3

Chapter 3

Rosebud Martinez

A few days later

“Ms. Martinez. It's so good to see you.” Mr. Roland Hughes, the organiser of the dinner welcomed me with a smile the moment I walked inside the banquet hall.

“It’s good to see you too, Mr. Roland. It's been ages.” I shook hands with him as I chuckled lightly.

My eyes wandered around the large hall, to see many dignitaries sitting around each table.

“You look gorgeous tonight… as always.” Mr. Roland's voice drew my attention again, and I looked at him.

A proud smile spread across my lips as my gaze dropped to my red fitted gown. Maddie, my assistant, had taken her time to select this dress especially for this event for me. In her words, I would stand out, and with the many eyes on me, I already confirmed her words.

“Thank you.”

Mr. Roland was a young businessman who has been there for me for years. He is like my best friend.

“Ms. Martinez!” A cheerful gasp sounded behind me, and I looked back to see an unfamiliar young beautiful lady hurrying up to me.

“I'm a big fan of yours. Oh my goodness! I can't believe I'm finally seeing you in person.” She squealed excitedly, and I smiled at her.

“Thank you. It's good to see you.”

“My name is Rosalie. I'm aspiring to be like you. A successful businesswoman.” She introduced herself, and I smiled proudly.

“I'm glad I could inspire you. You will get there soon. Just keep going.” I assured her, and she nodded.

“It's good to see you.”

My eyes caught a glimpse of someone sitting across the hall, and my eyebrows drew apart and a silent scoff tore through my throat.

There they were. My shameless soon-to-be ex-husband and my sister, sitting side by side with each other like lovers and smiling wholeheartedly.

“Ms. Rosalie, can we meet later, please? Here is my company's card. You can reach out to me if you ever need guidance. I will be glad to help.” I gave her my card, and her face beamed with a smile.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Martinez. I will definitely reach out.” She walked away.

My finger clenched tightly around my purse, my jaws clenching tightly as I watched them talking and laughing. How did I never notice this?

‘You should get some rest, honey. You don't have to attend the dinner party’

Those were the exact words Mathew said to me hours ago. Just like he did back then, he tried to convince me to stay at home. Back then, I agreed because I thought he cared about me and wanted me to be fine, but I was just foolish not to notice this. He kept me at home then so he could come here with Megan.

Mathew's face flashed with shock and surprise the moment he looked in my direction and our eyes met. I could bet he already nudged Megan's leg under the table because she looked at me too, and their smiles faded.

Megan's face went frozen.

Then, that bastard stood up and started walking over to me.

“Ho…honey…” he stuttered as he halted in front of me. His face was pale.

“You…you are here?” He stuttered, swallowing whatever was in his throat afterwards.

“Yes, I'm here.” I forced a smile at him.

“You were supposed to be at home. I mean, we agreed you weren't going to be here.” His lips trembled, his voice almost quivered as he struggled to pull himself together.

“Why?” I raised my eyebrows, and he batted his eyelashes.

“Uhm… nothing. I mean, you weren't feeling too well this morning.” He huffed nervously.

“I'm fine, Mathew. It wasn't that serious…” I paused, then looked over to Megan who was glaring hard at me, but her face softened when I caught her. She walked up to me.

“Sis, you didn't say you were attending the dinner party.” She halted in front of me, a nervous smile playing on her lips.

I ignored her, then turned to Mathew and asked. “What are you doing here, Mathew? You told me you were hanging out with your friends.” I crossed my arms in front of me, and his face froze.

“Huh?”

“I mean, how did you end up here when you were supposed to be with your friends?” I rephrased my speech since my English was probably too difficult for him to process.

“Oh… that… I…I… was—”

“I invited him.” Megan chipped in.

“I was supposed to be here with you, and since I wasn't sure you would be here earlier, I had to invite him in your stead.”

I'm sure she wouldn't even speak if she knew how dumb she sounded.

“Oh, yes, honey. Megan invited me.” Mathew nodded as he came to stand beside me, holding my hand.

“You should've rested at home.” He leaned close and whispered to my ear, trying to change the topic that I wasn't even interested in from the get-go.

“You look gorgeous, honey.” He added, kissing my neck, and the only thing I felt was disgust.

“Thank you.” I forced a smile as I stylishly stepped away from him.

“Ms. Martinez! Oh my God! Is that really you?” I was still standing with Mathew when one of the guests walked up to me with a smile on her face.

“I knew I was going to finally meet you. I'm a big fan.” The young lady in her late twenties squealed excitedly.

“Thank you.” I returned her smile.

“By the way, my name is Georgina Louie, CEO of Gina realty. It's good to meet you.” She extended her hand to me for a handshake.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“I’ve been looking for ways to contact you, but couldn't. I'll be so honoured to work with you in the future. My card. Please contact me so we can talk business.” She took out a card from her black purse and handed it to me.

“Thank you. I'll be sure to reach out.

“Hi! My name is Megan Martinez, CEO of Meg realty, and a shareholder of Martinez properties.” Megan, who had been standing the whole time, burning in rage, stepped forward with her pretentious smile as she extended her hand to Gina for a handshake.

“Oh… I had no idea.” Gina eyed her as she left her hand hanging in the air, then turned to me with a smile on her face.

“Please reach out to me, Ms. Martinez. I'll be looking forward to it.”

“Sure, I will.”

My lips curled up in a faint smirk as I returned my gaze to meet Megan's burning eyes. She couldn't hide her jealousy this time.

“I need to use the restroom.” She forced a smile, and without wasting another second, she walked away.

“Do you want to go comfort her?” I was tempted to ask Mathew when I found him staring in the direction Megan went, but I held back, ignoring him.

My phone came buzzing at that moment, and I excused myself to go take the call when I saw that it was from Maddie.

I was barely gone for five seconds, when I saw that Mathew had already taken off, and it was no doubt he was going to join Megan. Shameless bastard.

I followed Mathew after I spoke with Maddie on the phone, and just as I had expected, I spotted them cuddling up in the washroom with the door slightly ajar.

“Why does she always get everything? I'm so sick and tired of this!” I watched as Megan cried in his arms, her head resting on his chest.

“Don't cry, Megan. You have me, alright? You know I love you, right?”

My heart wrenched painfully as I watched him hold her face in between his palms, his eyes boring into hers passionately.

It hurts. No, it wasn't because I was still in love with him. It hurts because I was so blind not to see this rubbish all these years of being together.

“Don't worry, babe. I'm going to make sure she signs the documents soon, and we can finally get rid of her after then, alright?”

I clenched my fingers tightly into a fist, and huffed silently, turning my face away. My eyes stung and shortly, my vision was rendered blurry as tears brimmed in them.

As they turned to walk out of the washroom, I pushed the door to the male restroom open, and dashed inside, closing the door behind me.

I crashed against the wall, fighting back my tears. There was no way I was going to allow them to break me again.

“You got this, Rose.” I whispered to myself, then took a deep breath before stepping out of the restroom, but my heart skipped as I was welcomed by a tall figure, leaning against the corner of the doorframe.

“I finally found you, Bud.” He stood straight in front of me, his hands tucked inside the pockets of his black pants, and his pair of honey-brown doe eyes bored into mine, a smirk tugging at the corner of his small lips.

“Bruce?” His name escaped my lips in a whisper, my eyes narrowed in shock…