"Are you sure that you're okay?" Carson asked once more as we approached my car. " You seemed a bit off during dinner."

Ever so observant Carson.

" I'm fine," I clear my throat as I reach for his cheeks. " I just realized that I have an assignment due soon and I really need to finish it."

I hated lying to him— I hated it.

But I need to in order to fix whatever mess Edwards is trying to create before it begins. I couldn't let his chance at getting into the NBA possibly be ruined because of me. I wouldn't be able to live with the fact that it's my fault.

" Okay," Carson mumbled as he grabbed my hand." Call me before you go to sleep, okay."

I nodded my head as he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. " Kiss me back, angel," he whispered as he gripped my neck, his brows furrowed against my forehead as I pressed my lips against his.

Our lips meshed together, moving in perfect sync as I held onto the wrist that held my neck still. My feet shuffled against the concrete as I stumbled into his body, his lips brushed against mine softly one last time before we pulled away.

" Are you sure that you're okay?" He questioned as we pulled away. " You would tell me if something is upsetting you right?" He asked, his thumb rubbing the length of my neck as I nodded my head.

" I'm fine, baby," I try my best to sound reassuring." I promise that if anything was wrong that you would be the first to know." I smiled as I clutched his shoulders.

Carson's eyes searched mine for any signs of hesitation or uncertainty before sighing, " Okay," he nodded as we finally pulled away from each other. I stood on my toes once more, pressing a kiss to his cheek before he turned away.

" I'll call you before I go to sleep," I smile as he begins to walk away.

" I'll be waiting for it." Of course he would.

" Oh!" I call after him." Don't forget that we will have dinner with my grandparents next weekend!" I remind him.

" I know, Ayanna!" He shouts back.

I watched him get into his truck before getting into my own. Jora and Rhegan were now in the backseat as well when I slid into the driver's seat and turned around.

" Okay Audrey," I sigh as I turn to her." What do you have in mind?"

Audrey pulls out her phone as she holds up a finger. We all exchange curious glances as she places her phone on speaker and holds it in the middle of the space surrounding us all.

" Audrey!" the voice of one Ashanti Smith was heard on the other end. " Is everything okay? Your text sounded pretty urgent."

" I'm fine. I'm doing really good actually," she responds with a gentle smile." But I actually texted you because we sort of have..." she pauses as she tries to find the right wording.

" We sort of have an issue that requires technical help," she bites on her lower lip as we hear movement coming from Ash's background. " Do you think that we can borrow your fiancé for this?"

" Of course you can," Ash said," We'll be there as soon as possible."

Audrey smiled at Ashanti's response as the girls and I let out a breath of relief. Audrey said goodbye to Ash, telling her that she couldn't wait to see her before hanging up.

" Okay," Lizzie chews on her thumbnail." What do we do next?" She looks at me as I try to form an idea in my mind.

I pull out my phone and go to the file I have saved with all of the evidence against Edwards on it." I need to put this on a hard drive for safe keeping. I have a feeling that the only way Edwards will delete that video is if I delete my evidence and I don't want to lose this advantage over him."

Jora squints her eyes as she thinks hard." What if he has another copy of the video? What if he exposes it to the media anyways?"

Edwards would be wise enough to delete every copy of that video that he owns. My dirt in his drug use and abusive tendencies were enough to put him in jail and ruin any chance of him making it to the NBA.

I didn't want to use this evidence against him this early, but I wasn't going to let him ambush Carson's career over petty beef. Everything that happened to him was his own doing, not Carson's.

But instead of taking accountability for his actions and why we aren't together anymore, he wants to be the bitter ex and ruin all chances of happiness in my life.

And I refused for my relationship with Carson to be put in jeopardy because of him.

" If he was smart he would delete every video that he has saved if he doesn't want what I have on him to get out," I say as I look out at the evidence that could shut Edwards up for good." That video of Carson will look like nothing compared to what will happen to him if his dirt gets out."

The girls nodded in agreement as I sat the phone on the console. " And if he pulls something else?" Rhegan spoke as she eyed the phone. " You release all of it, every single last bit of evidence you have against him."

Judging by Rhegan's tone, she was telling me, not asking me to release it all. " You've given him one too many chances to get his shit together and move on," she states as the others hum in agreement.

" He's publicly slut-shamed and embarrassed you in public for fucks sake." Jora grips my hand in support as she piggybacks off of Rhegan." This is long over do babe, and if he so much as pulls anything by the end of that meeting, you tell us and we'll make sure that everyone knows about it."

They were right— I had let his actions slide a little too long over the past few months and it was time for him to suffer the consequences.

I just needed to make sure that he would cooperate when it comes down to deleting the video off of his phone for good.

" I know, " I squeezed her hand assuringly, " And I'll make sure that this is the last time he feels he has any power over me in a situation ever again."

" No more nice girl, Ayanna," Sade said, " It's time you be the bitch that he's been begging to come out."

If it's the bitch he wants— It's the bitch he'll get.

I pick the phone up from the console before turning around and buckling up. I started the car up before fixing my mirrors and smiling. " Well girls," I say as I look at them through the reflection.

" Looks like we have a career to end."

Although it would all be up to Edwards whether or not I release this information. He could single handedly ruin his future without even knowing it.

______________

Today was Friday.

The day that I had to meet up with Edwards and attempt to get him to fix his actions before the consequences came and bite him in the ass.

This would be his last chance of putting all of this behind us and moving on with our lives. He was lucky to even be getting another after all the shit he'd put me through over the past few months.

" They're here!" Skylar shouts as she opens the door.

I shot up from my bed, slipped into my house shoes and ran out of my room at the sounds of multiple voices coming into the house." Hey!" I heard the girls squeal as I entered the living room.

Ashanti, the twins, Sage, and Natalia stood in the living room along with Alessandro, Giovanni, Gianni, and Viktor and Vadim.

As I walked closer to the group, I realized that they had also brought their babies with them. " Oh my, they're so precious!" I say as I take in Sage's son and Natalia's daughter.

" Do you want to hold one?" Natalia asked as she took one of her car seats. I nodded my head as she stood and carefully handed me the baby. "This is Katya," she says as she runs a hand over the smiling baby's head.

" And this is Anastasiya," she says as she hands the baby to Skylar.

" Oh no," Skylar held her head as she backed away from the baby as if she was a monster from the pits of hell." I don't do... babies," she said.

Natalia giggled as she placed Anastasiya in Skylar's arms anyways. " You'll do this one," she insisted as the baby smiled at Skylar. " See, she already likes you."

I laughed as Skylar stared at the child for a little while, "Fine Natalia," Skylar sighed as she sat down with the baby in her arms. " I'll only put up with you and Sage's demon spawn... how about that?"

Rhegan flicked the back of Skylar's head,"Skylar McKay!" She gasped in outrage at Sky calling the baby a demon spawn.

The twins and Natalia started to laugh, gaining all of our attention as they sat down next to their family.

" It's perfectly fine," Natalia assured Rhegan."Those are common words spoken about the children in this family. Plus you guys are our friends, if it was anyone else then there would be a problem."

Skylar stuck her tongue out at Rhegan before turning her attention back to the baby.

I looked up to see Audrey holding Sage's son in her hip as Alessandro set up his laptop. " So what exactly do you need my services for?" Alessandro questioned as he started typing away in his laptop.

I scooted towards the edge of the couch a little, careful to be aware of the baby in my arms as I placed my phone onto the table. " I need all of this information in this file on a hard drive. And I also need to find a way to make sure that someone deletes a video off of their phone and has no copies of it."

" I can give you a device that you can hook up to the person's phone. It'll allow me to hack into his phone once all of his information is transferred onto the device." My eyes widened at the information he was giving me.

Why exactly did he have the technology to hack into somebody's phone, I did not know, and I did not care. He was doing me a favor so I would be keeping my questions to myself.

" You just need to make sure that the dots on this device are fully green before detaching it from the phone," he taps the black cube attached to a USB cord. " So that means you'll have to get your hands on this person's phone for at least five minutes in order for it to work it's magic and get me in."

Rhegan takes the device from Alessandro's hand seeing as the baby in my arms was falling into a peaceful sleep.

" And how will you delete the video?" She asked as she held the device in her palms.

"My code will already be encrypted into his phone, allowing me to hack and delete whatever video you need deleted or erased from his phone."

" Perfect," I breathe as he takes out a black hard drive and plugs it into his laptop. " Now we just wait until everything on this file is transferred to this hard drive," he says as I let out a breath of relief.

I sat back on the couch feeling a tad bit hopeful on how everything was turning out.

Carson could tell that something was off with me since dinner with our friends and family, I just knew he could. But Carson being Carson, he never pushed me on the topic and waited for me to share when I was ready.

Hopefully if all went well, I would be able to finally tell him what had me so out of whack this past week.

Sure he would be a little upset that I didn't tell him in the first place, but I knew that he would probably try to fix the situation himself, and I didn't want him involved with Edwards anymore than he already was.

This was my problem and I needed to fix it.

He had kept his cool for so long and I'd hate for the one time he snapped regarding Edwards constant harassment to be used against him.

I just prayed that he would find out from me and not someone else.

" Who exactly am I hacking if you don't mind me asking?" Alessandro raised a brow as he kept his focus on the laptop. " A bitter ex." The girls and I spoke in unison as he nodded his head.

" That sounds about right," he chuckled as Ashanti sat on his lap. Her eyes focused on the screen as she watched him work closely.

Her brows furrowed as she frowned, " Is this you?" She asked as I stood up and approached the screen to see what she was looking at.

One the screen were a few faint bruises on my arm from Edwards getting rough with me a few times. " Uh," I cleared my throat as I nodded my head.

"Yeah, that's me."

She exchanged a weird look with Alex and Alessa who studied me carefully. Watching me with eyes as if they knew what I had been through— watching me as if they had experienced the same.

Ashanti then skipped her gaze over to Audrey whose face had paled a little. Once she saw that I was watching, she cleared her throat and forced a smile onto her face as she handed Marco to Sage.

" I'm going to use the bathroom," she quickly excused herself as I watched her disappear around the corner.

Hmm...

" Umm," I snapped my attention back to Ashanti who was staring at the laptop once again. " He was on steroids and he changed, and during that change he became abusive."

I tried to leave Edwards during that time, but he would always gaslight me into staying with him, telling me that he needed me because he wouldn't be able to live if I had left him during that rough patch in his life.

I couldn't live with the guilt of knowing that he was dead because I abandoned him during his time of need.

At least he said that he needed me but in reality all he needed was a syringe to help him get through it. And when I threatened to leave him, he turned to girls who weren't me to help him.

And that was the last straw for me— that was what I needed to finally leave him for good.

" Does Carson know?" Sage asked as she sat her son on the ground to crawl around.

I tilt my head as Marco stands to his feet and waddles towards his father. " He knows up to a certain extent," I say as she nods her head.

" Did he tell you that he was sorry, that he needed you to live to keep you from leaving?" She asked softly. Her eyes shadowed over as if she went to a dark place in the back of her mind.

" Yeah, something along the lines of that," I said as she nodded her head.

" They also say that, do good for a couple of weeks, and resort right back to hitting you," she says as Gio picks Marco up off of the ground.

" Is that what happened in your past relationship?" I asked cautiously.

Sage chuckled humorlessly as she shook her head," Oh he never extended me that courtesy. It took me ending up in the hospital with an almost broken windpipe and a concussion to leave."

The girls and I gasped as she grabbed Gio's hand." I had to leave not only him but my whole life behind in order to escape," she turned to Gio who smiled softly at his wife."But in the end he got what he deserved, and your ex will too."

I could have never expected her to have gone through something like that looking at her now. She was so happy and in love, she had a baby with the man she would spend the rest of her life with.

That's what I wanted with Carson.

" It just depends on how you want to..." Alex paused as she exchanged a look with her twin." It depends on how you want to go about it."

I chuckled as I ran a hand through my hair," I want to ruin his chance of a career before he can try to take away my boyfriends. I've been sitting on that information regarding him for a while now, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to use it against him." I shrugged.

" We hope that it turns out the way you want," Alessa says, a small smile curling on her lips as Alessandro detached my phone from the cord connecting it to his laptop.

" If you need anything else," he hands me the hard drive and my phone. " Just let us know and we will do anything we can to help."

" Thanks," I say as I pass Katya to Rhegan who smiles at the little baby. I checked the time seeing that it was a quarter to eight before standing up," Looks like I have to get going now. I should be back in no more than an hour."

I ran up to my room and quickly changed into a pair of sweats and a matching hoodie. I pulled a black snap back over my curls before slipping into a pair of sneakers and grabbing my keys, wallet, and phone. Before leaving the room I checked to make sure that I had the device in my pocket and closed the door behind me.

" I'll see you guys in a minute!" I call before exiting the penthouse.

I felt an unsettling feeling the closer I got to the elevator. I didn't feel comfortable going into this by myself but I had to in order to ensure that Carson's career would be safe.

" Get him to delete the video," I sigh as I enter the elevator." That's all you have to do."

_____________

I walked into the restaurant ten minutes early. The quicker we spoke, the quicker I could leave, give the device to Alessandro, and go see Carson.

I had waited all of twenty minutes before he walked into the restaurant, immediately spotting me and walking over.

" You can't even be on time for something you set up," I hugged as he sat in front of me. But I guess that worked to my advantage... I paid our waiter two hundred bucks to spill whatever he ordered him in order to by me some time to get his phone.

" Hello to you too Ayanna," he smiled as he sat down."You look beautiful as always."

I rolled my eyes as I sat back in my seat." Spare me the compliments and let's get this over with," I get straight to the point as the waiter comes over and takes his order.

Edwards takes a moment to observe me before leaning over and clutching my hand that sat on the table." Ayanna don't you understand that Inwoildne be doing this if you would just come back to me. That's all I want, for you to give me another chance to prove that I've changed."

I chuckled as I snatched my hand away from his, feeling an unsettling feeling crawl under my skin as his gaze darkens.

" You've done nothing but slut- shame me and humiliate me in public every chance you get," I seethe as I lean over the table, lowering my voice so the people around us can enjoy their meal.

" If you want a second chance," I close my eyes as I gather my thoughts." Scratch that because you've had numerous chances which all ended up with you fucking cheating on me or fucking abusing me an—"

" I wasn't in the right head space and you fucking know it Ayanna," he gritted out as he slammed his hands on top of the table.

I laughed bitterly as I shook my head," But you were in the right state of mind when you humiliated me at that party. You were in the right state of mind when you provoked my boyfriend into a fight, and showed up at his game with his fucking ex. You're a real piece of shit Edwards and I am so tired."

" So fucking tired of you trying to ruin my life because you fucked up," I say poking his hands that he slammed on the tantrum." You are the reason why we are no longer together, and every moment that I spent trying to fix and help you, I found myself losing myself."

I shook my head as I pushed myself to get everything out in the open and be done with him for good.

" I can't be with you because it's not good for me, you're not good for me. And if you truly loved me, you'd let me be happy and stop trying to ruin my relationship with the person that makes me happy."