Best Friend, Escape, Her Begging Chapter 1

The third year Benjamin and I were married to the Beaumont sisters, their old flame came back.

At a family dinner, Benjamin’s wife, Stella, slapped him across the face for defending the guy.

When I found him, half his face was swollen and his eyes were bloodshot.

“Noah, I can’t take this anymore. She hit me—for him!” he choked out. “I want a divorce. What about you?”

I thought of how Clarissa had grown colder and colder since Tristan Davenport returned, of all the nights she hadn't come home. A bitter smile touched my lips.

“If you’re leaving, I’m leaving. We’ll go together.”

We planned our escape for weeks, and finally, we boarded a flight abroad, having told no one. But as I settled into my seat, I looked up and met the icy gaze of my wife, Clarissa Beaumont.

We were dragged off the plane and locked in a dark room in the Beaumont estate to “reflect.” As I wracked my brain trying to figure out where our plan went wrong, Benjamin’s voice, small and weak, cut through the silence.

“Sorry, Noah… I did it for your own good.”

* * *

I stared at my best friend, Benjamin Shaw, my mind blank.

“What do you mean?”

Benjamin was already afraid of the dark, and my flat, emotionless question was the final straw. He swallowed hard and finally confessed.

“Just… don’t get mad, okay?” he whispered. “Clarissa runs the entire Beaumont corporation. She’s sharp as a damn razor. She knew we were up to something for ages! The day we left for the airport, I opened my door, suitcase in hand, and she was just… standing there. Waiting for me.”

“You know how terrified I am of your wife, especially when she gets that look on her face. The second she started questioning me, I couldn’t even think of a lie. I just told her everything.”

I never would have guessed. Our escape was foiled by a traitor in our midst.

A firestorm of anger roared inside me, but one look at the genuine fear and apology written all over Benjamin’s face, and it fizzled out. I couldn’t stay mad at him.

It was just… exhausting.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and forced my voice to soften. “Then why didn’t you tell me on the way to the airport? If we knew she was onto us, we could have canceled the plan, thrown her off the scent, and tried again later. Now she has us right where she wants us.”

At the mention of that, Benjamin’s own anger flared.

“It’s all Clarissa’s fault!” he seethed. “I thought, even if she stopped us, she’d only take you back. I never thought she’d care about me leaving! I’m not her husband!”

…What a wonderfully simple way of thinking.

That was the thing about my best friend. He had a heart of gold, but sometimes his logic was so simple it bordered on idiotic.

The Beaumont sisters had lost their mother young. Clarissa, as the eldest, had practically raised Stella. Of course she wouldn’t let him just walk away, not after he made such a scene at dinner a few days ago. If he disappeared right after that, what would people say?

I sighed and closed my eyes, hiding my fatigue. I had put so much work into planning this escape.

Benjamin watched my face, not daring to speak. Then, he threw an arm around my shoulders.

“Noah, don’t be mad, please? I was thinking of you, I swear. Before I told her, I thought about it. Clarissa’s always been good to you, hasn’t she? Gives you anything you want. If you really left with me, we’d have to struggle for a long, long time. I couldn’t stand to see you suffer. I figured… if you stayed with her, at least you’d be safe.”

He paused, his expression turning bitter.

“Besides… Stella definitely doesn’t want me anymore. I’m sure Clarissa told her our plan the second she knew. And look—Stella didn't even try to stop me. She didn’t care that I was leaving. It doesn’t matter if you run or not, but for me… it’s real. She doesn’t love me anymore.”

Seeing his pain, the last of my anger evaporated. I pulled him into a hug, about to offer some comfort when the door to the room was kicked open.

Stella stood in the doorway, her face a thundercloud.

“Benjamin Shaw, you’ve really grown a backbone, haven’t you?” she sneered. “A man who gets lost five blocks from his own house dares to run away from home? Who gave you the nerve? So I slapped you. We’ve fought plenty of times growing up. Is it really that big of a deal?”