Divorce Retreat

By Donya Fenner

Ashley Hernandez finds herself divorced, broke, homeless and living back at home with her strict mother, after her ex-husband is found guilty of laundering money from his company. Ashley struggles to put her life back together, so she has no time for dating, but her overly pushy cousin Yvette insists on getting Ashley back on the market. At first not convinced she should attend, Ashley soon finds herself on one very unique adventure in the Bahamas.

 

What can possibly happen at a divorce retreat? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Donya Fenner
• Release date: Sep 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393642190

Book preview

Chapter 1

On a clear bright morning, the light blue skies and the sound of birds chirping sweetly added an extra sense of warmth to Ashley’s heart. It was a special day, her wedding day. Walking down the aisle, she watched her guests admire her mermaid fitted wedding gown. Ashley’s heart melted when she caught sight of her handsome husband-to-be standing between the pastor and his best man at the end of the long white trail of wedding paper.

He smiled at her, softly, sweetly. She felt like the luckiest woman on earth. He was smart, good looking, well off, charming, an awesome lover. You name it, he was her dream come true, her Prince Charming. Ashley approached her groom, but he never looked at her. He kept looking toward the rear of the church. Ashley was puzzled. Why hadn’t he looked at her? She turned to see what he was looking at. To her great surprise, there was another woman dressed in a more beautiful wedding gown walking toward them.

The mysterious bride never took her eyes off of the groom. The bride then stood right in between Ashley and her groom.

The groom lifted the other bride’s veil and said. I choose you.

Shocked, Ashley’s warmed heart turned cold and dropped into the pit of her stomach. She felt as though she could barely breathe. What was going on? Her chest heaved as she spun around examining her guests for an explanation. Instead of finding answers, she watched people whispering amongst themselves. Some people were bent over laughing, holding their stomachs. Ashley whipped around and found the pastor, the best man and her bridesmaid laughing and pointing fingers at her too.

Tears sprang into her eyes. They’re all laughing at me. I can’t believe this is happening. No! No!

In horror, Ashley watched as the bride turned to face her.

The bride smirked, You didn’t really think he would choose you? Honey, wake up.

***

Honey, wake up!

Ashley awoke with a start, her body wet with sweat. In her panic, she saw her Mom peering down with concern. Mom, what happened?

You fell asleep on the sofa again last night. Get up, I made breakfast. If you don’t get up soon, you will be late for work.

A sigh of relief came over Ashley, it was only a dream. Mr. Prince Charming, the perfect man for her, still existed. At one time she thought her ex-husband Bryce Hernandez was the perfect man for her, that is until he was caught laundering money at his firm. She’d been suspicious several times of Bryce cheating on her, but was never able to prove his indescretions. Now he was doing time, and she had to move back home to start over with nothing.

Mama, I’m going upstairs to wash up, but I can take my breakfast to go, Ashley stood from the sofa.

Sure thing, sweetheart. I will pack it up for you.

***

The brakes on Ashley’s older model, silver c300 Mercedes Benz squealed as she came to a complete stop in front of White and Associates Banking. Her car remained one of a few extravagent purchases from her old life. Ashley had been with the company for two years following her divorce. Never in a million years had she imagined that she would return