A Bitch and A Bastard!

Lauren was almost skipping her way to Julian’s office excited about a surprise lunch date but as she approached, the soft sound of laughter coming from in there left her wondering if he was having another guest.

Inside, two bodies lay tangled in silk sheets. Celine rested her head against his chest, her voice low and filled with amusement.

“Lauren is such a fool, you know. After all this time, she still believes you love her.”

“She’s too easy to manipulate. I barely even try, and she still believes every word I say.”

Celine chuckled, tracing lazy circles across his skin. “I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out. It is still a wonder she hasn't found out you've been using her design but like you said, she’s slow and unsuspecting. And for the heiress she thinks she is, that's pathetic.”

“She’s living in a dream,” Julian replied. “Without me, she’d be nothing. Her name means nothing now and the company she thinks she’s building? It’s mine.”

He sneered, “She thinks I'll marry her? Such a joker!”

His voice sounded cold. When a few seconds passed without Celine saying a word, Julian made a move to get up.

“Well, I can say it's ours because soon, “little miss heiress” will be nothing but a loser and the stepping stone to our dream life.”

Their laughter filled the room again. It was intimate and poisonous seeping into Lauren’s bone as she stood outside the door listening. She stared down at the lunch box trembling in her hands. Her fingers clenched until the edges dug into her skin but she didn’t feel the pain. Her eyes stared blankly at the closed door, her mind struggling to process the voices she knew too well.

Her two favourite humans in the world were just behind that door gossiping and planning her downfall like she was just a stumbling block in their path. She wondered how she had been so dumb and blind to their antics all along. Well, love they say makes you stupid.

Her breath came in shallow bursts as every memory flashed before her eyes. The nights she stayed up helping him perfect his presentations, the designs she gave him freely because she believed in his dream, even when she had been asked to step back in the shadows because his so called family doesn't like their daughter in law in the limelight, she abandoned her growing fame and career as the best jewellery designer, but..

All the sacrifices she made in the name of love.

And now, this.

She wanted to scream. To barge into that room and point accusing fingers but just as she took a step, a soft moan echoed from inside stopping her dead in her tracks.

Her knees wobbled, her vision blurred and a laugh escaped her lips.

“Good… good… you all did good.” Her voice cracked on the last word, laced with pain she couldn’t hide. She swallowed hard, straightened her back, and forced herself to turn away.

As her heels hit the floor, each step heavier than the last but she determined in her heart to leave that building with her head up.When she reached the front desk, the receptionist looked up, startled by her pale face and trembling hands.

“If Julian asks,” Lauren said quietly, “don’t tell him I was here.” She didn’t wait for a reply. With her head up, she walked out.

Outside, the air felt colder. Her steps faltered as she reached her car. Opening the back, her grip on the lunch box loosened until it slipped from her fingers, hitting the seat with a dull thud.

Her body swayed and her chest was at the verge of bursting open with everything she’d been holding in.

“Not yet, Lauren. Just a little longer.” She whispered to herself but once inside the car, the silence broke her.

She screamed aching from the pain of the heart wrenching betrayal. Her voice cracked as tears spilled down her cheeks. Pressing her forehead against the steering wheel, her shoulders began shaking burdened by the weight of love, betrayal, and disbelief.

Lauren though determined and purpose driven had given up so much for a man who had turned her into a joke. She thought of Celine, the friend she’d trusted like a sister, entangled under the same sheets she had laid in too often and suddenly, a surge of anger overcame her.

Crying suddenly felt like a weakness and she bit her lip to stop the next sob. Then her phone rang.

She blinked, wiping her face with trembling fingers before answering.

“Lauren, sweetheart,” came the calm, familiar voice of her lawyer, Aunt Catherine. “Do you know what day it is in three days?”

Lauren stared at the dashboard, trying so hard to hide her wounded voice. “What’s going on?”

Aunt Catherine sighed softly. “You forgot again, didn’t you? It’s your twenty-fifth birthday. The day you’re supposed to collect the safe your mother left for you. Remember what she said?”

The words hit her like a cold wave. Lauren swallowed, her chest tightening.

“How could I forget,” she said quietly. “Without a marriage certificate, I can’t inherit the only thing my mother left for me.”

“Exacty. Have you told Julian? Is he ready to marry you? Because if you don’t claim it on your birthday, you might lose your opportunity to claim it for life.”

Lauren’s throat suddenly felt choked. She couldn’t speak and her heart ached all over from what she had just heard, and now this reminder cut deeper.

For a long moment, she said nothing. Then, slowly, her eyes hardened and the trembling stopped.

“Don’t worry, Aunty, I’ll claim it.” She gripped the steering wheel tightly. “It’s the only thing I have left of her.”

Inside her chest pain turned into a resolve. She would not lose everything because of a hopeless cheat.

Even if she had to play dumb, she would get what was hers.