No Second Chances Ex-husband (Lauren and Ethan) novel Chapter 58

LAUREN'S POV

In just a few minutes, Tess was done with my makeup. I hadn’t even lifted a finger the entire time she’d insisted on doing everything herself, and honestly, she did an amazing job. I had to admit, Tess had skills I didn’t even know she possessed. The foundation blended perfectly into my skin, the contour sharp enough to carve marble, and the lipstick bold yet elegant. Still, I couldn’t shake the thought that it was a bit too much. This wasn’t some gala or fashion runway, it was a nightclub. Who was really going to notice carefully blended eyeshadow in a place that would be dark, loud, and filled with flashing lights?

“Alright, our ride is here. Let’s lock up and leave,” Tess’s voice rang from behind me, pulling me out of my thoughts. She was already rushing toward the door, handbag in hand, heels clicking against the floor like she was running late for a meeting.

I looked at myself one last time in the mirror, my fingers tugging at the hem of my dress. I strained the fabric down again, trying to make it cover just a little more of my thighs. The dress was undeniably short — shorter than anything I’d worn in years but apart from that, it wasn’t bad. It hugged me in the right places, making me look confident, maybe even daring. With a quiet sigh, I picked up my handbag and stuffed it with the few things we’d needed. Tess was already at the door, jingling the keys, waiting for me to catch up. She locked up behind us, her energy the complete opposite of my hesitant steps.

We got into the Uber waiting outside, Tess immediately started chatting with the driver about the route, but I leaned my head against the window and stared out. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had gone out this late. Life had become a cycle of responsibilities, grief, and silence. Nights like this felt foreign, almost like I was borrowing someone else’s life for a little while.

My chest tightened as thoughts crept in uninvited. Would she be okay with this? I could almost hear her soft laugh, her innocent voice asking why I was overthinking. But how could I not? Going out to a club just after she died felt like betrayal, like I was disrespecting her memory. She might have been a child, but she wasn’t naïve. One thing I knew with certainty was that she always wanted me to smile, to find reasons to be happy.

But was I happy? The honest answer was no. Not even close. Not after everything that had happened. Happiness felt like a foreign language now, one I couldn’t speak or even begin to understand. Healing, people said, took time. But my kind of healing? I had a feeling it would take years, maybe longer.

The hum of the car and Tess’s light conversation with the driver faded into the background as I drowned in my thoughts. It wasn’t until the Uber slowed to a halt that I blinked out of my daze. We had arrived.

The building loomed ahead, towering over the others like a monument of glass and steel.

Before I could reach for the door handle, the driver-side door opened, and then mine. A doorman in a sharp black suit stood there, opening the door for me with a polite nod. For a split second, I was thrown off. This was a nightclub, why did it feel like we were arriving at some exclusive hotel or five-star restaurant?

I stepped out carefully. The sheer size of the building dwarfed me, making me feel small. I tilted my head up, the lights blinding for a moment, and all I could think was how out of place I felt here.

“Your invitation?” a deep, stern voice cut through my thoughts. The doorman’s eyes were fixed on us, professional but sharp enough to remind us this was no ordinary club.

“Yes, that’s with me,” Tess answered quickly, stepping forward before I even opened my mouth. She dug into her purse with practiced ease, pulling out her phone and unlocking it. Her screen glowed against the night as she scrolled to her email.

She held it up for the doorman to see, her finger pointing at the official message. It was from the owner himself, the exclusive invitation she had bragged about since today.

The doorman studied it for a moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he gave a curt nod, stepped aside, and pushed the heavy doors open for us.

And just like that, we were in.

I took a small breath before stepping through the doors, trying to prepare myself for whatever lay inside. The muffled beat that had been sneaking through the walls outside suddenly exploded into my ears, the bass thudding through my chest the instant I entered. Compared to the quiet exterior, the inside of the club was another world entirely like stepping from silence into chaos.

From the outside, you might not even have guessed this was a club. The building was discreet, but once inside, it was the opposite, an entire universe of flashing lights, pulsing music, and bodies moving together like waves. Strobes lit up the dance floor in vibrant bursts of neon.

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