,” my mother told her.

    spanng="EN"“It is an emergency. Look at this,” Regina cried out, turning her phone towards us to show us what was on her screen.

    spanng="EN"I grabbed the phone and brought it closer to my face to see it better. Elizabeth was in a jewelry advertisement. She was dressed provocatively, but not quite as scandalous as Sasha usually dressed. I was shocked, Elizabeth looked great. It had only been a week since she quit thepany. She looked good. No, better than good, she looked beautiful. No, she looked desirable, and I quickly sent the photo to my phone.

    spanng="EN"“Where did you see this?” I asked.

    spanng="EN"The ads are on billboards all over downtown. I saw them on the way home. I can’t believe she works for Fashion Forward. How could she get a job there after she was fired from yourpany, Roger? That’s not the only thing, either. They had amercial ying on repeat in their store in the mall. The usual model was also in it, but this time they both had a sexy male model with them. Usually, it’s just the same model that does all of theirmercials. But that wasn’t the truly shocking part. I saw Elizabeth kissing the male model assigned to her. It looked pretty sexy, Roger,” Regina told me.

    spanng="EN"“See, Roger? This is the reason why I told you that Elizabeth wasn’t good enough to marry you. What does your father even know? It’s better for you to find this out now. Elizabeth seems to have turn into a wild woman. She would have embarrassed you after you married her. She was just using you, son. Frankly, I’m d she’s gone. A mother always knows what’s best for her children,” my mother advised sagely.

    spanng="EN"“Embarrass me? Like by iming a baby from another man was my child? Making false ims against another Elizabeth, knowing they were lies. How about sleeping with another man while we were on our honeymoon? You mean that kind of wild woman?” I asked as I looked down at my mother with scorn.

    spanng="EN"My mother flushed at my rapid–fire questions. She had been the one to tell me to marry Sasha, as we thought that Sasha was carrying my baby. Mom came up with this whole n, and never once thought to make sure that Sasha was telling us the truth. She was in such a hurry to hurt Elizabeth that she hadn’t thought any of this through. She was on a mission, and I knew she couldn’t wait for the wedding this weekend to pull the rug out from under Elizabeth’s feet. At the time, I was in love with the idea of being with my first love. I never actually questioned the red gs that were starting to pop up everywhere.

    spanng="EN"Mom was acting thrilled at the thought that she was right about Elizabeth. She still doesn’t care that she and Sasha ruined everything for me. Now Elizabeth’s working for Fashion Forward. That’s a really strongpany. It’s pretty hard to get hired on there, let alone be in theirmercial. How had that even happened? I mean, I know that she is talented, that is a given. How did she get hired on, let alone be allowed to be in theirmercial?

    spanng="EN"Fashion Forward was on another level. You either have to know someone or be at the top of your game to get hired on there. So how did she manage to start working there so quickly? Even with a rush ad, it would still take at least a week. I had to sit down. I felt sick. I can’t believe Elizabeth is working for one of ourrgestpetitors so quickly.

    spanng="EN"The odds of hering back to mypany are dwindling quickly. I need to give her a meaningful gesture, one that tells her I care for her and that I need her. One that says that I want her, and not just as a co–owner.

    spanng="EN"But one that says I’ve always trusted and respected her. I need to say something now, because if my family goes after her again, it’s going to end badly.

    spanng="EN"“Mom, please don’t start anything else with Elizabeth. I was the one in the wrong. I married someone else while I was engaged to Elizabeth. I should never have listened to you and Sasha in the first ce. Elizabeth is loyal and honest. Do not try to embarrass her again. Don’t think she’s forgotten what you’ve already done. Elizabeth doesn’t forget, so she’s probably too busy to deal with you at the moment. If any of you want to go after Elizabeth again, don’t. I’m telling you that you’re going to be sorry if you do,” I advised.

    spanng="EN"Sasha was living here with us, for the moment. She will leave when the divorce is finalized. She had nowhere else to go because I refused to pay for the hotel room she wanted. I’m not paying a thousand dors a night.

    spanng="EN"I can’t trust her not to damage her room to spite me. I want this whole ordeal to be over with. Despite the fact that Elizabeth returned my ring, she hadn’t canceled the venue. I believe I still have time to win her back. I’m sleeping on the couch for the time being. Now that I know Sasha is willing to leave after the divorce, I’m sticking with her until everything is signed andplete.

    spanng="EN"“What are you excited about, Regina?” Sasha asked as she came down the stairs.

    spanng="EN"“Elizabeth is working for Fashion Forward. She was in thetest ad for them. Look at how she’s dressed, and she had a male model working with her,” Regina excitedly repeated as she ran over, holding her phone out towards Sasha.

    spanng="EN"“Roger, have you called our attorney? She is wearing the new line in these pictures. Both she and the other model have one of the sets on. The piece where you can change the stone. I warned her, those drafts were ours. She has no right to hand them over to Fashion Forward. We need to move with this quickly. We need to get those designs back, so we can start production to save thepany. I warned her, and she didn’t listen. She’s challenging us, and we have to respond,” Sasha told me as she brought the phone back to me.

    spanng="EN"I had been so caught up in looking at Elizabeth that I hadn’t looked at what the ad was promoting. Sasha was right, these were the drafts that Elizabeth had been working on. No, actually, this design was better. It was more elegant and a clear improvement on her original design. It was much more fluid, and it caught your eye. The ones we had were the original rough drafts that one of the members of the design team had made copies for Elizabeth. She liked to keep a hard copy, for backup in case something happened on her tablet.

    spanng="EN"The team member had put them in their desk drawer, went to lunch, and forgot about them until after Elizabeth left thepany. When they asked Sasha about them, Sasha brought the designs to me. We had wanted to use them to keep our heads above water. I was hoping that Sasha could clean them up so we could use them. That’s when I found out that Sasha had used someone else’s design to win her award. She wasn’t a good designer at all, and couldn’t do the necessary changes to make the design better..

    spanng="EN"That fact could have been found out sooner. My mother assured me that she had Sasha investigated. That little nugget of information should havee out if she had actually investigated her. I suspect my mother just wanted to rece Elizabeth so badly, she was willing to take anyone in her ce. My mother, usually a stickler for information, had dropped the ball on this. I was so caught up in a sex haze with Sasha that I was very happy to marry her. I felt like I had it all at the time. A sexy new wife, a baby on the way, and a top new designer. Never realizing that my house of cards was built on quicksand.

    spanng="EN"“Sasha’s right. You can’t let her get away with this, Roger. That’s tant theft, those designs don’t belong to her. They belong to you and yourpany. You have the original sketches. You have to pursue this. You can’t let her get away with this, son,” my mother stated with venom. Here we go again.

    spanng="EN"“Mom, I told you to stay out of this. Sasha is just getting you fired up to go after Elizabeth again. If we do this, the wedding between Elizabeth and me will definitely be canceled. You know we can’t go up against Fashion Forward. They will tear us apart if we even try. We don’t have the capability to beat them; it would be a waste of time and resources,” I replied.

    spanng="EN"“So you’re just going to roll over and let her get away with it?” Regina shrieked out.

    spanng="EN"“I’m not letting her get away with anything. They were her designs. Not thepany’s. My hands are tied. You two listened to Sasha clowning, and she’s somehow convinced you two that she’s right. Leave it alone. Sasha is no longer an employee of mypany. I’m still trying to get Elizabeth to marry me. I have to get her back. I will give her the Design Director’s position after we’re married. I don’t want to see any more issues between you three, concerning Elizabething up again. Let me be clear about this, as I can tell that you’re not going to listen to me. Leave her alone. If you do anything else to her, I’ll being after you three for the copse of mypany. Don’t forget, I have proof of what you’ve done,” I warned them.

    spanng="EN"I knew just by looking at them that they weren’t listening to me. I could almost see the wheels turning in their minds on how to twist this around to make Elizabeth look guilty of giarism.

    spanng="EN"“Do you have themercial recorded?” I asked Regina.

    spanng="EN"She nodded and pulled it up for me to look at. I was stunned as it was an engagement ad. One that definitely caught your attention, as the palpable tension between them almost sizzled. You could feel the passion, the love, between them. That wasn’t acting, and my fear came back tenfold. I had bet everything on Sasha, and now what did I have to show for it?

    spanng="EN"A copsingpany, a wife pregnant by another man, and almost a million dors lost due to Sasha’s ridiculous spending habits. I’m about to be out even more with the divorce, but I have to get this albatross off of me. I sent the video to my phone and grabbed my car keys. I needed to find her before it’s toote. I felt like a drowning man, and Elizabeth is the only way I’ll be able to breathe again.