Her heart was in her throat when Roxanne met Christopher again as she stepped out of the elevator after work.
Didn't he tell her that he had to work overtime tonight? What made him change his plan?
"A surprise." He grinned widely as he gave her a big hug. Many passersby casted envious glances towards them, thinking they were a couple in love.
Yet Roxanne was keenly aware of something strange. Christopher was a bit too clingy today. That was not him.
Even though he was smiling, she could feel there was something hiding behind that.
"Sorry for being busy these last few days. I'll make it all up tonight." He said gently but somehow gave her a shiver.
"It's okay." Roxanne answered as she slipped into the passenger seat.
The rest of the ride, Christopher consisted of his one-sided conversation regardless that Roxanne had told him that she was tired and needed some rest.
By the time they had arrived at Roxanne's house, she didn't hesitate to jump out of his car the moment he had parked it well.
"Thanks for the ride." She said as she took fast strides towards her house, leaving Christopher clenching his teeth in anger.
She didn't even invite him inside. She must have an affair!
Jumping out of his seat, Christopher chased after her and caught her wrist before she could step into her apartment.
"Roxy, wait."
"Yeah?" Roxanne answered and his hand around her wrist made her feel utterly revolted. "What is it?"
"I was thinking that...maybe we could watch a movie tonight. Like old times?"
Ah, so that was his another trick to make her pregnant soon. Roxanne thought as she forced a smile on her lips.
"Sorry, Chris, I'll have to throw in the towel for tonight."
Christopher's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"Work, tons of it piled up." She lied with the sweetest smile on her lips and with everything she had, placed a peck on his cheeks. "Some other time, okay?"
Christopher was not about to give up but the sound of his phone ringing went off.
Christopher was a little panicked when he saw the name on his screen. It was Amber, Roxanne had also seen it.
He told her that he needed to work overtime before. Roxanne guessed it should be their cheating date tonight. But some unknown reasons drove him to change his plan. So, his little mistress felt uneasy now.
"Call from work?" She asked as she sneered inside.
"Y-yeah." Christopher lied. "I'll finish this soon and be back to you."
But when he hung up the phone and returned, wearing a saddened expression."Roxy, babe..."
"You have to leave?" Roxanne cut his words, already knowing what he was about to say. She had experienced it too many times.
Christopher solemnly nodded his head and Roxanne pressed her lips into a thin line. Though she already knew his choice, Roxanne couldn't help but feel bitter.
After a long silence, she nodded and forced a smile. "It's okay."
"You are always the best, babe."Christopher gave her a hug before rushing away.
Disappointedly watching him leaving her for Amber again, Roxanne gave herself a bitter laugh and turned to open her door. However, someone forcefully sneaked in before she could lock the door.
With her only source of light gone and the light switch feets away, Roxanne felt her heart pound as many unpleasant possibilities flew through her mind.
She tried to scream and run, but was pinned against the wall with her mouth covered by the man.
"Stop screaming." Only after hearing his voice did Roxanne realize that it was none other than Lance.
Anger rose in her chest and without thinking, she bit his palm painfully.
Lance hissed and instantly unlatched his palm from her mouth.
"You fucking lunatic." Roxanne cursed out once she had regained her ability to speak. "What right do you think you have to waltz your way into my house? Leave, right now!"
"Do you really want me to do that?" Lance asked and took a step forward and Roxanne stepped backward to keep a safe distance from him.
"Picture this," Lance uttered as he continued taking steps towards her. "What do you think your fiancé would think when he sees his stepbrother coming out of his fiancee's house?"
"Only a few minutes after you had just rejected him spending the night."
Roxanne's brows knitted. How exactly did he know of this? Was he stalking her?
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. That I accidentally left him a little gift this morning." Lance shrugged his shoulders as he smirked.
"Gift?" Roxanne felt herself more confused.
"Nothing much, just the condom we used last night. I 'accidentally' left it in that coat of his I guess."
When Roxanne finally realized what he had done, the panic she felt before turned into anger directed at Lance.
"Are you fucking crazy?" She raged, taking a threatening step towards Lance and he just grinned.
"What fun is a game of revenge if your opponent is simply clueless?"
"Game?" Roxanne asked and scoffed. "This isn't a 'game'. This is my life you're toying with."
"Easy sunshine. Obviously with his three percent IQ brain power, Christopher would never be able to think that your cheating date is his stepbrother."
"What?" Roxanne's eyes fluttered in disbelief. Her choice in men really was awful.
"Come on sunshine..." Lance continued to say, "I'm helping you here, the least you should say is thank you."
"You, helping me? And I should say thank you?" Roxanne felt her hand itching to slap his face but held herself back.
"I'm not interest in your stupid game but this draws the line." She told him and was about to kick him out from her house but he held her wrist.
"I'm serious." The tone of his voice made her stunned and he continued, "I'm sure as hell that you can't finish this without me."
"You need me." Lance said as he reached forward, took a tiny batch of her hair and rolled around his finger.
"Don't delude yourself." She told him as she smacked his fingers away. "I've told you that you're never in my plan. I was just looking for a random one-night stand. There will be others if not..."
But before she could finish her words, Lance had closed the distance between them and crashed his lips against her.
"You dare not have others!"
Roxanne struggled against his kiss but Lance placed his hand behind her head and waist and pulled her closer, holding her in place as he successfully gained access into the fortress of her mouth.
Knowing she would easily be controlled by him if she let him continue, Roxanne was going to bite and force him to stop, and a familiar voice graced her ears.
"Babe, what's up?"
Roxanne's eyes widened when she realized it was Christopher. She nervously searched around and finally spotted her phone in Lance's right hand.
"Are you fucking crazy!" She yelled with fuming ears after grabbing her phone back and hung up at once.
How could he be so keen on such childish tricks? Calling her fiancé while they were kissing. Did he think that she hadn't got enough troubles now?
She was about to lash out on him once more when the sound of pounding against her door caught both she and Lance's attention.
"Roxanne, Roxanne, open the door. Open the door right this instant, Roxanne!"
Roxanne sat by the window of her favorite cafe wrapped from head to toe in seasonal clothing befitting winter. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail while her fringe hung on the side of her face, she wore a brown and white beanie while a black scarf was wrapped around her neck. Her outfit consisted of black jeans and a beige winter sweater along with a pair of white boots to complete her look. She had ordered a hot chocolate along with a pastry and was sipping on the drink when her phone rang.She looked down to see that it was Colton and she quickly answered the call, placing her cup down on the table. "Hey, Col, where are you?""In front of the cafe." The voice from the other end of the phone responded and Roxanne looked outside to see her friend waving. She smiled and waved back."Alright, I'm coming out." She said and got up, throwing her cup into the bin before grabbing her bag and walking out of the cafe.The winter was getting harsher and harsher with each passing day but she had
"You are absolutely pathetic, Penelope Cube." She said and glanced over to the crowd before returning her gaze to Penelope. "You're absolutely pathetic." She repeated in a much louder voice, making sure everyone in the room could hear. "All this while I had my eyes on you, waiting to see how far you'd sink before you drown." Roxanne smirked. "But you're the one that ended up drowning yourself, it's you that lost the game and now, you're going to have to pay for it."Immediately after Roxanne's words, Claude emerged from the crowd ready to defend his daughter. But Lance was faster.He rushed forward and blocked Claude before he could get closer to Roxanne. "Don't you dare?" He sneered.Claude stopped short in his spot and looked around from Roxanne who was standing her ground and looking unfazed to Penelope, his daughter who was drenched from head to toe in wine and then to Lance who was shooting daggers at him through his eyes. He didn't like the look that the young lad was giving him
The rest of the party went by peacefully, that is until Henry clinged his glass, drawing the attention of everyone in the room as he announced that he had something to say. In that moment, Lance and Roxanne glanced at each other, remembering how Henry said he was going to announce Lance as the new CEO tomorrow and step down from the Company."Can I please have your attention?" Henry said with a smile on his face as he stepped forward from his place where he had been standing with Frank and took to stand at the center, while everyone watched in anticipation."I know this might be quite sudden but I want to thank everyone here today for being a part of welcoming back my father from the hospital, it means more to me than any one could ever imagine." Henry said and glanced at Frank who nodded his head in agreement and looked back towards the crowd with a smile on his face."It's been an honor and a pleasure to meet all of you, whether you be the regular guests or some of the close family
After looking at herself one last time in the mirror, She decided that her outfit was okay as well as every other thing on her."You ready?" Roxanne asked when she finished dressing up and found Lance standing in the living room in his black suit."Yep." He answered and extended his hand for her to take, which she did, giving him a smile of confidence."Let's go." She said, and the couple exited the penthouse, locking the door and taking the elevator to the ground floor and stepping out into the bright sun of the morning.The city had woken up early that day, and the streets were already packed with people going on with their daily business, having no idea about what was to happen later that day.The couple strolled towards the parking lot, hand in hand. Roxanne took a deep breath before entering the car. She buckled up and strapped the seatbelt while Lance slipped into the driver's seat and started the engine."How nervous are you?" He asked once he pulled out of the parking lot and
Henry went stiff and his gaze momentarily flew to where Roxanne was seated beside Lance, finding her eyes glued on him before he looked away."I..." He hesitated. "I did so because I wanted to protect Roxanne."His answer left both Roxanne and Lance stunned and confused."Protect Roxanne?" Lance asked."Protect me?" Roxanne asked."Yes." Henry nodded. "At the time which your parents had died and their case was being handled, Claude had been proven guilty In many ways and as a result asked to pay compensation worth thirty five billion to the victims daughter, Roxanne, or spend the rest of his life in jail. So Claude taught that if Roxanne wasn't around then he could pass under the charges. He was planning on harming her in other to walk Scott free and I couldn't allow that, so I bribed the judge to drop the case to make sure that Roxanne remained safe."Lance's eyes narrowed in on his father and he frowned deeply. "You mean, that monster that killed Roxanne' parents had actually attemp
Lance and Roxanne spent a few more hours in Rosalie's place, talking things over and planning for the party the next day. By the time they had finished, the sky was already darkening and Lance and Roxanne feeling tired. They bade Rosalie goodbye and began the journey back to Lance's penthouse which was now virtually like Roxanne's place too."So, you and me, huh?" Lance asked playfully once they were in the car on the drives back home.Roxanne who had her head leaned against the window chuckled. "Don't even push your Luck, Laurent." She teased, earning a hum of disapproval from him."Why not, you're already my girlfriend, I don't see any harm in making you my finacee.""True, but it'll be awkward to explain this to everyone since we only just found out that you and I are apparently engaged since childbirth, but without a doubt, it'd be funny seeing Penelope's face when she learns of this." Roxanne pointed out with a chuckle which faded almost instantly as she said. "Funny and pitiful.