Free Disastrously Fabulous: A Novel of Loves, Betrayals and New Beginnings by D.A. Prince Page A

following. Broadcasting turned out to be a savage business that left me feeling vulnerable and helpless.
    With twins to look after, and an ex-husband facing serious charges and time in prison, I needed stability, fast.
    Over the years rubbing shoulders with high society taught me a thing or two. I had developed skills. They may not have been the kind of skills that automatically make a person rich, but I could definitely use them in another field.
    When an opening arose with a big financial company, I jumped at the chance. It was decent pay and the people there were motivated to succeed. I targeted wealthy clients, and connected with them because of my past life as one of the super-rich. It was the most direct path to success for me. I did well in this challenging career because I had a natural knack for selling to top tier clients.
    The twins were adjusting to life without their father. They still saw each other as often as time would allow, but Max had a lot on his plate. The biggest thing for Max, I think, was realizing that he couldn't just have whatever he wanted any more.
    For the first time in my life I felt responsible for my own family unit. I had twins, and I was alone. I had my own job, and my own apartment. I was bringing in decent amounts of money, even if I couldn't afford what I once could.
    These were some of the hardest, yet some of the most invigorating days of my life. I relearned the price of things, and began to value what I had twice as much.
    I swore off men for a while. My heart suffered considerably after Max, and I was hyper suspicious of any man who took interest in me purely because of my looks. I didn't want to end up with another cheater, though a part of me also accepted that most men would cheat if they could.
    My girlfriends and I came to the conclusion that love relationships were almost pointless, and much harder to sustain in an unequal marriage, or where the man has all of the power. With unlimited resources come endless curiosity, we would say. Most men couldn't control themselves.
    I had spent enough time rebuffing advances from other men at those parties. I could only begin to imagine how much more aggressive some women would be with a powerful man. It made me melancholy and a little ill inside to think about it.
    I promised myself that I wouldn't let the twins grow up to be players, crushing hearts—and that was that. I let it go. I focused on my work and doing well for my family. I took on more and more clients, and earned commission to match.
    I forgot about men and partying, and living like a member of the super-rich. Things were normal, peaceful. Then after a few years, another man stepped into my life. It took me by surprise, just as much as it took him by surprise. My days of romance were far from over.
    CJ was referred to me by a friend, as a client who was looking for a financial advisor. He was tall, far taller than any man I had been with and in control, he knew what he wanted. When I first met him, he told me that he graduated from Wharton Business School and that he worked at Merrill Lynch.
    There was something dark and brooding about CJ that attracted me to him. Plus, he was comfortably well-off, allowing a lifestyle of relative luxury.
    The first time CJ asked me on a date, I declined — but we kept meeting for financial management discussions and things progressed from there. He was blessed with a deep magnetic pull, something that was very desirable for me at the time.
    It was something of a whirlwind romance. He kept asking, and eventually I lost the will to refuse him. To a single mother of a two, a man in charge was an attraction. Of course, I had no idea how in charge CJ liked to be.
    When we were at restaurants, he ordered for me. When we were shopping, he picked out my clothes. He was possessive in a way that I had never experienced before. The love was intense and overwhelming—finally a man who wanted to spend all of his time with me!
    CJ and I spent entire