A wager for Ava: The Billionaire Heiress

"Mrs Thompson, everything's been arranged to your instruction ma'am" the voice on the receiver said and she sighed in contentment.

Ava had just returned from a two weeks business trip from out of state. She was quite excited to see her family again. Her husband Brandon and her twin boys, Jesse and Javier.

Ava Smith had it all, a stable job, a perfect marriage and a stable home. It was everything a woman would ever want and Ava was truly thankful.

"Mmh thank you Rosa. I appreciate the effort" Ava answered with a smile. With a bonus earned from the deal she closed, Ava was planning on taking her three boys to dinner. She was after all, planning on taking a break to spend more time with her family. Ava soon hang up on the phone and smiled to herself.

Tucking her phone back in her bag, Ava made her way across the busy airport. Her sudden arrival was meant to be a surprise for Brandon and her twin boys. Of course they had been talking on the phone every night but Ava still missed being around her sweet family.

"28th Westbook street apartment number 12 please" Ava said as soon as she got a cab. As much as she wanted it to be Brandon to pick her up, the look of pure surprise on his face when he sees her excited her even more. She smiled at the cab driver, who was friendly enough to make small talk on the way.

Ava didn't mind though. She loved talking about her family and having someone to listen made her somewhat even happier.

"My two boys are 9. They're probably in school at the moment but i'm picking them later for dinner" Ava continued to chat on. From the way she talked about her family, it was obvious that she was very passionate about her family. After all, Brandon was all she had after her family discarded her for disobedience.

When Ava looked outside the cab window and saw her home,she smiled even brighter. "Well, this is me" she announced. Of course nobody was home. Nobody would be home at this moment but it still felt nice to be surrounded by all that familiarity. Getting out of the cab, she walked to the back and opened the trunk to take out her bags.

"Here you are Sir, thank you and have a lovely day" Ava said as she passed the cab money and started towards the sidewalk that led to the front door. Brandon's car parked on the driveway made her frown for a moment. It made her wonder if Brandon had gone to work without his car. He did say he was working when she last called him, which was that very morning.

As she opened the front door with her set of keys, Ava couldn't help the feeling that something was indeed very wrong. She couldn't place it but she felt it. Shrugging the nudging feeling away, she pushed the door open and walked in. The first thing she did was get out of her heels. Her legs were quite sore from having been in heels pretty much all the time while she was on her trip.

Ava gasped softly when she saw what state her house was in. She wasn't surprised though,no, she did have three boys living there after all. "You leave for two weeks and this is what you get-" Ava whispered to herself, now abandoning her suitcase by the hallway to start cleaning the scattered toys. "Boys..."she mumbled,smiled but just for a moment because a sudden noise grabbed her attention.

At first, Ava didn't know what it was. It had been faint that she almost thought she imagined it. Then she heard it again and this time, she froze. What she thought could've been a mistake was what she now identified as a moan. In her house?

Slowly, she placed the car toy she had been holding in a the kid's toys basket and started towards the stairs that led to the second floor of their house. The more she drew closer, the more Ava was convinced of what she was hearing. Despite it all, not a single thought crossed her mind that it could be Brandon. She had absolute faith in him. He would never cheat on her.

Then she saw it. Ava's eyes first landed on the discarded clothes on the floor. Her bedroom door was ajar so she really didn't have to struggle to see what was happening. Leaned against the dressed was a woman Ava couldn't see at first. Her silhouette was familiar but she couldn't clearly see her but the dress she had on was more than familiar to Ava. It had been a gift from Brandon on their fifth wedding anniversary. She would identify it anyway because it was a limited edition.

"Yes Brandon....more...fuck me more" the soft female voice moaned as Brandon kept thrusting in and out of the woman. Ava was in shock. It is often said that before someone dies, seven minutes of their life's memories flashes before them. That is what happened with Ava. Seeing Brandon screwing some women, in their matrimonial home felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest. The pain was raw to the point that she couldn't breath properly. Still, she couldn't get herself to move.

Despite everything that was happening infront of her eyes, Ava was still making excuses for Brandon. That maybe it was just a mistake. That maybe he didn't even like it.

"Does it feel good Brandon? Fucking me?" The female voice asked and Brandon's response came out as a groan. Clearly, he was enjoying himself. Ava watched as Brandon lifted her dress off of the woman up to her chest. "I can't cum on this dress... If i have to wash it, Ava would know.." Brandon's voice groaned out as he fastened his pace. With each word, Ava felt like she was breaking to pieces. Her blue eyes welled up to a point that her vision started getting blurry.

"That hag? Are you still thinking about her while you're fucking me?" The woman turned her head and Ava instinctively moved back from shock. Mia? How could she not have recognised that voice?

"It's more like i can never stop thinking about you while i'm inside her, Mia. I wanna cum deep inside..." Brandon said with a hoarse voice. From the little strength Ava had left, she quietly backed from the door with her hand placed over her chest to calm herself down.

Ava had managed to get back downstairs all without loosing it. She hadn't even finished processing that Brandon had been cheating on her but now with Mia, her best friend.

Ava first met Mia when they both in elementary school. They were maybe 6 or 7 but they clicked immediately. Ava didn't just see Mia as her best friend, she had been her support system over the years, a friend who was more than a sister. Ava would've died just for the sake of Mia. It was that kind of friendship.

To see Mia trash talking her while sleeping with her husband was a far more heartbreak than knowing Brandon was unfaithful. With her hands covering her mouth, all Ava could do in that moment was sob uncontrollably. It hurt to know that the two people,whom she had her faith in betrayed her even without batting their lashes. How had she gotten to this point? What really went wrong?

Brandon's case was something else altogether. Not once in the nine years that they had been married had Ava looked back on what she had given up just so she could be with Brandon. Against the advice of every member of her family, Ava had chosen to follow her heart and married Brandon. Even while she was being disowned by her family, her heart never wavered. Those nine years had been her pride because Brandon had been a good husband,a friend and a good father. They were happy. Atleast she thought that they all were.

"Oh God..."

Ava sighed softly but the more she tries to get a hold of herself,she more he completely broke down. Just in under a space of two minutes, her entire world came crumbling down on her. Seated there with her emotions all over the place, Ava started weighing all her options. Leaving and acting like it didn't happen or go back to her bedroom and confront them head on. Should she just pack her bags and leave?

Distraught, she got up and rushed to the kitchen sink and gagged. She felt like she was going to throw up. First it had been the hurt, followed by disgust and now she was just starting to get angry. Looking at the set of knives, Ava reached out and pulled out one and for a moment,her eyes seemed distant. Dangerously so. Her mind seemed to be in a daze at the different scenarios playing up there. The hurt she was feeling at the moment was something that could only pacified if she saw both Brandon and Mia hurting.

Ava had really thought about it. She had thought about going up them and stabbing them over and over until all that remained was their lifeless bodies. She wanted to make sure they'd hurt even if it was just half of what she was feeling but thinking about Jesse and Javier held her back.

She still had her children to think about, not just a marriage and friendship that was collapsing. Instead of walking upstairs, Ava opened her fridge and pulled out the vegetables from there. Doing this was the only thing distracting her from working her dark desires.

"Brad stop it...okay stop. We have to get back to work." An hour later, Brandon and Mia came downstairs, all laughter and giggles.

"You know, we still have like twenty more minutes. We could.." Brandon said as he pulled Mia around and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned in for a kiss, one that Mia was all too happy to return.

When Brandon's hands went under Mia's shirt in an attempt to unhook her bra, Mia pulled away from the kiss and looked to her side while smiling. Mia and was facing the open kitchen and once she saw Ava looking right at them, Mia screamed in terror.

Brandon quickly pulled away from her and carefully studied her stunned face. "What? You look as if you've seen a --"

"A ghost?" Ava suddenly asked, announcing her presence. Her eyes were on Mia the entire time until Brandon looked at her and she smiled. " I'm just finished making lunch, let's eat" Ava suggested before she moved to the sink to wash her hands.

"I should go--" Mia said softly to Brandon but Ava heard her. Quite clearly.

"Where Mia? Back to my bedroom? To sleep with my husband?" Ava asked, very calmly, too calmly. "You backstabbing bitch" Ava added before she started laughing.

"Ava" Brandon's firm voice caught her off guard. She turned to her husband and frowned.

"Brandon" Ava sarcastically replied then shook her head. "With my best friend? That's beneath you Brandon" Ava's eyes, which were always filled with so much love for Brandon now only held disgust.

" How could you Brandon? After everything that we've been through. How dare you?" Ava asked as she approached her husband. This time, she couldn't help the tears that trickled down her cheeks. "Both of you disgust me. You cheating pieces of shit. I can't-"

Ava stopped dead in her tracks when she felt something hot against her cheek. It took a moment to realize that it was a resounding slap. It was so sudden, so hard that she felt a tingling sound coming out of her ear. She placed her hand on her cheek and looked up to find Mia standing before her looking vicious at her. One would think that Ava was the one that had done something wrong?

"Disgust you? Is that what you call what you did to me Ava? Brandon should've been mine to begin with. MINE" Mia screamed at Ava who was still dumbfounded. Ava's eyes averted back to her husband's hoping that atleast he would explain but his eyes were on Mia's face. While she looked at Brandon, Brandon had his full attention on his mistress.

"W... What?" Ava finally found her voice and asked.

"You took Brandon away from me Ava. For years,i had to watch you have what was supposed to be mine. Brandon, this house. I should've been the mother of his child. Not you!" Mia added and this time, Ava lifted her hand to strike Mia. Not because of sleeping with her husband but because of what she was telling him.

Ava didn't get to hit Mia though because Brandon stepped infront of Mia as a shield and held her hand to stop her. "B-Brad?" Ava called out softly, her brows furrowed in confusion but more importantly was the hurt in her eyes.

Brandon shoving her back almost had Ava stumbling back but good thing she held onto the kitchen counter for support. "Calm down, woman!" Brandon's voice, firm and resilient made Ava stop for a moment.

"Woman?" Ava echoed Brandon, shocked at how he referred her as. He hadn't even used her name in 9 years now and he called her woman? Just woman?

"Brandon you're sleeping with my best friend!!" Ava screamed at her husband, unable to take on the humiliation any longer. "What is wrong with you?!" Ava asked, desperate for an explanation. For anything really.

"My problem is you Ava?!" Brandon responded almost immediately "I fell out of love. The problem is that i feel nothing!!"

"Nothing?" Ava asked softly.

"Nothing for you"

It had been a week since Ava found out about her husband sleeping with her best friend. A week since she had seen Brandon.

After that awful fight, Brandon hadn't bothered to come back home and Ava suspected that he was with Mia, after all, he had left, running after Mia after that confrontation.

Left to pick up the pieces of her life alone, Ava could hardly keep herself in check. It was so bad that her twin boys started noticing. They were her source of strength, Jesse and Javier but they were a reminder of Brandon. The twins had taken after Brandon with almost everything. Except the blue eyes and perfectly thick brown hair that was Ava's, Ava could confidently say that her children were a hard copy of their father.

Ava was currently on the couch, watching Jesse and Javier working on their respective homeworks. Her eyes were on the back of their little heads as she watched them concentrating on their work. She just couldn't understand it. As far as she could tell, Brandon truly loved the twins. She would really rather die than believe that Brandon was faking his love for his boys. Then how could he throw away what they both had, what they built together from scratch?

Sniffling softly, she reached for the tissue box and pulled a couple out to blow her nose. Ava hadn't even realised that she was crying until Javier suddenly spoke.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" The soft, caring voice made Ava look up to see the nine year old boy, standing infront of her. Ava, forcing a small smile, reached out to cup his cheek while nodding slowly.

"Mommy's not crying Javy. It's just a little dust. Okay. I'm fine sweetheart" she tried to reassure the boy who looked doubtful. "Give me a hug and i'll be alright. Come here" Ava cooed and moved closer to hug Javier. Jesse soon joined them and for the first time since she came back, Ava felt like everything would be alright now.

"Now who wants some ice cream? We can watch the Avengers or something" Ava suggested as she pulled back to look at her two perfect boys. "Yes, right after you're through with your homework" she added and when the twins complained, she broke into a chuckle.

Later that night, right after Ava had put the boys to sleep, she heard the front door open. Walking to the top of the staircase, she looked down just as Brandon made his appearance. When Brandon noticed her, he stood there and looked up at her. The two stood there in absolute silence, just staring into each other's eyes. Unlike before, there was no love involved. On Brandon's side, the look was blank and Ava knew that she had lost him for good.

"Why are you back Brandon? I was starting to believe you didn't know your way home" she asked and sighed when Brandon sighed.

"Not now Ava. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit" Brandon said coldly and Ava scoffed.

"You don't feel anything at all, do you? You've been sleeping with my bestfriend all along and you think i'm bullshitting? What happened to you Brandon? What happened to us?" Ava asked softly as she watched him in disbelief.

"Stop Ava..just stop it. What do you want from me? An apology? Fine. I'm sorry. Can we just drop it? I'm tired and--" Brandon said as he made his way up the staircase and walked past her. Ava gripped the railings tightly and closed her eyes, letting the welled up tears trickle down her cheeks.

She wasn't done though, she wiped her cheeks , followed Brandon to their room and stood by the door looking at her husband. "When Brandon?" She asked quietly. Ava still couldn't understand how things had come to this point. Brandon didn't use to be like this? He was warm, friendly and had been Ava's safe haven. Right now, all she could see was a cold man. One that didn't resonate with the man she knew.

"When what?" Brandon asked as he tossed his jacket on the bed and sat on the bed to take his shoes off.

"When did you and Mia start? How long has it been?" She asked.

"Ava--" Brandon called out and Ava scoffed.

"I at least deserve to know how long you two have been screwing me over. You owe me that much" Ava pleaded and she was trying to be quiet for the sake of her sleeping sons.

"Can't i have some peace in my house? I don't want to fight with you Ava so tell me exactly what you want from me" Brandon asked.

"Divorce"

Brandon's eyes widened slightly when he heard Ava. "I want a divorce"