EMMA
It felt like a knife had been shoved into my chest, causing me to almost stumble back at the impact. Fiancée. The word just kept echoing in my head, and it suddenly seemed to have a different meaning. It had to have a different meaning from what I knew, because how could Alex possibly be engaged a day after we spent the night together? I must've heard wrong. My denial was shattered when Alex leaned in and kissed the woman on the lips. The knife in my chest twisted. Everyone else had been silent, but they all suddenly burst with energy as they curiously moved towards Alex and his fiancée. “Oh dear, how can you just spring this on us?” Alex's mother, Thalassa Miller, gushed as she gazed at Natasha then back at her son. “If you had told me you were coming with someone, much more your fiance, I would've prepared better.” “I knew my son had great taste just like me!” Alex's father, Kris Miller, grinned though he frowned slightly. “But you need to explain why we're only meeting her now after your engagement.” “I'll explain later, dad." Alex said. “Hello, Mrs. Miller, Mr. Miller. It's so nice to finally meet you.” Natasha said, outstretching her hand but Thalassa waved it away and pulled her into a hug. “Nonsense. I'm Thalassa to you, or mum. Whichever you want.” My chest tightened even more painfully around the knife. I'd always dreamed about Alex's mum saying that to me. My gaze moved to Alex. I needed him to look at me. To signal to me that all this was a terrible joke but his gaze was fixed on the woman beside him, his gaze filled with what I could only describe as love. “Nice to meet you, future sister in law. I'm surprised though that my brother decided to keep you a secret" Alex's sister, Tessa, said as she shook Natasha's hand. Alex glared at his sister. “I already said I would explain later.” “Of course, bro.” Tessa beamed at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. “Didn't you come here for Emma's birthday? You haven't even wished her yet.” Almost all eyes turned on me, causing me to freeze in my spot as my eyes fixed on Alex, waiting for his reaction. He slowly began moving towards me with his fiancée on his arm, his expression unreadable. When they stopped in front of me, he smiled at Natasha. “Babe, this is Emma. She's like my little sister, and the birthday girl.” “Hello, Emma." Natasha smiled at me. “Nice to meet you. And happy birthday.” “Thanks.” I managed to say though I barely looked at her. My heart ached because when he looked at me, I only saw coldness in his eyes despite his smile. “Happy Birthday, Emma. Sorry for not arriving early. Here.” He extended something to me, and that was when I noticed that he had a wrapped box in his hand. He had brought me a gift. It wasn't big but also not too small. I accepted it and forced a smile on my face. “Thank you.” And just like that, he and his fiancée turned and walked back to where his parents were standing, his arm around her waist. “You didn't know he was engaged, did you?” A voice beside me asked. It was Celia. My throat felt too tight to respond, but we both knew the answer. “That bastard.” Celia growled under her breath. “He knew he had another woman yet slept with you and made you feel like you took advantage of him. And now he has the audacity to bring his woman here to rub it in your face. What a jerk.” Celia's words made everything hurt a thousand times more. I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't stand here and watch Alex with his arms around another woman. I'd never felt this humiliated in my entire life. I needed space to breathe. Almost everyone was focused on Alex and his fiancée so nobody noticed me slip away. I made my way into the kitchen, and luckily, there was no one there. Placing Alex's gift down, I leaned my hands on the kitchen counter as I gulped in deep steady breaths. It hurt. It hurt so much. "Emma?" A voice came behind me, causing me to stiffen. I'd only heard it for a few seconds, but it felt like a grating sound that would haunt me forever. I immediately straightened and tilted my head to look at her. “Yes?” “Is everything alright? Are you okay?” She asked, her voice so sweet it felt like it was dripping with honey. She really was gorgeous and looked to be around the same age as Alex. Of course he'd want someone mature and beautiful over me who was a young and naive girl who'd been crushing on him my entire life. “Yes, I'm fine." I responded, clearing my throat to get rid of the tightness. Not wanting her to see my face, I walked towards the fridge and opened it, grabbing a glass of water. After taking a small sip, I turned to Natasha and forced a smile on my face. “I hope you're enjoying the party.” I was ready to walk out of the kitchen when she spoke. “Alex said he practically watched you grow and you're like a sister to him. That must’ve been sweet.” A muscle twitched in my cheek, but I managed to keep my smile on, responding, “Yes. It was,” Natasha's eyes sparkled. “You must be curious about how we met.” I shook my head, already feeling suffocated the longer I spoke to her. “Not really. I’m just happy he’s happy.” Natasha let out a small laugh, but there was something in it I couldn't point my finger on. “That’s sweet. But you must be curious about why we've never been official until now, so I'll tell you.” She didn’t give me a chance to reply. “I actually asked him to keep our relationship low-key at first,” she went on. “I initially had my doubts about the problems this might cause because I know Alex has a lot of women flicking around him, especially when they think he's single. I mean Alex can be a little too nice and it gives certain women the wrong idea. Makes them feel like they’re special when they’re not.” I stiffened. Why did it feel like she was talking indirectly about me? Still, I kept my composure and responded. “I’m sure he knows how to handle that.” “Oh, he does.” Natasha smiled wider. “I've never had doubts about his love for me. And he doesn't fall for the little tricks some women play. Tricks like when certain women think sleeping with a man like a cheap slut will suddenly earn them a place in his life.” My throat closed up. Now I had no doubt she was talking about me. So Alex really thought that I took advantage of him that night? I clenched my fists by my side, struggling to control myself. I couldn't stand another second of talking with this woman. I turned, and my heart skipped a beat when I noticed Alex standing some distance behind me. From the look on his face, I realized that he'd heard everything his girlfriend said to me. I waited. Waited for him to tell her to apologize to me, but that moment never came. Tears burned my eyes, and rage rushed through me. I couldn't understand why he was treating me like this. “Can we talk?” I asked, barely keeping it together. He stared back at me expressionlessly for some seconds before looking at Natasha. “Can you excuse us for a moment, babe?” “Of course, babe.” Natasha smiled sweetly and left the kitchen, but not before giving Alex a lingering kiss on the lips. I looked away, unable to watch. “Why didn't you tell me you had a fiancée?” I questioned as soon as Natasha was out of the kitchen. Alex's gaze lacked the warmth he usually had when he looked at me before. Now all there was was coldness. “Because I don't owe you any explanations.” His cold words stung, and I gritted my teeth, glaring at him. “Why are you treating me like this, Alex? I know that night was unexpected for the both of us but I thought it would at least mean something. How could you just show up with another–” A cold chuckle from him cut me off. “Unexpected?” he shook his head. “Tell me, Emma. Was that night really unexpected for you?” The sheer ice in his words made me freeze as I stared at him in confusion. “Of course it was. What are you trying to say?” “Cut the act, Emma. I know the truth.” My heart raced inside my chest. “What truth?” “I know you paid the waiter to spike my drink at the club!”A storm of emotions twisted inside me as I stared into Stefano’s eyes. The Stefano I knew wouldn't do any of those things said in the police report, and he most certainly wouldn't threaten to take anybody's life.But why did the report talk about evidence being provided to back the accusations?I swallowed hard. “Why did that woman accuse you of those horrible things?”Stefano nodded resignedly, as if he understood why I couldn't blindly take his side.“After she tried to kill herself, I felt trapped," he said quietly. “So I stayed with her, fearing she would really kill herself if I left. I tried everything to love her as much as she loved me... if she actually did. But every day she got more bitter and we fought more and more.He looked down at his hands, rubbing his thumb over his palm like he was washing something off.“I would always apologise even though it was never my fault. Over time, I just got miserable until I couldn't do it anymore, so I broke up with her. I offered to le
For several seconds, absolute silence reigned, thick with tension as I slowly moved my gaze from Alex to Stefano.Stefano still hadn’t said a word, his eyes narrowed into infinitesimal slits, pinned on Alex. I looked back at Alex.The words he’d spoken kept ringing in my ears. And they made no sense. It had to be a joke. A very bad one.“What the hell is wrong with you, Alex? How can you even joke about something like that?” I fumed, my voice trembling with disbelief.“Do you really think I would joke about something like this?” Alex asked, looking at me earnestly, his brows furrowed in frustration.“If this isn’t a joke, then it has to be a lie. You’re just making this up,” I shot back, my chest heaving.Hurt flickered across his face, and guilt twisted in my stomach. Despite all his flaws, I knew he wouldn’t fabricate a grand lie about something so serious. So it had to be a mistake. That was the only explanation that made any sense.I shook my head. “What you just said about Stefan
I swallowed. Jealous?Sure, Hillary's sudden appearance had rattled me, considering everything she had stood for in the past, but that didn't mean I was jealous.Before I could throw that argument at Celia, I heard the twins yelling from the living room.“Daddy! Daddy!”My entire body went still.Liam’s voice rang clearer than Liana’s, and before I could blink, he came rushing into the kitchen, beaming.“Daddy’s here,” he said breathlessly. “He said to get you.”Celia arched a brow and sneered, “Probably done with his girlfriend now.”I ignored the tight twist in my chest and pushed my chair back. “Let’s go,” I told Liam softly, and followed him out of the kitchen.Alex stood in the living room, his hands buried in his pockets, his expression earnest. He looked up as I entered, his eyes meeting mine with something halfway between frustration and uncertainty.“Can we talk?” he asked.I gave a small shrug. “Sure.”He crouched slightly to face the twins. “Can you two give Mummy and me a
EMMAI stared at the rows of cereal boxes, but I wasn't really seeing them. My hands tightened around the handle of the shopping cart as the twins darted between shelves, their excited voices echoing through the aisle."Mummy, can we get this one?" Liam held up a garishly colored box covered in cartoon characters. I gave a vague nod, barely glancing at it before he tossed it in the cart."Liam already picked something. Can I get this?" Liana held up a different box."Sure, sweetheart," I said quietly.They both blinked at me, then exchanged a look. I knew they'd noticed I wasn't really present. I couldn't help it. My mind was stuck on what I'd seen outside Alex's office.Hillary Harris with her arms wrapped around him like she belonged there. The way she said my love had sounded so natural. And familiar. And Alex had let her.The ease of her presence. The way his arms hadn't immediately pushed her away. He hadn't even looked angry. Just stunned.Had she been in his life all this time
ALEXEverything had been going great. I'd just given the kids a tour of the company, which had brought us even closer. They both wished to do what I did when they grew up, and even though I knew they might change their minds as they aged, it still filled me with a deep sense of pride.But all that came crashing down when a familiar voice spoke and long-forgotten arms wrapped around me.I froze, my muscles going taut, mind racing.This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be her after so many years.I hadn’t seen her face in eight years, but I would have recognized that voice anywhere.Through the haze of my shock, I could make out Emma standing just a few feet away, staring.There was something raw about the way she looked at me in that moment. Something hollow. Before I could figure it out, she cleared her throat and stepped back.“We’ll go now,” she said quietly, as if she was afraid of breaking a moment apart. “The kids and I will continue to the supermarket.”Liam and Liana were alr
ALEXI was in my office reviewing some files when there was a knock. Without waiting for my call, the door opened and the person stepped in.I knew only one person who did that, so I didn't bother to look up.“Tony,” I muttered, flipping a page on the file.“Awn, I mean so much to you that you've even memorized my scent,” he said as he strolled in.Then he dropped himself into one of the chairs across from my desk like he owned it. “You need to hear what I overheard at the reception.”I looked up, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Do I?”He grinned. “Oh yes, you’ll want to hear this one. I heard three of your employees discussing that ever since you came back from your little getaway in Spain, you’ve been greeting people and smiling and saying good morning. And everybody is getting freaked out by it.”He barked out a laugh like this was the funniest thing he'd ever heard as he continued, “They’re trying to figure out if Alex Miller 'The Ogre' was replaced with Prince Charming.”I let o