5

She must be mishearing him right? There was no way Derek would have insulted her to her face right? Her hands shook and her lips quivered as she raised her red eyes to look at him.

“W…What?” The tough font she had assumed finally broke.

“I am telling you for the last time, Nirvana! Don’t let me fucking see you anywhere near my company or you would not like the repercussion. The way you are behaving is making me not regret marrying Kaitlyn. If you continue to step out of line, you might really find yourself out of the mansion!”

She quickly held his hand in hers and moved closer to him, a desperate look with a tinge of defiance on her face. 

“You would not do that to me,”

“Are you daring me?” His tone was sharp and meaningful.

“I have always been there for you, the only reason why I am doing this is because of you. You told me that you only had to keep Kaitlyn by your side till you took charge of most of the companies and you established your foothold in the business world. A-all of those are done, there is no need to still keep Kaitlyn, I mean… I shouldn’t have to lower my head and take all the humiliation and there’s no need for you to continue cozying up to her. You should divorce her now.”

He scoffed at her words and yanked his hand away from her before he gazed at her with disdain, his lips curled downward as he continued to look at her. “Don’t you think that it is a little bit shameless of you to ask that?”

“What?” her eyes widened when she heard his words.

“You are obviously the villain here and you make it even more obvious with this kind of request and white lotus behavior. Me and Kaitlyn are happily married to each other and you? You are the mistress, the lover that I was supposed to have left for a long time ago but I kept by my side. You should be thankful to Kaitlyn that she hasn't done something even more harmful to you. I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to keep you here even when you couldn't get a single job done. Just get out of my way and sit in a place like a good little girl that you have been for five years, otherwise, don’t blame me for being wicked.”

He didn’t give her the chance to reply before he charged out of the room, shoving her to the side and away from his way, she hit her shoulder on the wall because of the push.

That was the final blow that made her sink to the ground slowly, her breakdown was worse because it was Derek who led it out, she cradled her own head as she tried but fail to blink back the tears that kept falling. Her hands started trembling again before she quickly buried it in her hair in an attempt to stop the shaking.

She felt as if a cold bucket of ice had just been dumped on her head and she was forced to face the reality she was trying desperately to escape from. Who wouldn’t have known? Who wouldn’t have guessed? She might have been turning a blind eye but that didn’t mean that she didn’t notice it. She just hoped that it wouldn’t be there anymore if she ignored it enough.

Derek had always sided with Kaitlyn, he would have sex with her and they would be very loud about it even though she was in the next room. Many things could be faked but not passion, it was from the soul. He would take Kaitlyn on cute dates and the only time he ever came to Nirvana was when he wanted her to do something.

No matter what she did, it was never enough, it would never be enough to let him smile and praise her or take her out.

She had known him longer than Kaitlyn had, she had been with him through thick and thin more than Kaitlyn could ever dream of achieving.

Why was it never enough?! Why was it not fair to her?! She knew him first!

She was in love but it didn’t make her blind, instead it made her own decision blurry. When it came to the matters of the heart, who dared to make a hasty decision? Who wouldn’t hesitate? Who the hell wouldn’t hope? All she needed was a reason why he did that at the office, but he wouldn’t even grant the honors of doing that. He would rather tell her to fuck off than appease her when it was glaring that he was the one in the wrong.

“Nirvana…” She heard beside her and knew that it wasn’t the one she was desperate to hear but she still couldn’t help but turn to look out of curiosity.

What the hell was Calvin doing at the playroom so late at night?

“You are…”

“I didn’t wanted to disturb but you have been sitting here for over an hour,”

“It has been that long?”

“Yeah, it has.”

“But I don’t feel like moving, I just want everything to remain stagnant.”

“Then let me sit with you, one more unmoving person would make it feel more real,” he smiled at her before he sat down beside her. They both reveled in silence for a while.

“Is that enough to make you leave?” Calvin broke the silence and Nirvana turned to look at him, she didn’t answer. “It has already come to this, what could be holding you back? My brother is an asshole.”

“You have always told me to leave, do you hate my presence here too?” she asked and Calvin quickly shook his head.

“Of course not, but staying here is not good for you.”

“And you know that because?” She asked without much thought but to her surprise, Calvin turned and held her by the shoulder.

“Your life is in immense danger now, why do you still insist on staying? You know the kind of person Kaitlyn is, she wouldn’t spare you even if you beg her. It seemed that Derek had surrendered to her now.”

“It is not that I don’t want to leave,” Nirvana started, a thousand thoughts crossing her mind and tears pooled at her eyes again when she remembered Kaitlyn’s words and Derek’s actions. She shook her head slowly. “It is just that I can’t.”

“Why now? The door is right there, why stay here as a mistress?”

“I…love Derek too much,” she started, he wanted to interrupt but she held up her finger to stop him. “I know it, I am pathetic for holding on to the man who had long walked away into the arms of another woman, but I… I can’t just imagine my life without him. I don’t want to leave him…no, I am unable to leave him. The thought of being at a place where there isn’t Derek frightens me to no end, I don’t even want to imagine it.

I stuck to the only way that I can still be by him, which was why I quickly agreed when he suggested that I could be in the position of his lover for some months before he eventually marry me… he said that I would be his lover. Who knew that it would turn to the post of a mistress over the years? But I would be nothing without him, he was all I ever knew.”

Calvin frowned at her. “What is that even supposed to mean? You have other people to go to, other people like Leah, she is your friend, or Boris, he is your good cousin. Hell, you are welcomed in grandfather’s place every time, you are his favorite person!”

“Leah? Boris? Who are those? And why would I go to your grandfather when he hates me to the core?” Nirvana furrowed his brows at him and for the first time since they started this little conversation, Calvin stared at her as if she was mad.

“What the fuck are you on to now? You don’t know them and who the hell told you that grandfather hates you?”

“I asked Derek and he told me that I had no close friend or cousin, my only family worked for Kaitlyn and your grandfather hated me a lot, to the point that he made Kaitlyn and Derek have a forced marriage.”

Calvin couldn’t look more aghast in any situation than at that moment, he was genuinely rattled.

“Why would Derek tell you all these and you would believe it? Don’t you know them? You mean a lot to all of them,” he kept clenching and unclenching his jaws.

Nirvana hesitated for a bit as she wring her fingers together before she answered his question. “I am not supposed to tell anyone this, he told me never to mention it but what is the use of remaining quiet now? Anyone could come at me, no amount of pain would be a pinch on the one I am feeling now.” She seemed to talk to herself before she cleared her throat. “On the day after Derek’s wedding, I had an accident that caused me to have amnesia and Derek told me that it would be for the best if I kept it under wraps because I had a lot of people targeting me and trying to kill me or bring me down.”

“What?! You have amnesia?! From five years ago? Till Now?” He yelled, not believing his ears.

All the three times, Nirvana nodded in agreement.