7: Mere Coincidence

“LOVE, where are you?” Jarred asked through the phone call as Celene walked toward the jet bridge with her luggage in tow.

“I’m about to board the plane. My flight will be nine hours and I have a meeting scheduled as soon as I land. It might be best for me to stay at the hotel later and return home tomorrow.”

She wearily explained, exhausted from her hectic schedule. The never-ending meetings on this business trip left her with little time to rest and recharge, but at least she could catch up on some much-needed rest during the trip.

“You sound exhausted, are you okay? Should I pick you up at the airport?” Celene’s heart warmed at the sound of her husband’s sweet and gentle voice. It was a reassuring reminder that their relationship was back to normal and continuously improving.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll just catch a cab. I don’t want to interrupt your busy schedule trying to make up for the deal that fell through because of me.” she said, knowing how hard Jarred was working to land another international project, especially after their previous attempt with Nakamura Group failed.

“Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t because of you. Let’s move past it, okay? Anyway, just let me know when you’re about to land and I’ll come get you.” He insisted which caused Celene’s heart to flutter.

“Okay, I love you.” She smiled.

“Yeah, I love you, too,” He ended the call and Celene boarded the plane. Jarred then placed his phone on the table before turning to see Agnes who had just stood up from her seat on the couch and make her way towards his desk.

“Really? You love her?” She perched on the edge of the table, her tone dripping with jealousy as she crossed her legs in front of him. “Honestly, you’re a bad guy. You claim to love your wife but you continuously have sex with me behind her back.”

He chuckled at her remark.

“You’re just as bad as I am, and I already explained to you that I need to woo Celene because I need her help with the deal I was gearing up.” He loosened his necktie and leaned back on his swivel chair.

As he had promised Celene, he kicked Agnes out of their house and kept his distance from her at work. He even went above and beyond to regain his wife’s trust, and it was surprisingly effortless as expected. A small amount of affection and reassurance from him had made her forget all the hurtful words and actions he had done since Agnes came into the picture.

When Celene was away on a business trip to Dubai last week, he took the opportunity to continue his affair with Agnes. For the entire week that his wife was gone, he spent all of his free time with his mistress and felt no sense of guilt about it.

“You should leave now before someone tells Celene that you’ve been in my office for too long when you were only delivering a document,” he said as he ran his hand on her thigh and squeezed it. “We can’t let out our affair to the public now, can we?”

“All right, I guessed we won’t be able to spend time with each other again now that your wife’s coming back.” Agnes gave a bitter smile and stepped off the table to kiss him on the lips. “Just contact me when you need me to satisfy you, I’ll miss you.”

A seductive smirk danced across her lips as she walked out of the office, leaving Jarred unable to resist biting his lip while watching her sexy back. He was pleased with how Agnes was vying for his attention, and he knew that all he needed now was to secure a deal with the Laruente and he could finally leave Celene and marry his mistress.

“UGH!” Celene groaned as she patted her back, feeling every inch of her back was burning. In the end, Jarred had messaged her apologizing that he wouldn’t be able to pick her up due to an emergency at work. He had to pull an overtime shift, and she simply responded with understanding and let him know she was heading to the hotel where her business meeting was being held.

After arriving, she went to the reception desk to check in and changed her clothes in the room before heading to the rooftop where the luxurious restaurant was located. As soon as she walked in, her eyes landed on the general manager of the hotel, whom she was scheduled to meet with regarding their upcoming advertising campaign set to launch tomorrow.

The meeting dragged on, and even after it was over, she lingered at the restaurant while the hotel’s general manager had already left. She took a sip of her coffee and gazed at the beautiful view of the city at night, but her peaceful moment was cut short when she heard someone calling her name. Looking in front of her, her mouth parted in shock when she saw Noah, pulling the chair.

“W-what the hell? Why are you here?” she stammered, caught off guard when he showed up once again. It was not only the fourth time, but it was also quite late at night, making it hard to believe it was just a mere coincidence. “Are you a stalker or something?”

“A CEO of a big company like me couldn’t possibly be a stalker, could I?” he quipped in amusement. “Besides, where can you find a handsome stalker?”

“Well, there’s one in front of me.” Celene raised an eyebrow, prompting Noah to lean in closer and rest his arms on the table.

“Oh, so you found me handsome, huh?” He said with a self-satisfied air, causing Celene to stare at him in disbelief. She couldn’t believe how friendly he was being now, compared to his previously cold and guarded demeanor.

“Stop acting like a kid, why are you here?” She crossed her arms over her chest as she did not wish to waste any more time talking to him.

“I was staying at this hotel and caught sight of you while heading to the bar for a drink.” He explained as he recalled the report, he had received only an hour ago about Agnes visiting their house. His finger then drummed a rhythmic beat on the table as he hummed in thought. “How about you? It’s late, why aren’t you home?”

“I just had a meeting and I’m going to stay here for tonight,” Celene replied as she set the cup of coffee down on the table. “By the way, have you heard anything about my parents? How are they doing these days?”

She wasn’t supposed to be asking these questions, but when she realized that her father’s 60th birthday was getting closer, she couldn’t help but remember and missed them.

“You try to appear strong, but deep down you still care about them huh?” Noah’s smirk grew, pleased that she showed some longing emotion when it came to her parents instead of being completely indifferent.

“Obviously, since I was their only daughter.” She pursed her lips, still feeling the guilt of cutting ties with her family. It was a difficult decision, and there were times when she missed them terribly. But she knew that reaching out to them was not an option, no matter how strong the temptation. She couldn’t bear to face their disappointment and anger over her selfish actions, which had caused them to cut off contact with her for years.

“Forget it, I’m going back to my room. I’m too exhausted to continue this conversation.” She pushed her chair back and was about to leave but she felt a shiver down her spine when Noah’s large hand held her hand to stop her. The mere contact made her feel like there was an electricity running through her body, causing her to pull her hand back. “W-what?”

Noah looked down at his hand and felt a twinge of pain as he witnessed how repulsed Celene was by his touch. He closed his fist and met her gaze, determined to find a way to send her home so she could catch her husband in the act of cheating. After all, he had already discovered the immoral behavior of her husband for several days now by having someone follow him and his mistress around.

Yet rather than revealing this information, he decided to let her uncover it herself to avoid suspicion on how he knew about it.

“I heard your husband got into an accident on the way home,” he said, which caused Celene’s eyes to widen.

“What?”

“I don’t know the details, but I think he made it home, luckily.” Celene immediately panicked and didn’t even question the validity of his statement or how he knew about it. Her only concern was checking on Jarred, so she swiftly turned around and hurried back home.

Noah sighed, doubting his chances of winning Celene’s heart when she was clearly devoted to her shitty husband to the point where she never questioned anything and just rushed home to check on him.

As Celene sat in the cab, she tried to call Jarred multiple times but couldn’t get through. She immediately assumed that the reason he couldn’t pick her up at the airport earlier was not because of work but because he got into an accident. She was so worried that when she arrived home, she quickly dashed up the stairs. But when she saw a familiar suitcase outside their room, her heart started racing and her adrenaline spiked, sending nerves coursing through her body.

It didn’t take her long to figure out who it belonged to, especially after she heard Agnes’ moans of pleasure coming from their room.