“Liezel?” Zack asked when he opened the door.

Just as he did, Liezel broke into a sob fest. She broke down entirely in front of him. Never in her life had she felt so vulnerable. And never in her life would she ever think that Alex would betray her.

Zack picked up the duffel bag in her hand, pulling her against his chest. He wrapped both arms around her tightly and frowned. Just yesterday, this woman had won a grand slam title; now she is just shaking in her agony.

“What happened? Do you want to talk about it?” He asked softly.

“Can I stay here?” She begged.

Zack made a sound of affirmative. Rian would not mind since she will just be in the guest room—Ace and Breck had stayed in their own apartment tonight.

“Did everything not work out with Alex?”

Liezel pulled away from the bass player and stared at him intensely. Her lips quivered as she tried her best to explain to him what had happened. The more she thought about it, the more real to her it became. The idea has sunken deeper and deeper in her; and it made her miserable.

“Alex cheated on me.”

Zack did not say anything, just nodded solemnly.

“Well, are you going to ask with whom?” Liezel questioned.

He gulped nervously and guiltily.

“Kaya.”

The black haired woman thought this through and a realization suddenly hit her. Zack did not make a correct wild guess based on an assumption. There is something else going on here.

“You knew.” She accused, face contorted in disgust.

Zack did not know what to say because he usually is the quiet one. He never had the right words to say; he is not used to speaking. However, he did not say anything this time because he knew that an apology would not cut it. Liezel will not forgive him based on a mere apology. He also realized that there isn’t much else he can say aside from his apology.

“Beckett…”

“You kept this from me, you lied to me! I trusted you, Zack! I broke myself wide open for you. I went through hell and back and you know I did! All this time, you fucking knew that Alex was hurting me? You scolded me for not putting enough into my relationship with the knowledge that Alex had been the one destroying it? You expect me to fix a relationship he is breaking? How fucking dare you?”

She snatched her duffel bag from Zack’s hands and turned from him.

“Alex is my best friend.”

“Don’t fucking care!” She shouted, stomping down the stone steps.

“Where are you going?” Zack asked.

Liezel opened her passenger seat door and dropped her bag on the leather seat. After slamming the door, she looked at Zack.

“Since you’ve been conspiring with my ex, I’m going straight to yours!”

With that, Liezel made her way to the driver’s seat and pulled away from the driveway as soon as she could allow herself to. As she drove off into the road, she finally let her thoughts sink in.

She was not just betrayed by Alex; she was also betrayed by Zack.



“Kovacs.” Ace replied groggily when she picked up her phone.

Liezel closed her eyes shut as she let her silent tears fall. The last time she spoke to Acacia, she talked her down for speaking with Alex about her confidential information. She thought that what Ace did was betrayal, but now, she knew what real betrayal felt like.

“Ace, did I wake you?” She asked, trying to stifle her tears.

It was not in good effort because the detective sensed it.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Beckett?”

“I’m outside your apartment right now.”

“WHAT?”

“Do you have room for me? I have nowhere else to go, Acacia.” Liezel pleaded.

There was a pause on Ace’s side of the line. It frightened her. She assumed that Ace will not forgive her for what went down at Rian’s loft the other day.

Within a matter of seconds, the apartment door opened, revealing the blonde who used to be her good friend. Liezel started sobbing when she stared into her friend’s worried look. Immediately, without questions or hesitation, Ace pulled her into a hug.

“I am so sorry.” She sobbed miserably.

“Mi casa, su casa.”

Ace released her from the hug and took the duffel bag from her hand. She invited Liezel inside the apartment, quietly closing the door behind her. Inside the hallway was dark since it is already a few hours past midnight. Ace turned on the lights and gestured for Liezel to take a seat on the couch.

“Is Breck asleep?” Liezel asked.

The blonde nodded.

“Yeah she has school tomorrow.”

The tennis player wiped at her eyes and sat down on the sofa. When she did, Ace followed suit. After they both settled in their position, the blonde turned to her with a curious look.

“Now, tell me what’s wrong so I can make it better?” Ace started.

Despite the differences they’ve had three weeks ago, Liezel is ready to forgive her. Maybe she did take the situation too seriously; but either way, she needed to let that argument go because she has no one else to console with. If she trusted a single person in this city, it had to be Ace. Everyone else that she loves and trusts is in different cities and even different countries.

“Alex cheated on me with that Lockheart bitch.”

Acacia shook her head in disbelief, shooting up from her couch.

“I am going to kill that bastard!” She shouted, completely forgot that her younger sister is sleeping.

Liezel buried her head in her hands, continuing to cry. She just realized that she could no longer trust the man that she swore she was going to spend the rest of her life with. The only person she wanted to marry and build a life with had something in mind. While he promised his love for her, he was giving it to someone else. When he proposed to her, he hadn’t meant it. He asked her just as a way to cover up the guilt he felt. She didn’t want him to feel guilty; she just wanted him to love her and only her.

“Why Kaya?” Ace muttered.

“W-why would Alex do this?”

“Because he’s a major dick.”

“Am I not good enough?” She stuttered, removing her face from her hands.

Ace’s face softened when she said that. She placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it slightly in comfort. It is unsettling to see her friend go through this heartbreak. She had once been in her position but no one was around to push her through it. It wasn’t because she had no one to turn to, but because she hid her heartbreak from everyone.

“You are twice the woman he deserve; and twice the woman Kaya will ever be. You are a wonderful person who strives for what she wants; who treats her loved ones with love. I know for a fact that this asshole did what he did because he had a stick so far up his ass to think that it was okay for him to do it.”

“And I was ready to accept his marriage proposal.” Liezel whispered.

Ace pondered over the words and realized that she needed to justify her actions.

“Beckett?”

“Hmm?”

“Zack and I argued all the time. We would threaten to break up with each other, leave each other alone for the night, and come back the next morning with apologies. We never actually had a legitimate break up because we realized that our fights were silly.”

Liezel nodded, feeling excited that she is finally hearing his story—despite her current mood.

“But this last fight that we had—it was the final straw for him and I was dumb enough to not realize that until it was too late. I took him for granted.”

“Like I did with Alex.” Liezel murmured.

“No, Alex deserved the neglect. That fucking bastard…”

“Ace, what was the fight about?”

Acacia held a deep breath and slowly released it. Just bringing her mind back into last year hurt. She is not sure if she wanted to get into it, but she has to for her friend.

“Zack proposed to me and I panicked. I am a homicide detective; my job is dangerous, demanding, and I get like no income in comparison to you and to him. I thought I wasn’t fit to marry him and commit myself to him. I didn’t want him to be a cop spouse.”

Liezel’s eyes widened in realization. She knew why Ace did everything that she did; whatever happened between her and Zack justified her actions. Everything that Acacia did was not against her but for her. She was just too stupid and in over her head to fathom that.

“After I rejected his proposal, we fought. I left the loft and went straight home. The next morning, I was too late.”

Acacia did deliver the information to Alex because she did not want the rejection of a marriage proposal to tear everything apart.

“I told Alex about your insecurities regarding marriage because I didn’t want the misunderstanding between you two to ruin your relationship. Zack and I broke up because we did not understand each other. We didn’t even try. I wanted to save your rocky relationship. I wanted you to be happy.” Ace explained.

After a long moment of silence, Beckett leaned over and hugged her friend.

“I am so sorry I overreacted.” She whispered.

“And I am sorry I did not explain.”

Notes

Top of Your Ambitions is the sequel and final installment of this series. Might do a Rian one in the future as a spinoff or something.

Yeah, leave your comments please!

Thanks to folieahdude, skullsandcrossbones, The_mindlessOne, and Maggie_2009 for commenting on the previous chapter!