Page 6 of Bittersweet Redemption

“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you.”

“I am not jealous.” The lie falls out of my mouth. It seems I’m getting good at lying. I was jealous. Not because Kai was with another woman but because I miss having someone to be intimate with. I miss being in a relationship. I miss having a partner to share my life with. I miss feeling sexy instead of like a hot mess mom.

“Good. Because I wouldn’t take you to my bed if you were the last woman on earth,” he growls in disgust as his eyes roam over my body. His gaze makes me want to fold inward, but I force myself to stay strong and keep my shoulders back.

“And I wouldn’t let you,” I throw back at him. I take another breath, trying to calm myself down. “Look, I’ll do my best to stay out of your way, ok? I’m not asking you to like me or be neighborly or anything like that, but I need this house. I can’t move. I’m sorry.”

I stand waiting for a response, but he just looks at me. Those golden eyes bore into my soul. “You’re fucking unbelievable.” He leaves me with that as he turns on his heels and storms back into his house.

Am I unbelievable, or is he being unreasonable? I know this is my fault. I put myself in a situation where I was easily manipulated, which resulted in me ruining someone else’s life. But I can’t uproot my life again. I won’t be able to find a house this nice in a decent area on my budget, and I don’t want Ro to have to change schools when he just started.

Once he’s back in his house, my shoulders slump and I exhale a breath. I give one final look at his door before I head back to my house. Roman is waiting for me in the kitchen when I walk in.

“Mommy, do you know Mr. Kai?” he asks me. Sometimes he’s so smart, it scares me. He remembers everything and catches on so quickly.

“We’ve met before. A long time ago.” At least that’s not a lie. We did sorta meet when I was on the stand in his aggravated robbery trial and told everyone I saw him break into the jewelry store with a gun. “He doesn’t really like Mommy, so it’s probably better if we don’t go into his yard again, ok?”

His little forehead crinkles together. “Why doesn’t he like you?”

Kids and their questions. “Some people just don’t get along.” It’s a lame answer, but it’s the best I can think of right now.

I remember that day in court like it was yesterday. I was terrified about testifying, but Nick told me I had to do it. I knew it was wrong. I knew I could go to jail if anyone ever found out I lied. But I needed to protect Nick. He was the only family I had at the time, and I trusted him with my life. So I put my shaking hand on the Bible, swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and proceeded to tell one lie after another until I felt numb.

When I saw Kai sitting at the defense table with his attorney, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else than in that courtroom, his angry eyes seared into me. I’ll never forget the way he glared at me. It made my heart sink so low. I felt like absolute shit and almost threw up right there in front of everyone.

But then I looked into the courtroom and saw Nick smiling at me. He was proud of me. And if someone who loved me was proud of me, then I must be doing something right. Or so I thought.

I felt Kai’s eyes follow me as I stood from the witness stand and was escorted out of the room. I kept my back straight the entire time, giving the false appearance of strength even though I really wanted to collapse into a ball.

I’ve regretted my testimony every day since. But I did what I had to do. And I forgave myself eventually. Unfortunately now, with Kai next door as a living, breathing reminder of my biggest mistake, it’ll be hard to accept my own forgiveness.

I bring myself back to the present and see Roman looking out the window at our backyard. “Don’t worry about it, Ro. We’ll stay in our yard and give Mr. Kai his privacy, ok?”

He nods. “Ok.”

I rub my palms together. “Who wants pizza for dinner?”

His face lights up. “Me!”

“Alright, let’s get it in the oven.” Roman runs for the freezer to grab the frozen pizza he picked out at the store yesterday. I risk one more glance towards Kai’s house and see that he’s returned to his yard. He’s wearing a scowl as he stares into the wooded area behind our houses.

I feel bad that I’ve put us in this uncomfortable position, but I need this house, and I can’t move. So we’ll have to figure out a way to be neighbors, even if it means pretending the other doesn’t exist.

I can do that. I think.

Chapter 4

Kai

How did I get so unlucky to have Willa living next door to me? Has the universe not fucked me over enough at this point? She looks different than she did all those years ago. Less of a doe-eyed innocent girl.

Thankfully, after my run-in with the pathological liar next door, she has been making herself scarce. The only time I see her is when I’m leaving for work, and when she’s getting her kid off the school bus, which now stops at the end of her driveway.

Every day Roman gets off the bus, he sees me and yells, “Hi, Mr. Kai.” Which feels weird as fuck since I’m fairly certain no one has ever called me Mr. Kai before.

But I always wave back and yell, “Hey, kid.” He’ll smile or nod before walking into the house with his mother, who now refuses to make eye contact with me, which is perfectly fine with me.

The night I formally met her, I stormed over to my brother’s house and unloaded everything that had happened to him and his fiancé, Riley. I was hoping that they, as attorneys, would tell me she couldn’t legally live next to me, but they said no such thing. Riley looked at me with empathy in her eyes while Kellan kept his face completely indifferent, but they both confirmed that there was nothing they could do. Since I was exonerated and the case against me dropped—even though I served eleven years in prison—it’s basically like it didn’t exist. Neither Willa nor I were victims in the case, so there aren’t any laws about victims that could help me here. Even though I would argue that I am, in fact, a victim. I’m a victim of the system for being convicted of a crime I didn’t commit with absolutely no evidence.