Perfect disguise by Elizabeth A (speld decodable readers .txt) 📗

Diana.

The plane landed at the Las Vegas airport at twilight. I had taken a flight to Las Vegas to prepare for Annie's wedding. Her wedding was in two days and I needed to make sure the wedding gown was to her taste. I was also one of the bridesmaids so there were a lot of things I needed to prepare for.

I met my brother and his fiancé at the curb. Annie was holding a beautiful bouquet of Chrysanthemums.

"Diana!" She beamed as I walked towards them. "It's so good to see you!" Annie said and hugged me tightly. 

"Me too," I said and hugged her back. 

She pulled back. "How was the flight?"

"It was long and stressful."

Chad leaned close to his fiancé and whispered to her. "She is just saying that because she missed her boyfriend."

Annie pursed her lips, looking lost. "Who is her boyfriend?"

"Oh, don't worry," he said grimly. "He is a nobody."

I glared at my brother. He didn't like Dominic because he used to take an interest in his fiancé. 

"I won't tolerate you talking about him in such a manner." I poked his shoulder as a punishment.

We walked towards the Ferrari that was waiting for us. I entered the car and saw Annie's daughter, Zoe, watching an animation on the television. If I didn't know better, I would have said she had a likely resemblance to Dominic.

I smiled at her. "Hi, Zoe."

She turned and her face lit up when she saw me. "Aunt Diana!"

She stood up and ran to hug me. I had gotten very friendly with Annie's daughter because she was such an angel. I swept her off her feet and she sat on my lap throughout the drive.

The Ferrari parked at the garage of a magnificent hotel. It was one of the most luxurious hotels in Las Vegas and Chad had booked all its VIP rooms for the wedding guests that were arriving the next day. 

The lobby took my breath away and believe me—I wasn't easily smitten by luxurious places. It had sparkling chandeliers which made the lobby look like it was filled with glittering stardust and the floors were smoothly polished with glassy golden tiles. I felt like I was walking on the cloud due to the reflection of the glittery lights.

The hotelier led me to my room and I went to freshen up for the night. After showering, I picked up my phone and called Dominic. 

It rang for a long time without him picking up. I bit my lips and slumped on the bed. It was unusual for Dominic not to pick up. I tried his number again and pressed my thumb on the phone as I waited to hear his voice. I wanted to tell him about my flight and asked about the outcome of his promotional party. 

But he didn't pick up.

I sighed and lay on the bed. I wondered what he was doing at the moment. The party was to end in the evening and it was already twilight at LA so that meant he was no longer at the party. 

My phone beeped and I snatched it from the nightstand. My smile dropped when I saw it was a message from Emily. 

She asked about the flight and if I had met my brother. I replied with a happy sticker and answered her questions. Then, I went to sleep because I was very exhausted.

⚜⚜⚜

It was a beep from my phone that woke me up the next day. I groaned and squinted at my phone on the nightstand. It kept beeping so I was forced to get off the bed. I sat up and grabbed the phone.

I unlocked it and the first thing I noticed were pictures from an unknown account on Instagram. With a frown, I clicked on the images. The first picture showed Dominic and Chloe walking out of a restaurant or something akin to that.  I knew people were bound to stalk Dominic because he was dating me, but it was unusual that they were sending the images of him with Chloe. Without much concentration, I swiped the images.

When I saw the last pictures, my heart dropped.

In the pictures, Dominic was captured in a hotel room with Chloe! To worsen it, a zoomed shoot from the window of the hotel room showed Dominic lying naked with Chloe!

My hands shook and the whole world stopped for a minute. It was so hard to understand anything. This was Dominic—my Dominic—naked in bed with Chloe! 

If I hadn't seen these pictures, I would have vouch that Dominic could never cheat on me, but now I felt out of place. I didn't know what to believe anymore!

Our relationship started because he didn't want to have sex with Chloe so why did he sleep with her. Especially when we were already in a serious relationship.

I let out a shaky breath and the phone fell from my hand. It crashed on the ornate rug with a thud. I blinked back my tears as I connected the dots; Dominic didn't pick up my call last night because he was having sex with Chloe. 

My stomach knotted and bile shot to my throat. My whole body convulsed and a strange dizziness overwhelmed me. I gripped the nightstand and stood up. The floor rotated beneath my feet and every step I took felt like I was falling. 

I rushed to the bathroom. The steak I had eaten the previous night threatened to come out; I fell down by the water closet and forcefully emptied my stomach into the closet. 

An icy coldness washed over me and sweat broke from my pores. I wasn't used to this feeling and I started to wonder if it even has anything to do with the fact that Dominic cheated on me. 

A jab in my stomach jolted me out of my thoughts and I winced on the cold floor. The pain rippled like a terrifying lighting through my body and my vision blurred. I felt myself falling sideways to the floor and darkness consumed me regardless of how hard I tried to remain conscious.

⚜⚜⚜

Until next time ;)