Chapter 2 What Do I Do?

(Bella) My heart bleeds as I watch Dean storm off. He's asking for a divorce, just like that? How did we get here? How did my life turn into a living nightmare in one day? Those pictures, I mutter reaching out to them and picking them up one after the other. Four different men that I've never seen. It looks so real but I don't remember coming in contact with any of this men, not in my past and definitely not now. Something is fishy but I can't seem to place my hand on what it is. Whoever is behind this, just wants to break me and Dean apart. But I won't let them. "No," the word slips out of my mouth. "I won't give up on us just like that, I'm going to fight for my man, my marriage, what I have with Dean is worth fighting for,." I say, my voice firm as I dust myself up. How do I go about it? Dean is so angry, I doubt if he'd ever listen to what I have to say. I need someone that can talk to Dean. But who? His mother? I scoff at myself. Judy is the last person I should think of. She has always hated me. She never wanted him to marry me. I wasn't good enough. An exotic dancer, a stripper who's family does not have a penny to their name. I sure didn't fit in to the kind of daughter-in-law Judy dreamed of. But Dean didn't care about what she thinks. The love he had for me was too real, too deep, too passionate, he married me against his mother's wish. And this two years up until now has been the best years of my life. I let out a small sob despite my attempt to be strong. I need to talk to someone, I can't handle this on my own. Ashley comes to my mind, I need a friend more than anything right now. We've been best friends for three years. She's someone I trust, someone that'd believe that I'm innocent of this accusation. Quickly I reach out to my phone, sobbing quietly as I dialed Ashley's number. My hand shakes as I hold my cell phone, waiting for her to pick. It rings once, twice but she doesn't pick. She finally picks up on the third ring. "Ashley," I call out, tears rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably. "Bella? What's wrong?" She asks, her tone skeptical. I take time to pull myself together and muttered. "Ashley, Dean wants a divorce," I blurted out. "What?" She replies. "But why though?" I sniffled back my tears. "It's not something I can discuss over the phone." I retort, my voice barely above a whisper. "Oh, are you home? I can stop by," Ashley says casually, there's just something off about her response but I don't take it to heart, she's probably as shocked as I am. "Yes, I'm home," I mutter and she hangs up. I pull the phone away. I stand up and start picking up my clothes, arranging them back into the closet. I'm not giving up on my love for Dean. I'd wait till he gets back home, maybe he'd listen then. The doorbell rings after a while, I'm curled up to myself on the bed, crying my eyes out. I drag myself out and head downstairs. I open the door, and Ashley's standing there, unfazed. Without hesitation I pull her into a hug, crying into her shoulder. She takes time before she caresses my back. I pull away and Ashley has a weird look on her face. "What happened?" I take my time to explain everything to her, she holds up the pictures, an unreadable look on her face. And then she turns to me. "Bella. You sure you don't know any of these guys?" she asks, her face plain. I pause, raising an eyebrow. I don't understand why Ashley will ask me this? Of all people, I thought she'd trust me the most. But I guess I was wrong. "Of, course I don't, Ashley. Why will you even ask me that?" I say, keeping my voice low, but the disappointment in my tone can be felt from miles away. Ashley crosses her legs, unbothered. "Don't get me wrong, Bella. It's just that the pictures are too real," she says. Okay, yeah she does have a point. I nod. "Yes," I reply. "Someone's definitely behind this," I tell her, furrowing my eyebrows. She adjusts on the couch. "So, what are you going to do about this?" "I don't know, Ashley. That's why I called, Dean is so angry. My Dean can't even look at me, he wants me gone before he gets back," "Uhmm, that was quick." She mutters. "Look, Bella. If he doesn't trust you while not leave him?" I roll my eyes at her. Honestly, Ashley's acting strange, this wasn't what I expected from her at all. "Leave my marriage, just like that?' I shake my head. "I won't. I'm going to fight for our love," She cuts me off. "It's pointless, Bella. That'd agitate him the more, he can't possibly believe you with this proofs," I don't say anything, I just burst out into another round of tears, my eyes are puffy from consistent crying. Ashley glances at her watch, she stands and moves over to me, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry about this, really. But as much as I'd love to stay, I can't. I have work, I'll stop by to check in on you later, okay?" I look at her with eyes filled with tears and nod. "Just call me if anything happens?" Ashley turns to her heels and walks away. Usually, she doesn't mind staying longer in my house, but rushing off like that without showing any sympathy feels off. But my heart's too heavy to think about that right now. I sit there, crying and dialing Dean's number. It keeps rin ging but he doesn't pick. After several attempts it enters voicemail. God. What do l do? How do I prove my innocence?