A miserable marriage

Minutes after my brief chat with Theresa, Nicholas' sister, Amara walked up to me.

"Catherine, are you alright?" She asked with her usual fake concerned tone.

"I am." I answered curtly as I gave her a tight lipped smile. I smiled like that on purpose. I wanted her to think that I was heartbroken. I couldn't afford for her to know that I'm unto them yet.

"Don't lie to me. I know you. It's written all over your face that what Andrew did hurt you most but you should know that it wasn'this fault."

"Why are you and dad both taking his sides? How do you expect me to feel when I caught my husband sleeping with someone else at an important event like this. It was supposed to be my day but it's all ruined." I complained bitterly as a lone tear slid down my face.

Seeing my tears, a gloating look appeared on Amara's face but left the second it came. She held my hands and quickly pulled me out of the hall before anyone could notice that I was crying.

"Hey hey... you don't need to cry." She consoled as she tried to wipe my tears away but I slapped her hands off.

"Why not? None of you guys are even bothered about how I feel. You keep on supporting Andrew and ignoring my how hurt I am. It's like I don't know you guys anymore." I croaked out as more tears slid down my face. Without looking into the mirror, I could tell that I was looking really messy.

"I'm so sorry if we made you feel that way. I know you must be hurt but we all should just try to think logically. Andrew was framed, he wouldn't have cheated on you if it wasn't for the drugs." I almost laughed out when she said that.

She just recited all dad said to me earlier like they both learned the words from the same source. Like I said, she had already manipulated dad into forgiving Andrew so soon.

I scoffed inwardly when I remembered how I was treated in my past life after they had framed me for having an extra marital affair. If their plans had succeeded in this lifetime, we wouldn't be having this talk.

"We are still your parents and we care about you even though we don't really know how to show it. Just give it some time and it will all go away. You'll also learn to forgive your husband one day when you find out it wasn't really his fault." She said as she used a small handkerchief that was in her purse to dab off my tears.

"O..okay.. I'll try but everything can't go back to the way it used to be so soon." I muttered.

"I know. It's going to take time but you guys will surely overcome this. Also, I'll make sure the wench pay dearly for what she did, don't worry." She vowed, referring to Matilda.

I put on a fake sweet smile. "Thanks Auntie.." I said as I took in a deep breath before engulfing her in a small hug.

She stiffened a bit before she hugged me back. "You're welcome Catherine. Who else can you count on except me?" She asked as she patted my back softly.

"Only you auntie... only you."

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

Back at the charity event, the slow music playing was stopped and I took my position back at the podium. I introduced the next agenda on the list with was the auction.

We brought out many exquisite items and the bidding began. It was really fun as I got to see many wealthy people squander money just to be noticed. We were also able to sell the items for two times or three times their original amount since it isn't just ine person that wanted to get it.

Some of the money we gained will be used to pay back the funding for the charity event and the rest will be donated to the needy which was the purpose of this charity event in the first place.

After we've sold almost all of the items, we got to the last one which was the most exquisite and expensive of them all. It was a small ruby necklace, really small but very valuable.

It was one of the main reason that this ball was graced buy more than half the guests that are here. Every wealthy person in the hall wanted to get their hands on it because it was the only design of it's kind in the world.

I was also amongst the people that wanted to have it mainly because of its unique design but what could I do when dad decided to auction it out? Dad had always prepared to give out to people that really need the things we have rather than keeping them just to satisfy our eyes.

That's what made him different from every other wealthy or business men out there.

"For the ruby necklace, the bidding price is starting from one hundred dollars." I announced and it wasn't up to a second before someone else called out an higher amount.

"Two hundred thousand dollars." The man said.

"Two hundred thousand dollars, who has an higher amount??" I asked.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars." Another said.

"Three hundred thousand dollars." Someone countered.

"Four hundred thousand dollars."

"Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars."

"Six hundred thousand dollars."

"Seven hundred thousand dollars." The price went higher and higher till...

"One million thousand dollars." Someone said from the crowd, making everyone gasp in shock. The price wasn't the problem but the person that said it.

They must all be wondering why a family member would want to buy the necklace. It was no one else other than Andrew. What is he doing?

"Who else wants to bid higher than one million dollars?" I asked as I tried so much to hide my irritation.

"Two million dollars." Another person said making everyone more surprised. I wasn't left out. Nicholas wasn't one to be enticed by such material things so why was he bidding for a ruby necklace??

"Three million dollars." Andrew said, bringing me out of my shock.

"Five million dolllars." Nicholas added.

"Ten million dollars." It seemed like Andrew wasn't willing to back down soon, same with Nicholas.

"Twenty million dollars." Nicholas said. No one bothered to bid anymore as the drama between Nicholas and Andrew started to get really intense and interesting as time passed by.

"Fifty million dollars!!" Andrew said.

Nicholas lips curved up a little before.. "One hundred million dollars!" He said amd the hall was filled with loud gasps.

He just bid one hundred million dollars for a hundred thousand dollars worth necklace. It's a very stupid and surprising decision to make. Did he love the necklace that much? Or he just didn't want to loose to Andrew?

I stared at Andrew and almost laughed out when I saw the annoyed look on his face. It was so funny. Seriously, there was no way he could top that. That was what I thought when;

"Two hundred million dollars!!" Andrew said making the hall go silent.

He really wanted to go that far?? I waited for a minute but Nicholas didn't say anything like he had given up. I turned to stare at him only to see the amused look on his face like he was enjoying what was happening. But he just lost the bidding or was he after something else??

I ended the bidding with Andrew as the winner. He paid for the necklace and collected it. He walked up to the podium and knelt in front of me.

"I'm so sorry for what happened Catherine. As a token for my undying love for you, please accept this priceless gift and forgive me." He said as he stretched out the necklace to me.

I gave him an emotionless look as he displayed in front of everyone. Seeing that he wasn't going to get any response from me, he chuckled nervously and stood up.

He brought out the necklace and hooked it around my neck by himself. It was easy for him to do that because my long hair was tied up.

"I'm sorry." He whispered again before he left. His antic recieved a lot of praise from everyone around but I didn't care.

The world must have forgiven him but not me. Andrew, you're going to have a very miserable marriage life with me. This is only the beginning.