“I need to get back to work,” he quickly interrupted, rushing out before she could say anything.
The moment he closed the door behind him, a smile curled on his lips. He grinned as he replayed her cute, angry face in his mind.
“She always looks cute when she’s angry,” he said to himself, grinning as he sat down. He looked back at the closed door with a fulfilled heart. She wasn’t a thousand miles away from him anymore; she was right there, behind that door-the woman who had made him what he was.
He thought back to a moment from twelve years ago.
Drenched from the rain, his eyes wide open, filled with loneliness and pent-up anger that threatened to erupt, he stood before the woman who had been a constant presence in his life. His hand clenched tightly as he faced her.
“Are you satisfied?” she asked softly. “Have you let it all out?”
“Can it all be let out?” he asked, his voice tinged with frustration as he looked up at her.
“If you want to,” she replied calmly.
“Still not going to change anything.”
“Then use it.”
He furrowed his brow, confused.
“Use it, Christian,” she said, squatting to meet his gaze. “Use it to gain power. Use it to get what you need. Are you angry? Angry that you couldn’t do anything? Is that how you’ll keep reacting when something like this happens again? Use that anger and pain, use how much she means to you, to build what you need-fame, power, wealth, connections. Build a name that will protect your loved ones. Build a name that, when it’s spoken, will make people feel protected. A power that no one will dare to touch whatever belongs to you. Only then can you be sorry.”
Her words resonated deep within him. The pent-up anger and pain gradually morphed into a new determination, a fresh vision-a transformation that began to shape him into a new person.
Alice walked briskly toward the parking lot, desperate to get away from the building. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, ruining the makeup that had turned her face into a Halloween-like mask. Her mind was heavy with pain, anger, frustration, and disappointment. She couldn’t accept defeat, and her thoughts were consumed by how she would show him the power of a woman and how she would deal with Clarisse, the woman he dared to speak so highly of in front of her.
“Alice.”
The sudden call of her name jolted her, and she turned sharply toward the sound of her name. When she saw him, her irritation grew.
He walked toward her, smiling. “Hi, Alice.”
“Hi? What are you doing here?” Her voice dripped with anger.
“I came to see you. I went to your friend’s house, but they said you weren’t there. Then I went to your house and was told you weren’t home. I happened to see your car heading here, so I waited for you…”
“You waited for me? All this time?”
“Yes,” he chuckled softly. “That’s how much I love you.”
“Don’t you have a job?”
“Huh?”
“You waited for a lady for more than thirty minutes like a jobless fool,” she said, roughening her hair in disgust.
“You’re not just a lady, Alice. You’re my girlfriend.”
“Says who?” she yelled at him.
“Alice!” he exclaimed, taken aback by her outburst. “Is it me, Ramses?”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were Ramses until you just said so,” she said sarcastically, folding her arms. “What evidence do you have?”
“Evidence for what?”
“Evidence that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. What proof do you have that we’re dating-or that we ever did?”
“Are you for real right now?” he said, stunned. “I have your pictures all over my phone. My gallery is full of them…”
“How can I be sure you didn’t just save those from Facebook, Instagram, or even Twitter?”
Ramses’s shoulders slumped in disbelief. “What’s going on, Alice? Why are you acting like this? You suddenly stopped picking up my calls and replying to my messages, and now that I’m here, what’s all this you’re saying?”
“I asked for evidence, and you’re just telling me a story.”
Ramses furrowed his brow in confusion. “What evidence do you need? I have the pictures of-“
“You mean the ones that can be fabricated, right? Does anyone even know that we’re dating?”
“Are you serious? Weren’t you the one who wanted to keep our relationship a secret? You told me not to tell anyone about us, and now what? Who knows about our relationship?” He laughed, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration.
Alice rolled her eyes. “Nice claim, but sorry, dude. I don’t want to have anything to do with a loser,” she said, eyeing him before turning to walk away.
“A loser? Did you just call me a loser?”
“What else are you? I heard your father handed the company to your younger brother. He must have seen how incompetent you are to give away what belongs to you,” she said, opening her car door to get in. But Ramses rushed over and grabbed the door before she could close it.
“Is that what this is all about?”
“You promised me, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I know I promised to take care of you, to travel…”
“You don’t need to talk too much. How can I maintain my high class and status with a loser? I told you to get the company, and we’d announce our relationship, but you didn’t. So I can’t continue with this nonsense,” she said, hitting his hand with her purse before slamming the door shut.
Ramses stood there, watching her drive away with a broken heart. He couldn’t believe she ditched him over that. He had always done everything she wanted, and he was rich, but he knew his status would change if he had become the CEO of the company. However, since his father had made his choice, Ramses had accepted it and chosen to focus on building his own organization. But now, with his current mental state and heartbreak, he knew that would have to be put on hold for some time.
Alice went straight to a bar. She had too much to vent out and couldn’t go home to sleep on it. She sat down at the bar and ordered two shots, quickly gulping them down.
She panted as the memory of his insults pierced her heart, each word stabbing through her soul. Anger and hurt overwhelmed her.
“Two more shots,” she ordered, downing another two shots of alcohol. Her mind began to spin, and her thoughts became clouded. She continued drinking until she had consumed six more shots. Feeling dizzy and exhausted, she dropped her head onto the table, only to jerk it back up sharply.
“Can I have two more, please?” Her voice slurred drunkenly.
“Hey, lady.”
She heard a voice beside her and turned to look, but everything appeared blurry, and she couldn’t make out his face.
“Are you getting drunk all by yourself?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Who are you?” she slurred.
“Someone interested in a gorgeous woman like you.”
She chuckled disapprovingly. “I don’t think so.”
“Of course you are, damn sexy.” He stared at her exposed cleavage and her smooth, fresh-looking thighs.
“I am? Then why isn’t he impressed?” she asked, her half-open eyes struggling to focus as she swayed slightly. She nearly fell off the stool, but the man quickly caught her, setting his bottle on the table.
“He said all sorts of things to me, called me names, and said I can’t be compared to her-that she’s better…” She belched loudly.
“He definitely doesn’t know what he’s missing then. You’re damn sexy and hot,” he said, paying the bartender before guiding her away.
“I know, right?” she laughed hysterically. “That’s why I’m going to make him mine and show him that there’s no one who wouldn’t fall for me.”
“No one, not even me,” the stranger said, putting her in his car before driving off.
“Where are you going?”
“Where you’ll love,” he said with a grin.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.