Yet Ken didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he flashed his sweet, aw-shucks smile. As much as Lila hated to admit it, Ashley looked good. She had squeezed her ample, Kim Kardashianesque figure into a very tight yet surprisingly flattering Stella McCartney mini. She flicked a long blond hair extension off her shoulder, and Lila felt a twinge of jealousy. That’s how she knew that Ashley might actually be some serious competition.
Not that Lila had ever let a little thing like a rival get in the way of winning before. She stood up a little straighter and walked with purpose across the parking lot, her stilettos clacking with determination against the asphalt.
“Ken,” she purred as she squeezed herself in between her husband and Ashley, all but shoving Ashley out of the way. Ashley stumbled backward and let out a small squeal of protest. “We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t,” Ken said, his eyes growing hard again as he looked at her. “We have nothing to talk about, Lila.”
“But, Ken…” Lila arched her back in a move that she knew put her cleavage in the most mouthwatering light, and pursed her lips in a kissable pout. Lila knew Ken couldn’t resist her sexy sad face. At least, he never had before.
Ken waved a hand in front of her, dismissing both her sexy sad face and her sexy…everything.
“We’re over, Lila. I told you that. I’m done trying to make you happy when you don’t care about me at all. I’m done bending over backward trying to please you. What do I get for it? Insults on national television. I swear, Lila, you’re so selfish, you can’t even see the truth right in front of your face. I’m done with you.”
The words cut through Lila like a cold wind. Beside her, she could feel Ashley gloating, which made this situation a thousand times worse. Lila’s face burned with humiliation and shame for being rejected by Ken, and even worse, having it witnessed by Ashley.
Lila stood, frozen to the spot, speechless. She couldn’t figure out why this wasn’t working and why Ken didn’t seem to want her at all. It was as if someone had changed the locks on her house without telling her. Why didn’t her old keys work?
“Come on, Ashley,” Ken said, ignoring Lila’s flushed face as she stood as still as a statue and watched Ashley curl her arm around Ken’s. He led her to the passenger-side door, and she showed most of her leg and nearly everything else as she slid into the front seat.
As Ken came around, Lila found her voice again. This time on a different tack. An unusual one for Lila.
“I don’t want this to be over, Ken.” It was true enough to take her by surprise. But his answer was even more shocking.
“Well, I do.” Ken turned, slipped into the driver’s seat, and slammed his car door. Seconds later, he backed out of the parking space, spun the car around, and drove swiftly away from her.
Lila watched his taillights flicker and decided so much for honesty. It never was her style. She needed to shift gears. She needed a strong plan B that would get him back, even if she had to play dirty.
She glanced around the parking lot and saw one of the other players and his wife and kids climbing into a silver Cadillac Escalade. The wife carried a telltale belly bump. Clearly baby number three was on the way.
That was it, Lila thought. Her plan B.
She waited until the perfect moment later that evening, right in the middle of an on-camera cocktail party at fellow Housewives star Devone Waters’s house. Lila waited until all the housewives had arrived—all but Ashley, who was most likely with Ken at that very moment—before she announced the news.
As Devone offered her a glass of wine, Lila demurely refused and asked for club soda. Then she positioned herself in the center of the living room, at the best possible camera angle, and turned to Devone, whom she knew had three kids already. Devone would be the first one on her side.
“Devone,” she said, her voice quavering just a little. “Marina,” she added, glancing at the other Housewife. “I need help.” She grasped both their hands and held them. That would look particularly good on camera, she knew. Devone and Marina exchanged surprised glances.
Lila sniffed, letting the perfect tear form on her eyelash before it dropped down her cheek.
“Lila! What’s wrong?” gushed Devone, taken aback by Lila Fowler Matthews’s tears. Lila usually shouted; she never cried.
“K-Ken left me for Ashley.” She waited for the surprised intakes of breath all around. Even some of the camera crew appeared surprised by the dramatic turn of events.
“Oh, Lila, I’m so sorry,” said Devone.
“But that’s not all.” Lila inhaled deeply, building the drama. She released Marina’s hand to put her own delicately on her lower belly.
“I’m pregnant,” she said. She could feel the camera lenses zoom in on her, and she could also sense across the room a subtle but substantial shift in feeling. It was the same shift that would no doubt happen nationwide as soon as this episode aired.
Lila wasn’t going to be Public Enemy/Bitch #1 anymore.
Now it was Ashley’s turn.
Chapter Six
Caroline Pearce was like a vindictive elephant—she never forgot a grudge. The fact that most of the people who knew her would also say she looked like one, too, was something she preferred not to think about. No matter how hard she dieted or exercised or what kind of clothes she wore, she’d always be boxy and thick, and at some level, frumpy.
Some might say it was jealousy more than anything else that
