Chapter 15
Annika
While waiting for Kenzie to meet me outside, I was mindlessly humming along to the song on the radio in my car. It was a familiar song, and as my brain unintentionally recalled the lyrics, it triggered a moment of karmic introspection, which had become a rare occurrence these days. I had worked my ass off to meticulously curate the life of my dreams, piece by fucking piece. But, in the blink of an eye, it had all turned to dust, and what awaited me was a crossroads. Behind me, remnants of the fool’s paradise I had created were scattered about, and I saw myself traversing through the desolation as the light around me gradually faded. As I journeyed further in the opposite direction, something caught my eye, and I realized it was the shadow of Jeffrey Hollands, only he was mutating into something entirely different. Once my knight in shining armor, Jeffrey now looked like he was evil incarnate, and he was howling as though he was suffering. I scoffed inwardly, knowing full well that my shitty ex-husband felt zero shame about his wrongdoings. How I managed to remain stuck on a feeling I caught as a teenager—to the point where I willingly stayed beside someone hellbent on destroying my life—was beyond me.
I pressed onward, finally crossing over a definitive boundary, and the scenery was nothing like I had ever seen before. It was warm and full of light, except the light was so blinding that it was hard to make out everything. But, from what I could see, it was absolutely breathtaking. The landscape in front of me was idyllic and filled with cherry blossom trees in full bloom surrounding a vast, winding river. The trees were littered with cocoons, and two butterflies emerging from their chrysalises caught my attention. Flower petals fell in what felt like slow motion as the butterflies spread their wings and took flight, dancing gracefully around the fallen flowers before disappearing into the horizon. I couldn’t help but smile because the view from here had already grown on me and felt more like home.
Kenzie entered the passenger car door and slammed it shut, breaking me from my reverie, and asked me if I was good to go. I smiled and nodded at her since I honestly couldn’t wait to get going. When Kenzie and I arrived at the mall, we decided to go all out. For once in my life, I wanted to flaunt my wealth without reservations. Still, we decided to be rational about this and agreed to shop at the mall with a decent mixture of luxury and lower-end stores to avoid running into people we might know. The last thing we needed was for the wrong people to see the staggering difference between my reputation and true identity.
“Okay, so where should we do damage first?” Kenzie asked me.
“I figured we could just start on one side of the mall and work our way down to the other side?”
“Sure!” Kenzie beamed with excitement. For her, going shopping was a no-brainer and her way of life. I was on the opposite side of the spectrum and preferred to remain low-key. I never saw a reason to go all out, but now? I say fuck it because I was doing this for myself and no one else.
Victoria’s Secret was our first destination since Kenzie wanted to buy new lingerie for her upcoming anniversary with Hunter. The lovebirds were planning yet another getaway but decided to stay somewhat local by going to Hunter’s family’s residence in the Hamptons. I decided on some new underwear and sleepwear, since lingerie wasn’t my thing. Plus, I really didn’t have anyone to wear them for at that point.
As we casually made our way from store to store, Kenzie and I walked out with no less than a couple of items from each place. It felt incredibly invigorating because I honestly couldn’t recall the last time I really let loose and did something for myself. I’m a doctor, for crying out loud; I chose a life of service to those in need. Most of my life was spent hiding the fact that I was loaded, even though being a doctor had many perks. I was rather proud that our practice raked in significant income for the two of us, not to mention for our staff, but the money I referred to earlier was the one that I kept shrouded in secrecy—the account that no one, not even Kenzie, knows about. So, imagine her surprise when I suggested we go into one of the higher end stores we typically steer clear of.
“Seriously? You want to go into that boutique? You do realize it’s the most expensive store in this mall, right?” she repeated ad nauseam to ensure she correctly heard me.
“Yeah, because it’s like you said before. I can’t keep hiding the fact that I have money, right?” I answered and gave a nonchalant shrug.
“Okay, but only if you’re buying me something!” she agreed enthusiastically, her words devoid of shame. “It’s not every day my bestie, who happens to be filthy rich, is willing to walk into this store on her own,” she continued and locked arms with me, causing me to drop some of my bags.
“Geez, thanks!” I grumbled at her and bent down to pick them up before they became casualties of the hordes of people perusing the hallway.
“Allow me.” A familiar masculine voice called out as I saw a massive tattooed arm extending to retrieve my bags in one fell swoop. I hesitantly shifted my gaze upward and couldn’t believe who I saw in front of me.
“Mr. Von Doren?” I asked incredulously.
“Annika,” he replied, and handed the bags to me with a smug expression. I took them from him without a word and continued to stare at him in shock. What was he doing here?