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I wake up to twelve missed calls and twenty-nine new messages. Wow, this is probably more than all the calls and messages he has made to me in the last two years.
I am contemplating whether to call back and see what he wants or let him worry some more about the fate of his company when the doorbell rings.
I stand up from the couch and with my hand wrapped firmly around my phone, make my way to the door, pressing on the security cam button.
I raise a brow when I see that it is Joshua Steelman, Rowan's secretary. The dude is so desperate to get in contact with me now that he sent his secretary looking for me huh?
I open the door.
"Joshua." I smile at the middle-aged man but get no smile in return. Like Boss, like secretary!
"Mrs. Keller." He addresses me, his lips in a thin line. I have told him one million times that my name is Ms. Lewis, not Mrs. Keller, but the man just does not learn.
This dude is a total ass-kisser and does whatever Rowan wants him to. I am sure he is doing all of this to get by but it is pretty hard for a woman to respect a guy who basically acts as her husband's pimp and chaperones for all the 'mistresses'.
"It's going to be Ms. Lewis soon anyway so you can address me by that from now on." I keep my extra sugary smile in place. I am no goodie two shoes who sees only the good in people nor do I tolerate such douche bags but like they say, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' and that's exactly what I always do, and I always put up the façade of a naïve silly woman who is just lucky when it came to her business ideas and outlook so that they think they have some upper hand on me. Jeez, I am a dumbass.
"Ma'am, I am here to talk about the same." He starts. I know exactly what he is going to say and I do not care. "You have both signed a contract. The repercussions of-"
"I have some money to burn," I smirk, my eyes landing on his earpiece and knowing immediately that my dear soon-to-be ex-husband was on the phone. "Also, I think I will have plenty of extra money after I sell all my shares in KL Enterprises."
I am sure I have gotten on Rowan's nerves with that because I see Joshua flinch as soon as the words leave my mouth and then quickly he takes his phone out of his pocket, tapping on it before giving it to me, and there he was – Boss – on call for the last thirteen minutes.
"Hello?" I say as I leisurely walk back to the couch and sit down, waving for the secretary to take a seat himself, which he doesn't so I have to wave in the direction of the opposite couch.
"You can find a drink in the fridge if you want." I gesture to the kitchen, but he just shakes his head, mouths a 'thank you', and finally sits down on the couch.
"What are you plotting woman?" Rowan sounds so annoyed right now. I know for a fact that Rowan's ears turn bright red when he is angry and though most of the people in his line of vision would be too frightened to ever notice it, I always found it funny. And right now, I can just imagine the shade of his cute pink ears.
Don't go there, Aurora. Never go back there ever again. You should not find anything related to him cute ever again.
"I am plotting to divorce you, sell all my shares in the company, and maybe go on a vacation before coming back and joining my dad's company," I say simply.
I haven't heard from my dad and I know for a fact that he won't be very happy with the decision that I have made, mainly because I did not consult with him before making it, but he just has to let me have my way this time. He knows that he owes me at least this much after making me go through this bullshit of marriage for two years.
"I worked so hard for this company Aurora. I am not letting you pour water all over my hard work!" He is gritting his teeth at this point.
"You are not the only one who worked for the growth of the company, Rowan." I am too calm that it almost scares me and by the look on Joshua's face, he too is shocked by the coolness with which I speak. "I worked day and night to get clients and smoothen the functioning of the company and when I went home, I had to deal with and hide all the scandals you created. The same scandals that would have sunk our company a long time ago if it wasn't for ME. I thought you would at least try to keep your affairs secret but you took my efforts for granted and flaunted your bitches and now it is breaking news! But this time, I am not going to do anything about it. I am going to be the naïve victim wife who was cheated on and got a divorce because she has something called self-respect unlike her husband and his mistress."
"Auro-"
"I just love the plan that I have devised in my head. Thanks for calling me so that I could actually think this through." Though I can't see my face right now, I am pretty sure that I have a devilish smile on my face. "Don't you think I am extremely creative? But the credit goes to you, you know. I had to come up with all these lies to cover up for your shit I became pretty good at it."
"You are not doing this to me."
"I am not." I shrug as I sit back in my seat. "You did this to yourself the moment you decided to humiliate me and MY marriage in front of the world." I don't even bother to say 'our' because he was never a part of this marriage. I am the only one who even acknowledged it.
But the marriage was over now. And though I cannot know for sure, so was the love that I had hidden in my heart for so long.
And even if the love did remain, one thing I have learned from my parents and my bullshit of marriage was – to choose your self-respect over anything and everything in this world.
"See you, Rowan," I say when I understand that he is not going to reply. "In court."
I tap the hang-up button and toss the phone back at Joshua who fumbles for a moment before securing it. I give him an extra sugar-coated smile when his confused eyes land on my face. "Now get the fuck out," I said sweetly.
"You know that Mr. Keller is not going to sit back on this, right? You started a war." He may sound innocent but there is an underlying threat.
I stand up as he does and walk over to him, standing mere inches from him.
"Name one person you know who can put on a fight against him."
"You." He says, as if on impulse, and then looks surprised at himself.
I smirk.
"Exactly."
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_______________________...I am shocked to see the condition my mother is in when I visit my parents. I just arrived in New York yesterday night and the only reason why I got to get any rest is because they needed it too, otherwise, it does not look like my father cares even the tiniest about me. Well, it's not like he ever did. "She really asked for a divorce?" She asks. "She really left your home?""Yes, she did." Dad looks almost annoyed at my mother, though it is nothing compared to the death glare he has etched on his face every time he glances over at me. "What else did you expect, Beth? That poor kid must have gotten fed up of everything that she has had to put up with because of her wretched marriage to this insolent brat of yours! It was a long time coming and you knew it so no need to pretend to be all shocked now.""But I wish she would just talk to me. Maybe I could have talked her out of her decision!" My Mom continues to wail. As much as I did not want my Mom to eve
___________________________...What the hell was I thinking?Seriously, what the living hell was I thinking?I stare at the picture of the two of us taken on our wedding day. And it is safe to say that it was the only moment in the whole of my marriage when he was the reason for my smile. He has only left bitterness in this marriage now. And I don't understand why I sit and ponder on the same things over and over again. Rowan and I were nothing but a business deal and all through the two years of hell that everyone including myself called a marriage, he made sure that I remembered my place in his life - or to be more specific, he made sure that I remembered that I had NO place in his life."What are you looking at?" Roselyn's voice breaks me out of the series of bizarre and nightmarish thoughts in my head.I show her my phone."Walking down that aisle was the last beautiful memory of my life." I sigh. Well, that is a bit dramatic - I have had good memories in the last two years e
___________________________...Pathetic.I just feel so pathetic that I cannot even look my friend in the eyes even though she is just trying to comfort me.How can I be so freaking pathetic?"Calm down Rory, it's alright. It's going to be alright." Roselyn rubs my back as I cry into her shoulder, her bump in the way. I felt the babies kick one or two times and Roselyn told me that even my niece and nephew were worried about me. But that just made me cry even harder."I do not need your permission to see my wife!" Rowan sounds so angry and he is so freaking loud that the both of us jump. My wife? Really?After all that he has done in the past two years, he is really going to stand there and assert his relationship with me? I know that Bianca is a match for him. Actually, Rowan is not a match for Bianca. She can do more damage with words than anyone can physically. She is that bitch who will spit fire to protect her loved ones."Oh yeah, but you need permission to enter this cond
__________________________...Bianca was so mad at me that she refused to speak to me. Roselyn wanted to know if there was something that I was hiding from them, but I could not tell them or anyone what I was going through right now. I was facing a dilemma that I could not overcome. It was safe to say that I was at an impasse. It was safe to say that I had become a puppet and I had handed all the strings to Rowan Keller.Fuck.How did this come to be?I wish someone would just take me away from all of this!"What the hell are you thinking, Rory?" Gabriella is screaming through the video call while I unpack my bags. Yep, I am back at the penthouse, and I feel so utterly humiliated and as if all of my self-esteem were thrown onto the floor and trampled upon.Rowan and I know what is the thing that is keeping me from getting a divorce, but to the rest of the world, I am the spineless wife who took back her husband without putting up a fight or showing anything that a woman with minim
___________________________..."Who said I am putting up a show?" He smiles an innocent smile, one that makes me too confused."Huh?"What is this shit planning now? Language, Rory! Seriously, this guy is programmed to bring out the worst in me. I think that should be a sign enough for me to run for the hills but here I am, being an idiot and repeating the mistakes of my life again and again. "I am genuinely trying to give our relationship a chance, wifey." He pouts.I narrow my eyes at him. "What next? Cars have started to run on water? Penguins are migrating to Mexico?"Rowan gives his smile one more time – shake out of it Rory, he is doing that on purpose. "Why don't you believe me?""I would believe scammers over you," I state without skipping a beat."Ouch, you hurt my feelings." He clutches his chest dramatically.The old me would have found all of this ultra cute but after what happened today, there was nothing he could do to get me to feel any of what I used to feel for h
_____________________________..."You bitch!" I can't help but snort like a pig when I hear her voice. She is so angry that I wonder if she herself would expose Rowan. If she does, then it has nothing to do with me. I am keeping my end of the deal which includes not getting a divorce and clearing his name – he never said anything about not dragging Ophelia in the dirt so that is exactly what I am doing.A few backdated complaints on her name, a fake restriction order and a statement from a psychiatrist proving that she is unstable and obsessed with my oh-so-amazing husband, and another statement from the paparazzi saying that she had leaked the pictures herself and they were all morphed – it is pretty simple to turn tables."I only did what Rowan wanted me to do." I sip on my coffee, talking leisurely."That son of a bitch!" She shrieks again."I wouldn't scream so much if I were you, Ophelia. People already think you are crazy and if you start acting like one then-""I will get y
____________________________..."I mean, not that I really second your decision but I do know you, and I do know that whatever you do, you do it for a solid reason." Zoe Wilkins, one of my closest friends, says. "And I know for a fact that this solid reason cannot be because you want a chance with the crush of your life."I give her a flat look. Does she really need to bring that up right now?"What?" She shrugs. "Now, don't tell me you were simply delusional and never really had feelings for him." She throws her hands up in the air as she speaks. She is a drama queen, just one step below Bianca."You have no idea how much I wish these were all my delusions and my life was how it used to be." I rub my eyes to chase away the sleep that my body so badly craved. There is a merger going on with an Italy-based company and I am in charge of it because I am fluent in the language, and also because I am an amazing negotiator."You know Bee is angry with you because she cares for you, righ
___________________________..."You!"Zoe and I give each other a knowing look before turning to the man who has just stormed into my office."Well well well, if it isn't the oh-so-busy brother-in-law of mine," Zoe comments."This is your sister?" He stops in his tracks for a moment. "You have another sister?"I roll my eyes."I am like a sister, dear Mr. Keller. Now if you will excuse me-" She is on her feet immediately. "- I will leave you two alone." She winks at him before grabbing her bright orange bag, which is in contrast with her otherwise fully black outfit and purplish black lipstick."See ya, Ro.""See you later, Zo." I wave at her and then look back at my husband, tilting my head and raising a brow as I do. I am going to play dumb for as long as I can with this."Yes, my dear husband?" I smile."So this was your idea huh?" He asks as he sits down on the seat Zoe had just unoccupied."Well, most of the ideas of this company are put forth by me, so I don't know exactly wh