Page 61 of Certified Pressure 3 (Certified Pressure #3)

Trill-Land, Jungle Estate

Iwas still in my wedding dress, sitting at the edge of the bed with tears rolling down my face and Pressure’s loaded gun in my hand.

My mascara had dried up in streaks down my cheeks, and my head was pounding from all the crying.

I had cried until it felt like I was going to vomit, but even after all that, the pain wouldn’t go away.

It just sat there, burning through me like fire.

I could still see it. That look on Pressure’s face when he said it out loud in front of everybody.

He looked me dead in my eyes, held my hands, and told me he was in love with Pluto.

He didn’t stutter, or even blink. The worst part wasn’t even the words, but the truth behind them. He meant every single one.

I thought about the gasps from the crowd, the whispers, and then that damn look on Abeni’s face.

That proud smirk she had when he said Pluto’s name.

I swear, if I close my eyes, I can still see the shit.

That bitch looked at me like she had won, like her precious son had finally done what she wanted him to do all along.

I wanted to wipe that fuckin’ look clean off her face.

I gripped the gun tighter, feeling the cold metal against my palm. This was the same gun he kept in the nightstand. It was heavy, but it gave me a strange kind of comfort. I had never felt so powerless and powerful at the same time.

Everything inside me was twisting. I was mad, hurt, and humiliated.

I wanted to scream until my voice gave out, but all that came out was this dry, broken sound that didn’t even sound human.

I was a fool. That’s what I kept thinking.

A fool who thought love meant something.

A fool who thought Pressure Mensah was gonna love me the way I loved him.

He made me feel like I was special. Once upon a time, he told me I was different, and I believed him. I believed every damn word.

I looked around the room…his room… our room. Everything in it screamed him. His cologne still hung in the air. His clothes, his shoes, his watch sitting on the dresser, all of it reminding me that I had been living in his world, not mine. I was just a guest he got tired of entertaining.

My phone was dead, but I didn’t need it. I didn’t need to see the videos that were probably already online or the pictures people were probably posting of me crying in that church. The embarrassment alone was enough to kill me.

I thought about my mama and all the cruel things she used to say. How she told me no man would ever truly love me, that I was too much and not enough all at once. I hated her for saying it, but now it was ringing in my head like she was right. Maybe she was right, and that hurt worse than anything.

All I could think about was how close I was to having everything from the house, the husband and the life. I was one “I do” away from being Mrs. Mensah, and it all fell apart because that bitch’s water broke.

Just thinking of her name made my stomach twist. I hated her. I hated that she got what I wanted. I hated that she was carrying what I couldn’t give him. I hated that she didn’t even have to try. She didn’t have to dress up or pretend or fight to keep him. She just existed, and he loved her for it.

I clearly couldn’t get pregnant. I tried. God knows I tried. Every time I thought it was finally happening, it ended in disappointment, and Pressure never said it, but I knew that’s when things started changing. That’s when he started pulling away.

I let out a low laugh that didn’t sound like me. It was cold and hollow. “You played me, Pressure,” I whispered, staring at the gun in my hand. “You really played me.”

Hours passed and I didn’t move. I just sat there thinking about how everything I had was gone. The man, the wedding, the life… All gone in one day. I didn’t have nothing left to lose.

I wiped my face and stood up slow. My legs felt weak, but I didn’t care. I walked over to the dresser, grabbed a set of his keys, and looked at myself in the mirror. My wedding dress was wrinkled and dirty, and my lipstick was smeared. I looked crazy, but that was fine because I felt crazy.

I gripped the gun, ran my fingers across the metal, and took a deep breath.

If I couldn’t have him, nobody would.

I walked out of the bedroom, my heels clicking against the marble floor. The bottom of my dress dragged behind me, leaving a long trail through the hallway. Everything in this mansion reminded me of him, and it all just made me sicker.

When I got to the elevator, I pressed the button hard and watched the numbers light up one by one. My reflection stared back at me in the metal doors.

When the doors opened, I stepped inside and pressed for the first floor. My heart was pounding, but my mind was clear.

By the time I walked out to the driveway, I already knew where I was going. I hit the unlock button on one of Pressure’s car and climbed in. The seat still smelled like his cologne, and that alone almost made me lose it again.

I started the car, gripped the wheel, and looked out at the gates opening in front of me.

I had heard one of his cousins mention the hospital’s name while everybody was running around earlier.

That’s where I was going. I plugged my phone into the charger, waited for it to cut on and punched the hospital into my GPS.

If Pressure wanted to build a family with her, if he wanted to play house and forget about everything we had, they were all gonna remember me before this night was over.

If I couldn’t have Pressure Mensah, then Pluto and that baby wasn’t gonna have him either.

They was all about to feel the same pain I just felt, and I meant every word of it.