Two

Amanda's POV

My chest felt like it was closing up. I drew in short, sharp breaths, struggling to breathe as reality dawned on me. 

The last five years of my life had been nothing but a cruel joke. 

"W-Why??!!" I let out a broken cry. "Why, Logan? Tell me why you would do something like this to me! How could you be cruel?!"

He tried to clutch both my hands. "Amanda, you need to take a fucking chill pill!"

Anger made my chest swell. "Don't tell me what to do!" I shoved him hard in the chest, pushing him into the wall repeatedly. "Is it true? What your so-called best friend said? Is it true, Logan?"

The tears pooling in my eyes did not relent in spilling down my cheeks, and this time I did not even bother to wipe them away. I let them fall freely, the weight of the betrayal falling heavily on my shoulders. 

"You've been playing with my feelings this whole time? Look me in the eyes and tell me that the last five years meant nothing to you, that you are only using my intelligence! Tell me you're ashamed of me! Tell me you've kept me a secret from all your friends and family because you can't be caught dead with someone like me! Do I disgust you that much?!"

Logan did not utter a word, instead, he shook his head as if he was annoyed, making no move to correct me. My heart shattered all over again as I let out another scream.

"You…asshole! I.. hate..you!" 

Each word was punctuated by a hit to his chest. With all the strength I could muster, I continued to beat hard against his chest, hoping to hurt him. Hoping that it would make up for all the emotional pain he had caused me. 

"Argh!!" I was raising my hand to hit him again when I felt a force drag me backward by my hair, pulling me away from Logan and to the floor. 

Candace stood over me, her hands sliding her blonde hair back in place. 

"Alright, that's enough, bitch! You're hurting him. Do that one more time and I'll make you regret it!" She spat at me, turning around to rub her hand over Logan's chest soothingly. 

I jumped to my feet, so blinded by rage that I did not care what came next. 

"What the hell did you call me?!"

"I called you a dirty, lowlife bitch! Stay the hell away from Logan. He's mine, he has always been. If you weren't so stupid, you would have realized that there is no future for both of you realizing your status differences. So, go home"

Candace smirked as she spoke, eyeing me with disdain. Watching her gloat turned on something wild and dangerous in me. Without thinking, I immediately jumped at him, rushing back to Logan and hitting his chest. 

"Let him go!" Candace yelled, grabbing my hands away. 

But I was ready this time. I pulled her hand away from me, the hitting continued until I angrily shoved her away roughly, making her fall to the floor. 

At that, Logan let out a low growl, getting in my face and pushing my hand away from his shirt. "You're going to hurt yourself if you keep being so damn dramatic!"

He pushed me away from him and rushed over to where Candace was crouched on the floor. As soon as Logan moved to her, she began to sob. 

"Ow, my leg!" She groaned, clutching her ankle. "She pushed me so hard. I think I twisted my ankle. She did it on purpose!"

I stared at her in shock. We both knew that she hadn't fallen that hard. She was only overreacting to get Logan's attention. 

Logan's head snapped back to me. "Look what you've done! You hurt her!" He yelled at me. 

He pulled Candace closer to him. "Sorry babe. Where does it hurt?"

As Candace continued her exaggerated cry, Logan massaged her legs and cooed, kissing her lightly on the cheeks and comforting her. 

Hot tears pricked the back of my eyes as I watched the display in front of me. After all the years I had spent with Logan, he was treating me like I meant absolutely nothing to him. He had hurt me in more ways than I could've ever imagined, and yet he ran over to his mistress instead.

My shoulders wracked violently as I sobbed into my hands. How could I have been so blind? So foolish and oblivious to the fact that I was being played?

"Wipe those crocodile tears off your face," I heard Logan hiss. 

I looked up to see that he was towering above me, a look of disdain etched on his features. 

"You have some nerve to stand here and judge me, pretending to play the victim when you're not so innocent either!"

"W-What?" I muttered through my tears, wiping my face. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, enough with the lies!" Logan snarled. 

I watched as he dug a hand into his jacket and took out his phone. I was still so dazed when he shoved his phone in my face, showing me a picture. 

"Isn't that you? Huh, you sneaky little cheat?!"

My heart stopped. I grabbed the phone from him with shaky hands and stared at the photo of me lying in a hotel bed, a man beside me. My eyes widened as I realized it was the man I'd saved the previous night. 

I turned back to Logan, shaking my head. "No, then it isn't what it looks like. I-I…"

"Save your flimsy excuses for someone who cares. Do you dare judge me when you've also been cheating? Who knows? Who knows the man you have been fucking," he spat. "Maybe he's someone from the office, someone who accompanied you on the company trip."

"No! I swear, it's not what it looks like. I don't even know who that man is. Everything happened so quickly that–"

Candace cut me off with a snort. "You're such a bloody hypocrite."

I shook my head again, desperately clinging to Logan. Listen to me, please! I don't know who that man is. Just let me explain everything to you, please. Is that why you decided to move on with her?" I gestured at Candace through my tears. "P-Please don't throw five years away because of nothing."

Logan tried to push me away but I clung onto him tighter, falling to the floor as I cried. 

"This is all a lie! I swear, someone is trying to frame me–"

He shoved me away roughly and walked back to Candace, pulling her by the waist and gently placing her on his lap as he sat down. 

"Candace is my girl.." he paused to claim her lips in a kiss which made me feel sick. "She has always been. As for you, I'd advise you to take your cheating self out of my office. Now!" He barked. 

Helpless and shrouded with shame, I stumbled out of the office. As I blindly ran down the stairs, trying to ignore the stares from coworkers, it felt like my heart was being ripped to shreds. 

"Amanda?"

I whipped around at the sight of my best friend, Vanessa. 

"I was told you ran out of Logan's office crying. What happened? Are you okay?"

She came forward to hug me but I shrank back. Knowing that she had always hated Logan, the last thing I wanted to hear was her 'I told you so'. 

"I'm fine.." I managed to blurt out before speeding away in the other direction. 

Once I finally got home after managing to keep my tears at bay, I received a shock in the form of six hefty men destroying items in our house while my mother screamed and begged at the top of her lungs. 

My chest deflated. I knew exactly who they were; the loan sharks my father had loaned millions from. 

My anger at everything that was going wrong today prompted me to rush at them. 

"What do you want?! The deadline isn't even here yet! Why are you destroying our home?!"

I pulled my mother away from them and faced the men, my shoulders squared and my chest heaving with rage. 

One of the men hissed. "You have till tomorrow to pay off every single penny. Or else-"

Without thinking, I shouted, "Yes, you'll get your money tomorrow! Just leave!"

I was lying through my teeth, but I didn't care. Between my mother and I, we could not even raise 5% of the money. But I just wanted them out. 

As soon as they left, my mother turned to me. "Amanda, what have you done? You know we don't have the money to–"

"I don't care, mom!" I cut her off

 The frustration was slowly eating into me. 

"Don't act like you give a shit anyway. If you both had not left this huge debt for me to settle, we wouldn't even be in this mess in the first place!"

"Amanda…"

But I ignored her even though I knew she was innocent and I stormed off to my room. I shut the door behind me, my palms getting clammy as I realized what I just did. 

We were going to be thrown out into the street and there was no helping it. 

Where the hell was I going to get five million dollars by tomorrow?!