Chapter Two: Tessa

“Tessa, where the hell have you been?! I’ve been worried sick!” Austin yelled the moment I got into the apartment.

I looked at him in disgust, wondering how I fell for him in the first instance place. 

He was a deadbeat boyfriend who never took the initiative to treat me to something nice. All he had was excuses. He was currently unemployed and was living in the house I paid for, for free. Yet he had the nerve to cheat on me with my best friend. 

I felt so dumb for letting myself cry over his sorry ass.

“Get out.” I said coldly.

“What?”

“Get the hell out of my house Austin!!!”

“Babe, what’s going on? Is there something wrong?” He asked innocently. 

Me before yesterday would have fallen for his innocence. 

“You have some nerve to stand here and act innocent.” I spat bitterly. 

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I know you’re cheating on me with Clarissa you bastard!” 

He blanched, face turning white as the tiles in my bathroom. 

“How could you?!” I shoved him in the chest when he had gone for several seconds without uttering a word.

“Babe… I - I can explain.” He stuttered. 

Shaking my head, I pointed towards the room. 

“I don't want to hear it. Just pack your things and get out. I never want to see you again.”

“Tessa, we can’t just throw three years away.”

“You should have thought of that before you started sleeping with my friend.” I retorted. 

“I’ll break things off with her I promise. I won’t speak to her ever again. We can live our lives peacefully,” he sounded desperate.

I did not give a fuck. He could go and live with her for all I cared. I just never wanted to see him again.

I kicked him out of my apartment and threatened to call the police if he kept banging on my door like that.

I didn’t confront Clarissa. I expected him to pass the message instead as I blocked both of their numbers.

Surprisingly, I didn’t have any tears left to cry. So what I did was make myself a cup of coffee and just sit with my thoughts till I fell back in my bed and slept.

~

Days rolled into weeks and I settled into a soft rhythm. 

I went to work, came back and sat on my couch every single day binging movies and series until I slept off. It was a boring life but at that moment I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I didn’t think about my ex much. In fact, I pushed him to the back of my mind and from what I’d heard via Sana, he was doing just fine going everywhere with Clarissa who was unapologetic about getting him. 

I thought of the handsome man from my one night escapade every now and then. I wondered if he thought of me too but then that was most likely impossible. I was not his first rodeo so why would he think of me like I was special or something?

Like always, I discarded the thought, not realizing I was in for a surprise. 

~~~

There was a knock on my door on that Saturday morning. I stepped out of the kitchen where I was making breakfast, wiping my hands on a napkin as I approached the door. 

I assumed it was Sana because she said she was going to be here to pick up a pair of shoes for the event she had to attend today.

My face paled the moment I saw him. 

"How did you find me?" I blurted out immediately. 

He raised a brow. "I married you, of course I should know where my wife lives."

"What?" 

"You heard me."

I stepped aside for him to come in as my eyes followed him. He was dressed in a designer suit, he smelled of expensive cologne and looked out of place in my small living room. 

"Don't tell me we actually got married that night." I said as his words interpreted themselves in my brain. 

"We did." He said, unsmiling.

I wanted him to tell me that he was joking. 

"You're not kidding?" I asked just to be sure. 

"Does it look like I have all the time in the world to crack jokes? This isn't a comedy." 

He was the grumpy type that’s for sure. 

"Gee, you have to calm down." I said with an eyeroll as I leaned on the door. "How soon can we get an annulment?"

"Who said anything about an annulment?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, standing fully on my feet as I stared at him in confusion.

"Let's finish what we started."

"Look, mister..." I trailed off. I didn't even know this man's name.

“Owen Carter.” He completed it for me.

“Owen Carter?” I repeated.

He didn’t respond. He just stared at me with the same bored expression he came in with.

“Wait, you’re the CEO of Carter Groups??!”

“Yes,” he answered coolly.

I gasped. My mind was blown.

The company I worked for had been trying to pitch to him for months and we hadn’t been able to secure a meeting and now he was standing right in the middle of my living room.

I pinched myself. This had to be a dream.

“Ow,” I exclaimed softly. 

This was real after all.

“I’m Tessa Hayes,” I introduced myself, choosing to maintain my composure instead.

He shook my hand, his grip firm. 

“Nice to see you again, wife.”

I flinched slightly at the mention of the last word.

“How did this happen?” 

“Pretty simple. We were drunk, we found ourselves in the registry and got married.”

He brought an envelope out of his suit jacket and handed it to me. 

I took it with shaky hands, opened and saw for myself the marriage certificate with our names on it. Stamped and sealed. 

“Oh lord.” I whispered.

How did I let myself get so reckless?

I turned to him and frantically said, “We have to fix this.” 

“On that note, I have an offer for you Ms Hayes.”