ristan continued to glare at Nina. When he scooted over in bed, he had accidentally sat on Nina's phone. He grabbed it and, to his surprise, there was a message that had popped up on her home screen from Nick stating how much he missed her.

"What?" she asked.

"I didn't stutter, Nina."

Tristan stood up and walked over to her, and shoved the phone in front of her face.

Nina's eyes widened when she saw the message. Even though her phone was locked she had it to where the messages would still pop up.

Tristan watched as her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

"It's not what you think," she said, trying to grab the phone away.

Tristan held it up over her head. "What do you mean? It's not what I think? Why is your ex-husband messaging you, telling you how much he misses you?"

"I... I don't know."

"Stop lying to me!"

Nina jumped when Tristan shouted, but he didn't care at this point. He was tired of her being secretive and he wanted an explanation now.

Nina swiped at a tear that landed against her cheek. "I can't tell you."

"What do you mean you can't tell me? What is going on? Are you thinking of going back to him?"

Nina shook her head. "Of course not."

Tristan sighed out of relief. The thought of her going back to her ex didn't sit well with him.

"If you can't tell me, then unlock your phone and show me the messages between you and him," Tristan said, handing the phone back to her.

Nina glanced from the phone to him and shook her head. "I can't."

"I don't like being lied to Nina. I can't deal with that shit."

"Why can't you just trust me?" she asked, glancing down at the floor.

Tristan laughed but there wasn't a hint of humor to it.

"Trust you? I did trust you until you started acting weird and being secretive with me. Lying to me."

Tristan watched Nina wipe away more tears that fell against her cheeks. He hated to see her cry and all he wanted to do was wrap her up in his arms but he wanted the truth.

"Please, you don't understand."

"Help me to understand then. Tell me what's going on."

"I want to. Trust me I do," she said, reaching out to him.

Tristan stepped back and it didn't go unnoticed the look of hurt on her face.

"Is he the reason you've been acting weird? Does he have something over you?" Tristan asked.

Tristan was still waiting for her to answer when his own phone rang. He grabbed It off his bed and saw that it was Max calling.

"Max now is not a good time," he answered about to hang up.

"We found out some additional information on Nick from doing a background check."

"Max, we can talk about this later."

"Well let me tell you this important part. Nick is Nina's ex-husband."

Tristan stumbled back as if he had just taken a punch to the stomach. He was having trouble getting air into his lungs.

"W-What did you say?" he asked, looking at Nina.

"Man, I'm sorry but Nick is Nina's ex-husband. We think she was the one who sent him the money. She's the only one who would've also had access to your computer at the time the money was recorded it was sent."

"Max, I'll call you back," Tristan said, ending the call.

"Tell me it's not true."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, taking a step back.

Tristan moved so that he was standing directly in front of her.

"What's Nick's last name?"

He clenched his teeth together waiting for her reply.

"Why are you asking me this?"

"What's his last name?" Tristan shouted.

He watched Nina jump once again but she didn't move away from him.

"White," she whispered.

"That's your last name too, right?"

She nodded.

"Did you...did you send him the money?"

Nina's eyes widened, tears still pooling in her eyes.

"What?"

Tristan let out a puff of air. He was trying to keep his anger in check but her acting innocent was wearing his patience thin.

"Did you send him twenty million dollars?"

"Tristan please..."

Tristan let out a laugh that held no humor in it. Nothing was funny about the situation but he had to let out another emotion to keep from exploding on her.

"You disgust me," he said, stepping away from her.

He noticed the hurt flash in her eyes but he didn't care at this point. Why was she hurt? She was the one who stole money from him. She had betrayed him and lied to him.

"Tristan please let me explain," she said, reaching out to him but he stepped away.

"Explain what? Was this your plan all along? To make me fall in love with you so that you could steal money to send to your ex. I thought you hated him."

Nina's lips trembled. "You love me?"

Tristan's frown deepened. "You're fired. I want you gone."

"Tristan I'm sorry," she said, letting the tears run down her face.

"You're sorry? Do you know what I have been through these past days dealing with this shit? My company could have failed because we needed that money for other business ventures."

"Tristan you don't understand I had-"

"You have an hour to pack up your shit and get the fuck out."

"Why won't you hear me out?"

"I don't want to hear you lie to me any more than you already have."

Tristan walked out of the room and tried his hardest to block out the sobs coming from Nina. He walked into another guestroom and slammed the door shut.

How stupid could he have been to believe that she actually wanted to be with him? This must have been a scheme between her and Nick. Why didn't he see the signs?

Tristan picked up a lamp and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and glass shattered from the light bulb.

He laid across the made queen-sized bed and told himself he was done with Nina for good, even though his stomach dropped at the thought of never seeing or holding her in his arms again.

***

Whew, this chapter was a doozy, right? How do you feel about everything that went down? Let me know what you think. If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to comment, vote, and share :).