This Time Around

Chapter 8 - Aiden

I knew Tiffany was going to lose her shit. I tried to talk Lay out of just dropping her all of a sudden. That's going to throw up red flags to all of her investors, vendors and merchants. Lay has been going to therapy and in her opinion, she just can't get past Tiffany's betrayal.

She said that she would make sure nothing affects my daughter in any way, but knowing Tiffany and her petty side, my daughter is already going to suffer. I know she won't allow her to see her goddaughter now. I'm not going to stand for that shit though. Things are going to be tense.

"Aiden, how long have you known this was her plan?"

"She told us after the party. She had been considering it for a while but when she never did anything, I thought she was working through it and had reconsidered."

I don't have a reason to lie.

"Did you even try to talk her out of it? Or is this your way of punishing me too?"

"Tiff, I'm gon' let you have this moment because I know you are scared and upset. However, don't throw this shit back on me. You know damn well I tried to talk to her."

She's damn near hysterical now.

"Tiffany, I can help you. I don't have as many connections as Layla, but I can keep your reputation intact and make sure you don't lose revenue."

Damn. This is exactly what Lay said. She said that Rella would be able to sub her out and Tiff wouldn't miss a beat. All Tiff had to do was get off her high horse and accept the help.

"Why isn't she coming for you? You basically stole her life. Why is she giving you a pardon?"

"Peach, Rella has nothing to do with what you did. Focus on the matter at hand. She just offered to help you avoid losing what you have worked so hard for these past few years. You have to let go of the past and move on."

I love this woman with every breath in my body. She's just fucking stubborn.

"I fucked up, I know that. I wasn't the only one though. Ken did all of that bullshit to her and they are friends and shit. Rella was fucking him behind her back and none of you were supportive of her when it came to these family dinners. Why am I the only one being punished? She's not even going after Ange and Bianca!"

"Nicci, who the fuck is Bianca? We asked you to tell us everything and this is the first time I'm hearing about Bianca."

Nick looks mad as hell. I don't blame him because I'm feeling some type of way too. She takes a deep breath and spills her guts.

"Bianca is Javi's cousin. We were really close when we hung out in Havana. She was the one who told me it was the cartel's club. She hated Layla the moment she saw her picture, but Carlos was infatuated with her. Bianca was in love with him so I understood how she felt.

I was always jealous of her because even though Ken always cheated on her, bitches didn't even attempt to run up on her. He still married her knowing he was never going to be faithful, but I had to deal with bitch after bitch and Aiden never even mentioned getting married. It made me think that I wasn't good enough."

She looked at me as tears started to roll down her cheeks again.

"I loved you so damn much and it fucking killed me that you couldn't be faithful or at least cuff me so that the hoes would at least respect our situation. When we went out with her, we would always have guys coming up to us telling us how beautiful she was, making us feel just basic standing next to her. We were young and thrived off of attention from men, so it made us envious and that shit started destroying my self-esteem."