Chapter 19: The Breakup

Jalen’s work on the wine cellar was nearing completion, but the basement had become something else entirely.

It was their sanctuary. There were cameras everywhere in the Westward mansion, but none had been installed in the cellar yet.

Megan’s double life had officially begun. By morning and evening, she was Chris’s silent, compliant wife, but by the afternoon, she was Jalen’s lover, and every time she stepped onto that concrete floor, she felt more like herself than she had in nearly a decade.

On a humid Tuesday afternoon, Chris was safely on the golf course. Megan descended the wooden basement stairs. The sharp click, click, click of her 12-centimeter high-heeled pumps echoed in the cavernous space followed by the smell of violet scented perfume.

She wore a pristine white silk blouse tucked into a tight black pencil skirt with her lips painted a flawless, bold red.

Underneath the skirt, she wore absolutely nothing.

Jalen heard her coming. He set down his nail gun and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. When he turned and saw her standing at the bottom of the stairs, the air in the room instantly thickened.

No words were exchanged. There was no need for them anymore.

Jalen crossed the room in three long strides. Megan didn’t back away; she met him halfway, her hands reaching out to grip the front of his sawdust-covered shirt. Jalen wrapped his arms around her waist and drove her backward.

The physical intensity of it was staggering, a desperate, feral collision. Jalen backed her hard against the unfinished framing of the cellar wall. Megan threw her head back, fully surrendering to the rough momentum, but a split second before her spine could slam against the exposed wooden studs, Jalen’s large, calloused hand shot behind her back.

He took the brunt of the impact against his own knuckles, his arm acting as a shield between her bare skin and the rough, splintering wood.

Even while consuming her, even in the middle of this primal, chaotic heat, his instinct was to protect her. He hoisted her up by the thighs, and Megan eagerly wrapped her legs around his waist, her sharp heels digging into his lower back to anchor him deep inside her.

Every time he groaned her name into her neck, every time his deep thrusts wrecked her body, Megan felt a surge of intoxicating power. She took immense joy in empowering him to be dominant with her. She loved the contrast between her polished, expensive exterior and the messy, unrestrained way she unraveled for him.

“You okay?” Jalen growled against her ear. His breath was hot and his pace was relentless.

“Don’t stop,” she gasped, her nails biting into his shoulders. “God, baby, don’t stop.”

When he finally hit his breaking point, Jalen’s grip tightened on her hips. He pulled out with a ragged groan. Then he lowered her to floor and dropped to his knees, hitting the concrete floor.

He gripped her ankles, holding her feet steady, and let his cum spill over her bare skin and the expensive leather of her designer high heeled pumps. It was a deliberate, thrilling defilement of the life Chris had bought for her.

Megan leaned against the framing. Her chest was heaving, and her red lipstick was smudged, as she looked down at the man kneeling at her feet. She wasn’t just losing herself in Jalen; she was reclaiming herself, and she was using that reclaimed power to build her future.

Ten minutes later, as Jalen handed her a damp towel and she straightened her skirt, the feral haze cleared, replaced by cold, meticulous calculation.

“There’s more money in the account,” Megan told him, her voice steady as she reapplied her lipstick using the reflection of his phone screen. “I pawned a diamond tennis bracelet, and some sapphire earrings Chris bought me for our anniversary. Seven thousand dollars, completely untraceable.”

“How much are you up to now?” Jalen asked as he put his tool belt back on.

“A little over nineteen thousand.”

Jalen smiled. “Nice. That’ll give a nice little cushion to work with.” He leaned against the workbench, watching her with a mix of awe and deep respect. “So, he hasn’t noticed that any of this stuff is gone?”

“He never looks at me long enough to notice what I’m wearing,” Megan replied bitterly. She dropped the lipstick back into her purse. “I’ve also backed up a second flash drive with his emails and the hotel receipts. I’m building the cage, Jalen. When I lock him in, he won’t be able to buy his way out.”

Chris had no idea what was going on. He had no idea his wife was fucking another man right under his nose, and he had no idea she was systematically dismantling his control from the inside out.

But time was running out. Jalen looked around the basement. The drywall was going up. The custom racks were almost finished. He only had one more week before his work on the wine cellar would be done.

The closer they got to the finish line, the more intense everything became. Every day, the sex was rougher, deeper, and more desperate. They knew this affair in the dark had an expiration date, and when Jalen’s truck pulled out of that driveway for the last time, Chris wouldn’t just let Megan walk away.

She had to get out before Chris ever suspected a thing.

That Friday, Jalen spent the evening with Sydney Swanson.

He knew he could be honest with Sydney without her getting upset by it.

Sydney took a moment to process the crazy story Jalen just told her about Megan Westward, their affair, and their plan to get her out of her marriage.

He sat on Sydney’s couch, running a hand down his face as he finished telling her the story.

Sydney, sitting cross-legged beside him, just stared at him. “Holy shit.”

Jalen let out a breath, shaking his head. “Yeah. It’s a lot.”

Sydney leaned back against the cushions, her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders as she exhaled.

“Okay, first of all ... I just gotta say ... you really are something else.”

Jalen raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

Sydney smiled. “Yeah. First me, then Kristen, now Megan? And not just any Megan, but a married woman who’s trying to escape a rich, powerful, and shady-ass husband?”

She shook her head. “Jalen, I have never met a guy like you. Like, ever.”

Jalen chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I don’t even know how I got here.”