Chapter 111: Stalker
Vivian’s POV
There was no denying it now, when other people had been getting their self-preservation gene,
Vivian must have somehow been skipped.
That was the only way she could explain why she was constantly putting herself in situations that caused her harm.
First it had been that years long situation with Bryce. The man had walked all over her. Sleeping with anything that moved at the drop of a hat, and Vivian had always welcomed him back with open arms.
Now here she was having arrived at work early, and instead of going through her planned activities for the day. Vivian was on social media, stalking Ryan Terrell.
Sure, she had been the one to end things with him. Her heart unable to take being tormented with something that she wanted so badly. But instead of making it a clean break, Vivian was still picking at the raw wound. Scrolling through pictures of what appeared to be a completely unaffected Ryan Terrell, Vivian felt her eyes begin to sting.
When she had ended things with him, she had known that Ryan did not truly care for her. But still, seeing him so happy while he was out and about hurt. There could have at least been one picture of him that showed him looking a bit depressed. But there were not even any photos that hinted at something monumental having happened in Ryan’s life.
The man looked good, better than good even, he looked great. He was smiling like someone who had never known heart break a day in his life.
It was very unfair.
As Vivian continued going through the pictures. She finally came across one that made her heart feel as though it were breaking all over again. There was Ryan, sandwiched between two insanely gorgeous women, their ebony skin glowing, and he looked like he was having the time of his life.
[Are these the new ladies in Ryan Terrell’s life?] the caption read, and Vivian wanted to cry.
Clearly whatever Ryan had going with Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth, the other woman was perfectly fine with him having side pieces because at the end of it all she was going to be his wife.
Realizing that Ryan must have been so ashamed to be sleeping with her, that the media did not even have a single photo of them together. Vivian shut off her phone and put it away. Shame making her heart sting. She took a few minutes just sitting there, her face buried in her hands as she tried to get herself together.
So what if Ryan was still out there living his best life? She had ended things and had saved herself from what would have no doubt been a lifetime of even more pain than she’d experienced while with Bryce.
What Ryan did was none of her business, she was fine without him... What Ryan did was none of her business, she was fine without him... What Ryan did was none of her business, she was fine without him...
Vivian was still repeating those words to herself when the first of her students arrived. Their parents dropping them off, and she kept saying them to herself in the quiet of her mind as the day progressed.
***
One picture.
That was all that it had taken for Vivian to spend the majority of her day feeling as though she was seconds away from bursting into tears. After such an awful time any sane human being would have been doing everything in their power to stay away from what was hurting them, and trying to focus on positive things instead. But Vivian, once again proving that there was something wrong with her sense of self-preservation, was currently curled up in her bed. Yet again scrolling through pictures of Ryan Terrell and the gorgeous twins.
The first few pictures that she’d seen had not been too clear. But now as she searched again, she found pictures that were not only of a better quality. But that had also been taken at better angles than the one that she had initially seen. In each and every one of the photos, Ryan was all over the twins and the twins were all over him.
It was depressing. But Vivian could not seem to stop her finger from going through photo after photo until finally she came across a picture that just ended all of her curiosity. It seemed to have been the last picture taken of Ryan on his night out. He was at the back of a limo with the gorgeous twins embracing him. There was no doubt in Vivian’s mind how the rest of the night had gone. The heated gazes that the twins were giving Ryan said it all.
***
’Seeing Ryan with those two beautiful women did not bother me at all. I am glad there is no longer anything between the two of us,’ Those were the words that a strong, secure woman would be saying to herself. But Vivian would be lying through her teeth if she said them.
It bothered her a great deal.
How was it that she was still picking up the pieces of her broken heart while Ryan was going clubbing and taking home beautiful women?
Couldn’t he at least have waited until a few months had passed to start gallivanting? Was this his passive-aggressive way of showing her that there were women he did not mind being photographed with? Was this perhaps a personalized attack on her from him and Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth?
The pair subtly letting her know that she was just one in a long line of many women.
Whatever it was, Vivian did not care for it.
Even now that she knew that Ryan had simply been playing games with her. Vivian could not shake the hurt that had overcome her at the sight of him with the twins.
How in the world was she ever supposed to truly move on? It had hurt when she realized that Ryan was about to ask Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth to be his wife. Now it still hurt when she saw him enjoying the company of two beautiful women.
When and how was she ever going to stop hurting?
