3 - 3 slaps plus 1

Ava’s POV

“You see, I didn't mean to be rude to you,” the reality dawned on her with those words and her face turned really pale. 

“You looked so young, that's why, please forgive me. I was just trying to warn you off this slut, after all, everything I do is for the wellbeing of my husband and his family,” she said as she kicked Caleb with her heels. But he was too much of a chicken to speak up for her.

Kyle turned to me, “she's the one from the video right?” He asked and I nodded. 

“Despicable indeed,” he said with wrinkled nose and turned to me, “I was going to get revenge on whoever dared to plan against me before, but I feel so much rage right now. Can you let it out for me?” He asked and I widened my eyes in question. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Slap her, three times, loud and sharp to let out my rage,” he said with an uninterested tone but that look in his eyes made it impossible to deny. 

As if aggression had passed, I felt myself boiling with rage as well, as I remembered all the times I had been deceived by her in the past and my palms were suddenly itchy for a collision with her face. 

“No, don't come near,” she said as she stepped back and fell on Caleb's lap. 

Slap! It was so raw and painful that even my palm stung. “That's for being a bad person.”

Slap! “For being a bad friend.” 

Slap! “For deceiving me all this while 

Slap! This time, my palm landed on Caleb's face, “and this is for being such a jerk!” I said before turning to Kyle, hoping he didn't see me as a devil just now. 

“I'm sorry, I lost count and my palm slipped,” I said to explain the handprint on his nephew's face, but he only shrugged. 

“I feel better now, why don't we go have something to eat, I think the cook prepared breakfast,” he said like nothing happened and I followed behind him, not wanting to look at those deceitful pairs a minute longer. 

When we got to the kitchen, we both paused and opened our mouths at the same time. 

“Do you feel better now?” He asked.

“Thank you, I never thought getting revenge could be so satisfying,” I said as I beamed, unable to contain my smile. 

“Revenge? I've barely started with them,” he chuckled and held my wrist, “come in, let's eat,” he was so carefree as we heated the food and he told me that the help in the house comes in when he's out to clean and make his food. 

I signed as we set the dinner table. 

“What's wrong?” He asked and I hesitated a while before turning to him, biting my cheeks and fidgeting with my fingers. 

“I planned to work as your live-in house help for a while to pay for what you've done for me today but now, I feel useless,” I said and he frowned. 

“Forget I ever said anything, I was just-” 

“You have a degree, don't you?” He suddenly asked. 

Startled, I nodded, “yes, a bachelor's degree in food science and technology,” I said and he nodded while stroking his chin. 

“Good, it so happens that the doctor asked me to watch my diet and I don't have a dietician to take care of that,” he said and I immediately understood the underlying meaning of that.

My heart heaped with joy. Maybe the whole betrayal thing wasn't so bad afterall. 

“But I'm not certified yet,” I wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt. 

“You can always learn on the job. Mason will discuss the salary with you later and you can move your things in this evening, I was starting to get tired of living alone,” he sighed but I got the feeling that he was lying, because in the chunk of that article that I had managed to read, it was said that he was a loner. 

“I get to move in?” 

“Or do you want me to move into that rundown apartment of yours?”

“We had an AC, it's not run down,” I defended and he just smiled, “wait a second, how did you know about my apartment?”

“Let's eat, the food is running cold,” he ignored my question and I glared at him before picking my cutlery. 

That evening, I was escorted by Mason who was an amiable person to talk to as well as the driver who remained mute throughout the ride to go pick my stuff. 

We paid for all the furniture together. Most of my clothes were bought by either her or Caleb who didn't like my style of dressing, so I didn't have much to pick. 

Weirdly enough, they didn’t seem to have returned to the apartment, so I had to get in with my spare key. 

“Is that all you need?” Mason asked behind me as I sighted the phone which I thought I'd lost. 

I snatched it from the table and nodded at him. 

“Yes,” I dragged the box and followed behind him before locking the door and throwing the key underneath the rug. 

She can have it all. I smiled as we got into the car, because my salary was enough to pay for the yearly rent at once with change. 

I switched on my phone and realized that I was bombarded with messages and notifications from all my social media. 

I didn't keep friends, so what was the buzz about? 

By the time I opened the messages and read through some of them, I wished I hadn't.

“What in the world?!” I flared as the car was driven into the mansion. 

“What's wrong, miss Ava?” Mason asked as he picked up my phone and snorted. 

“Look what they are saying. Nothing like that even happened in the first place!” I was so upset as I got out of the car. I felt the strong urge to hit my head on a post because of how enraged I was. 

That two faced bitch was escalating things and making me out to be a villain I wasn't. 

“Don't worry, miss Ava, please calm down while I inform the president about his. He will definitely find justice for you,” he said as he hurried inside with the phone.