New Beginnings (Sequel to Painful Love)

Chapter 6: Know The Truth

I tossed and I turned. 'Ugh fine, I'll wake up.' I thought to myself. I walked down the hall out of the bedroom towards the kitchen. 'I'll get a drink of water I'll be fine.'

I walked into the kitchen and there at the kitchen island sat Emily. I stopped in my tracks. "Emily? What the hell are you doing here? Ashley told you to leave us alone."

She laughed at me. "Do you believe everything he tells you? Like when he says you're pretty? Ashley always loved me. He never cared about you."

I was lost for words. This couldn't be happening.

"Hey babe," Ashley said as he walked into the room and kissed her. He kissed her? What was happening?

"Have you told her yet?" Emily asked Ashley.

"Oh yeah.." He walked over to me and said, "You need to give me back the ring, it's really meant for Emily."

I fought back tears. "W-What?"

"You heard me, hand it over."

I didn't give in. "No you can't have it, Ashley. Why are you doing this? You said you loved me. What about the girls, Ash?"

"I NEVER loved you. You can keep the twins. I'm not paying a dime for child support so don't even bother."

"A-Ashley," I stuttered through tears.

"Give me the ring," he asked with his hand out.

I shook my head. He slapped me across the face, and everything went blurry, then faded out.

"Zoe, snap out of it!" Ashley yelled.

I shook my head, regaining consciousness. "What?" I looked up, only to find Ashley's face staring at me. I pushed him off of me, fighting back tears. "I thought you said you were done with her!"

"Zoe, what are you talking about?" he asked in confusion.

"Don't pretend like you don't know! You were lying, weren't you? All along, you did all these things, just to say that it wasn't real? Fine, go ahead and play with that bitch, Emily. But you're NEVER getting the ring back."

"Zoe, back up," Ashley started. "I never did any of those things. Why would I ever do that to you? I love you."

"What?" Now I was confused. "But you said you never..." I let tears fall from my eyes.

"You must've had a pretty bad nightmare," Ashley said. "You were mumbling my name in your sleep, tossing and turning around... I eventually had to slap you out of it. Sorry if it hurt."

I rubbed my cheek. So that's what that was. I grabbed Ashley by the shoulders into a hug, pouring my tears over his shoulder. "Ashley, I'm so sorry... It was just so horrible, you kept saying you never loved me, and you asked me for my ring so you could give it to Emily, and I was so confused and hurt, I just didn't..." I gave up talking and sobbed loudly into his shoulder.

"Shh, shh, Zoe, calm down," Ashley said softly. He pulled me away so he could look me in the eyes. "Listen to me. I've always loved you. Always have, always will. Don't you ever forget that."

I sniffed. "But what about the twins? You.. You still love them, right?"

He gave me a smile. "Of course. Like I said, they're my little princesses, and I'll help you take care of them every step of the way."

I smiled, letting a small tear fall. I held his face in my hand, then said, "Just promise me one thing, Ashley."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Promise me you'll always be there for us."

He kissed my forehead. "Forever and always."