Seven

Drake and Pablo stared at me as if they were scared to lose their lives. I glared so much at them, like they were the reason for my predicament. They were probably thinking they had done something bad to me, but well, I was moody only because I had seen Tanya tonight. 

I leaned over my car, my hands curled in a fist. "You both are dismissed. Stay in your quarters, and get ready to leave for work by six in the morning."

They nodded, putting their eyes down. 

"Take my car to the garage." I threw my keys at Pablo, and walked past them like an angry Lion. 

Getting to the huge door, I inserted the pin code, and walked in. Since this was eleven in the night, I didn't think anyone would be awake. I just headed straight to my room. As I walked up the stairs, all that ran through my head were Tanya's words. I had thought I would feel better after seeing her and confronting her. However, little did I know that she would resume being rude and intimidating.

After leaving her place, I had gone to a bar to have a few glasses of beer. I was quite groggy, and sober at the same time. My life just never wanted to stop being a shit. 

I managed to walk to my room door, feeling exhausted, feeling like all the energy in my body was being expended. If I wasn't a strong person, if I hadn't been through worse situations than this, I would probably be in tears by now, owing to how hurt I was. 

"Ivan." Unexpectedly, my aunt appeared. She tied the string of the robe she was wearing, not thinking twice before rushing over to me. She looked terrified, standing beside me. "Honey, what's wrong with you?" For some reason, she scrunched her nose, and gasped. "Did you drink alcohol? Why? What's wrong, my baby?"

I swallowed. "Aunt, it's fine. I-I just wanna go to bed."

Tears formed in her eyes. She held my hand, pulled my jaw so I'd face her, and soothed my cheek. "Sweetie, how did the date go? Did something happen between you and her?" She sniffled. "Don't worry, if she's hurt you, then we shouldn't go on with this. Maybe I'll look for someone else for you. Or, guess I should just forget about this and give you some time to think about it."

I gave her a weak smile. This woman always found a way to make me happy. She was the only one who cared about me so much. If I told her that Tanya was the reason for this sadness, she would probably weep all night, knowing fully well that I hadn't moved on just yet. 

"Aunt." I cupped her jaw, leaning close to drop a kiss on her forehead. "I'm fine, I promise. I only drank a few bottles cause I'm overwhelmed. Everything went well with Rae and I. She was cool, actually."

She blinked, holding back the tears in her eyes. "So…" She sighed, seeming quite hesitant to say something. "D-Did she agree to this relationship? Do you like her? And, does she like you?"

"She wants us to get married as soon as possible," I stated. It hurt to say that, but I just had to say it in order to release a tiny bit of the billion knots in my heart. 

She smiled. "Th-That's good, I guess. Please, take some time to think about this. Don't wanna pressurize you in any way, okay?"

"Hm." I nodded, stepping backwards. "Thanks. I'll go to bed now."

She smiled. "Goodnight." With that, she walked to the other side of the hallway, leaving this vicinity. 

As soon as I stepped into my room, I locked the door, threw my back against it, and dropped my butt on the floor. My fingers raced into my hair, and I let out a hard sigh. I closed my eyes, leaning the back of my head against the door. I felt very frustrated, though I knew Tanya wasn't worth my emotions. 

"It's unfair," I whispered. 

I was overly heartbroken, but as usual, I knew this would pass. I didn't know how to move on, but one thing I knew for sure was, love wasn't ever going to enter my heart from this day on. No one, absolutely no one, would ever be able to steal my heart. I was done with everything and everyone. 

I shut my eyes, trying so much to hold this pain. Hopefully, it would disappear. 

***

"So, Antonio will arrive soon," I informed my secretary who stood by the other side of my table. She smiled weirdly, almost seductively, a bunch of files tugged to her chest. I just ignored her weirdness. "He'll come over to take the files. Once he has them, I'll need you to follow him to South Dantry. You'll both be in charge of scrutinizing the latest cosmetic products that arrived yesterday."

She nodded. "Okay, sir. I'll be in my office."

I gave her a curt nod. I just wanted her to leave already. "Okay."

She turned around, and as she walked into her office, she swayed her hips side to side, in a really glaring manner, obviously trying to get my attention. What was wrong with her?

I shook my head in irritation. 

Grabbing my phone, I checked what time it was. This was six already. For some reason, my mind drew back to what had happened last night. It made me angry, angry to the point that I glared and squeezed my phone in my palm. I wouldn't have thought I would get drunk for someone like Tanya. 

Angered, I clicked on the phone icon on my phone, not thinking twice before deleting her number. I didn't want to ever speak to her. Seeing her number was more like a trauma. 

Someone knocked on the door. Expecting the person to be Drake, Pablo, or Antonio, it was none of them. Instead, it was two tall men who knocked, and opened the door without being permitted to. I was surprised, so I cocked an eyebrow at them. 

"Who're you?" I asked them.  

They sauntered toward my table, a small smile on their lips. "Good evening, sir. We're Antonio's men. He asked us to take the files."

I frowned a little. "Next time, you shouldn't come in before being asked to, okay? That's rude. Do you realize that I'm the owner of this company?"

One of them smirked. "Oh, sorry, sir." For some reason, he walked back to the door. I didn't know what he was planning to do, but well, he kind of locked the door. 

"Hey, are—" I leaped from my seat, being furious, ready to throw a punch at his face, but the other dude pulled something from his pocket, which made me halt in my tracks. It was a gun. 

"Raise your hands," he ordered. "If you move, I'm gonna blow your head off. No one jokes with us." 

I swallowed. I should have been suspicious of them. Antonio wasn't rich and responsible enough to have his own men. What would I do now? Where in the world were Drake and Pablo? 

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