Good for her

    Chapter 5: Good for her

    "Alissa, can you hand over my towel?" Shane said from the shower. He had forgotten to grab his towel, a habit he couldn't seem to lose.

    Upon getting no response, Shane called out again, "Alissa, aren't you going to help or are you so desperate to see me naked?"

    Again, no response.

    Anger fueled through his veins. "How dare she ignore me," he thought. Shane got out of the bathroom and stepped into their bedroom in his full glory. Water trickled lazily down his six-pack, and he looked like a model straight from a Calvin Klein photoshoot.

    "Alissa," he called out, his voice growing hard.

    Drifting his gaze to the bed, his lips turned to a frown when he did not see his clothes laid out, nor even his towel. Usually, Alissa would get everything ready for him and tease him about forgetting his towel, then make him breakfast.

    "You can't ignore me forever," he seethed as he marched to the walk-in closet to grab a fresh towel. After putting on his clothes, Shane went downstairs with his tie in his hands, searching for Alissa to help him tie it.

    "Where had she gone?" he wondered. He had come home last night tired and did not bother looking for her.

    "Good morning, sir," a middle-aged servant's voice distracted his thoughts.

    He replied with a nod, then he realized he had never laid eyes on her before. "Who are you?"

    "I am Maria, Miss Colet had sent me to get her things," the woman introduced herself with a kind smile and a bow.

    Confusion flickered in his hazel eyes. "Who is Colet?"

    In a panic, Maria quickly added, "Erm, I mean Alissa, your wife."

    "Is Colet her middle name?"

    Unaware of how to respond, the maid bobbed her head in response. Maria could not comprehend how a husband would not know his wife's full name.

    A flash of displeasure scathed his face at the thought of Maria touching his wife's things. He knew Alissa hated when people touched her things.

    However, since Maria had been sent here by her, she must have authorized it. The woman must be guilty, so she did not dare step foot in his mansion again.

    It was surprising that he had forgotten about everything that transpired last night. He was no longer a married man but divorced. Soon the divorce proceedings will be over. Alissa was no longer his responsibility.

    "Good for her," he thought.

    "Where is she?" he asked in a cold voice, fiddling with his tie as he tried to wear it properly. After several knots, he was successful.

    Maria was startled by the harshness in his tone. "She isn't coming back, sir," she told him straight up.

    Letting out a sigh, Shane picked up his phone and began to manipulate it. "Ah, okay. Get her things, then, and I want you out before I return."

    Maria bowed respectfully, she sidestepped, watching the fleeing figure. When he was out of sight, she smiled, "You will regret losing a woman like Miss Colet. I assure you, sir."

    The news of the arrival of the lost granddaughter had spread wider than wildfire. After the board meeting, Shane overheard the conversation of his board members.

    "Have you heard about the return of the sole heiress of the Kincaid family?" The fat man at the left of the table began after a sip of his coffee. He enjoyed the taste.

    "Yes. Who hasn't?" one of the men replied, which made the others laugh.

    "I haven't," Shane said to himself. He was immersed in the document in his grip, but his ears were sharp.

    Straightening out his tie, another man went on, his gaze lingering on Shane's secretary and another woman from the sales department. "Yeah. It's all over the tabloids, the most searched story. I heard ET is going to cover the story, and they are planning to even write a book about the reunion. After the death of Sam and Simone Kincaid fifteen years ago in that car accident, Colet had gone missing. They even thought she had died until someone tipped them off some months back."

 He rubbed his stubble in thought.

    Colet?

    At this point, Shane set the document on the mahogany table and stared at the three men in expensive suits who were gossiping.

    Colet?

    The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint where he had heard it before.

    "It's such a heartwarming story. My wife couldn't shut up about it. They are holding a party for her tomorrow at the villa, to properly welcome her. I heard she was mistreated and even cheated like a maid by her foster family."

    "Poor girl, entitled to millions but left a poor life. I couldn't imagine that for myself. Being poor is worse than suffering from both HIV and herpes."

    "Well, I am definitely attending. A lot of business men and potential suitors will be attending. My son too will join the race, maybe he will win over Cinderella."

    "Don't get your hopes up, she's no virgin. Aha, been married for five years and is now divorced."

    "Well--"

    "Don't you have more important things to do than sit and gossip like women in a salon? We have competitors rising in the market faster than Sabrina Carpenter, and you are indulging in some chitchats," Shane interjected, his eyes narrowing sternly at them.

    "We already have started with the changes you ordered. The shipments from Lisbon have been cancelled, and we are getting the suppliers replaced," one of the men replied.

    "Whatever," Shane scoffed, not knowing where his anger was coming from. He stood up and left.

    As soon as Shane left, they continued, "Dominic would not like this. He would act out as he always does. I feel bad for the innocent girl. She will be snapped in half before she even knows it."

    "Ah," one of them scoffed in laughter. "You are worried about Dominic, what about Finick and Daniel. Those are the true vipers. In a den of lions, she would be slaughtered!"

    They all kicked into a laughter fit.

    One of the men, shook his head, he finished the coffee in his mug. "She deserves it, that is what happens when you let women out of the kitchen."

 The next day

    Back in his office.

    Shane, being a workaholic, indulged himself in his work, examining and signing documents.

    His thoughts wandered back to Alissa, the way she stood as if a ghost of herself when he signed the papers. Shane let out a sigh, feeling sweaty, he pulled down his tie.

    In the next moment, he took out his phone and dialed a familiar string of numbers. He used the office phone and was even surprised he knew the digits offhand.

    After one, two rings, it was answered.

    "Where are you?" He asked in his normal irritated tone.

    "Who are you?" a groggy voice in a foreign accent answered.

    Did I mix up the digits?

    Shane frowned. It was impossible. He could not mix up something so simple. After all, she had been using the same number for over seven years.

    Perhaps she had lost the phone.

    "Who are you?" Shane asked instead.

    "I picked this mobile at the train station and I am not giving it back. Finders keepers!" The other person swore under their breath, then hung up.

    Stunned, Shane tried the number again, but it said it had been switched off.

    Train station?

    "So Alissa left the city? Is she that guilty?" He shook his head, letting out a light chuckle. "At least, she still has some humanity in her."

    Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The scent of an expensive perfume wafted into his nostrils. He recognized the bearer without even sparing her a glance.

    "You got discharged," Shane told her instead of asking.

    Cindy's sweet laugh reverberated in the room, and she went over to wrap her arms around him possessively. Shane's lips curled up into a smile, and he asked, "How are you feeling? You should not be out of bed."

    "I was discharged, remember? I am a free woman," she said in a sweet voice.

    When Shane heard that, he recalled what he had told Alissa that night. He shook the thought away, turning to face his beloved. He cupped her cheeks and crashed his lips onto hers, kissing her passionately.

    Alissa broke away from the kiss, leaving Shane panting. She lifted her finger to his lips, "We shouldn't go overboard, especially not tonight. "

    "What is happening tonight?" Shane questioned, his dissatisfaction palpable.

    "We are going to the Kincaid's. Today is the arrival of their lost daughter," Cindy replied.

    "Why? Are you invited?"

    "No, but your family is. I would like to meet her, Colet is like royalty here, you know. Who knows, I might bag a deal with her, and our business partnership with theirs. You know my family business needs it. Alissa was useless to them, and--"

    "Fine. Go get ready then."

    "We are going to meet the new heiress!" Cindy yelled in excitement.