V

“Will you wait and let’s talk about this!” Shawn calls out after Neriah as she storms out of Cecilia's house without an utterance of a word.

She stops and turns to him, her eyes blazing and red all at the same time. Shawn has never since he started dating her seen this side of her, but more than anything, he wants to comfort her, wrap his arms around her and tell her everything is okay, but he knows her enough to know, that would be the last thing she’d want.

There was something in comfort hugs that didn’t sit well with her. Shawn has argued about their effective power, but she laughed it off in the past and said she’d rather not get one when on a rollercoaster of emotions.

“What else is there to talk about? It’s no coincidence that the buyer of the house I live in is Cainan Inferno. The same Cainan Inferno that bought and kicked me out of the previous house I was in and let’s not forget that he’s the same person I confronted seven weeks ago and called an idiotic billionaire.” She was ramping, but she cannot help it. She felt the walls closing in and the migraine increasing.

He signs deeply, “I get what you’re getting at, but you need to give yourself a break and rethink the right thing to do. You still have a week to get things together and I promise you I’ll be here for you.”

“If he’s planning on getting back at me, he has succeeded because he’s kicked me out of yet another house. And I can’t fight back because I’m weak and not strong enough to take him on.” Tears run down her face and she angrily brushes it off.

“Neriah....” Shawn says but stops halfway through because he just cannot find the right thing to say to ease the tension present in the situation, nor can he hold her.

She looks up at him with desperate eyes, “I need to see him again Shawn, I need to talk to him, ask him why he’s doing this to me and I cannot rest until I have spoken to him.”

Shawn shakes his head in disapproval. “Take it from someone who’s worked for Cainan for three years. It’s best to not do that.”

“Then what do I do? I can’t sit and do nothing when I know that won’t help either.”

“If Cainan is out to frustrate you, believe me, nothing is going to stop him, he wasn’t born Cainan Inferno, if you’ve done enough research on him, he was born Cainan Michael Day, he changed it to Inferno after the international success of his company. The Inferno stand to warn people that if they cross his path, they will be burnt and he’s taken it upon himself the past years that I’ve known him to ruin anyone that has crossed his path.” He explains to her in details what he’s heard, seen and witnessed to be true.

“And that’s what he’s going to do to me.” She whimpers and bites her trembling lips.

Shawn’s eyes drop and he nods, already knowing the answer to her question, “You were right, we are going to go talk to him.”

“We?” Neriah asks, with her brow rising, wanting to hear Shawn’s reply.

“I’ve many times that two is better than one. I told you about those who crossed his path, but there’s something they all had in common.”

She asks eagerly, “What was it?”

“They never crossed his path the second time and we are going to do just that. We are going to speak to him and settle things once and for all.”

Neriah kisses Shawn and surprised herself by smiling at him through her pain. She doesn’t know how she got so lucky with him, but she’s grateful. “When are we going then?”

He makes a hand gesture of looking at his watch. “Today. Hugo and Clara are having their fifth wedding anniversary today.”

She frowns at him a little. “I’m sorry, but how does that have anything to do with us going to see Cainan?”

“Well, Clara was the love of Cainan’s life and everyone knew it, but she suddenly broke things off for strange reasons and married Hugo when the Inferno group was just emerging. Their anniversary party invitation has always been sent to Cainan for the past five years, but he has always chosen not to any of them and I know this because I was his secretary. But from the rumours I’m hearing, it looks like he’ll be going to the party this time around and we are going to be there as well.”

She hooks her arms around his and laid her head on his arm and walk away, “I guess we should go prepare then.”

One hour and thirty minutes later, there comes a knock on Neriah’s door and putting on her last piece of jewellery, she walks to the door and as she opens the door. She’s greeted by one of the most sophisticated men she’s ever seen and she smiles at him. He is wearing a navy blue suit, black tie and black shoe. His hair combed and parted at the side, giving his face an even rare touch of perfection.

“You look amazing, Shawn. Never thought you could look better, but you look better than I expect.” She gushes helplessly, “Hope I’m not a letdown. I sewed the lace gown last year, but never got to wear it because there was no special event to go.”

The dress is a slim, red lacy gown with a see-through long sleeve. It seems to hold Neriah just right where it needs to. She’s also wearing three-inch stiletto heels, bringing her five feet four self to five feet seven, which is still far from Shawn, who stands at six feet tall. There are memories Shawn knows will never leave him, and the memory of her now is one of them.

He says nothing, just put his arms around her waist and pulls her closer, greeting her lips with his. She pulls back with a shy smile, “What was that for?”

“You look astonishing, breathtakingly beautiful, if I might also add. This gown hugs you in all the right places.” He blurts out, unable to help himself.

She grins and twirls her hair between her fingers. “Thank you.”

“Those rich bastards won’t know what hit them and oh I got us our invitation card,” he says as he put his hand in his suit pocket and shows it to her.

She gives him a disbelieving look. “I forgot we are going to crash a rich man’s party. How did you get that?”

There’s a cocky smile at the side of his mouth. “Not going to tell you all my secrets. All you need to know is I used to be Cainan’s secretary, so I kinda know things.”

“You are a fraud, Shawn Ola, but I won’t have you any other way.”

“I’m glad you won’t, darling. Are we ready to go??”

She nods and picks her purse up from the table. “Thanks for this. You didn’t have to get involved, but you chose to.”

He suppresses a grin, “Anything for my girlfriend.” He takes her hand and leads her out of the house.

The twenty-three minutes’ drive completely exhausts Neriah because of her never-ending motion sickness, but as their car comes to a stop in front of the Sheraton hotels and towers, the exhaustion disappeared. She doesn’t know how long she had stopped to stare until she feels an arm around her waist, and she feels herself being hauled towards the warm body she knows belongs to Shawn.

“Someday soon we will not have to strive so much to get what we want.” He whispers into her ears.

She places her head on Shawn’s shoulder and sighs heavily. “Someday, we will rule the world.”

They both walked to the entrance door where two men in black suits were standing and without uttering a word, Shawn hands the man the invitation card and after glancing at it, he returns it and steps away from the door for them to go in.

The party is grand and everything from the biggest to the smallest piece seems planned out, and Neriah realises she’s the only one overwhelmed by everything around her. Not even Shawn seems fussed by the magnificent event.

“Seems you’re used to these crowds and event Shawn,” she points out, leaning her head against his chest as they walk together.

“Yeah, been to a few. The nervousness and panic disappear after the first time.” He assures her and shrugs off the feeling.

“There are a lot of things I’m yet to do with my life, things I’ve never tried out. Tequila, driving, skiing, hiking up the mountain, sex.” She blurts the last part out before she can help it.

Shawn’s arm tightens around her as she says sex and she glances up at him to meet his eyes boring hole into hers. “You’re seriously telling me that here?!” his eyes fixate on her, needing answers.

She stares at him, feeling a little lost in what he is getting at with his questions. “Telling you what? Things I’m yet to do?”

“Yes, and sex!” He lowers his voice to say that.

Neriah smiles and smacks his chest. “Dirty boy. I need to use the restroom since you’ve been here before. Who do I ask?”

“The ushers.” He says and signals a nearby usher to come over. When the usher gets to them, she flashes him a flirty smile to which both Shawn and Neriah notice.

“What can I do for you?” Her voice was undeniably flirty too, and it annoyed Neriah to the core because it was obvious Shawn was with someone and she just ignored that.

“Please kindly show my girlfriend to the restroom.” He requests, putting much emphasis on girlfriend and Neriah to watch the flirty smile on her lips disappear and she returns to her formal self. Very good.

Neriah smiles victoriously as Shawn let her out of his arm for the first time since they’ve been here. She follows the lady usher through the hallway and thanks her as she shows the stall to her.

Neriah takes her time in the restroom and when she finished, she comes out to wash her hands when she hears noises coming from the other side of the bathroom stall. The voices are not familiar, which is expected because this party probably comprises people she’s never seen before and she’s only here for one man and that is Cainan Inferno and she hasn’t even seen him in the crowd yet.

She waits the noise out and so she waited, but instead of the noises coming from the outer stall, reducing like it normally should; it doesn’t. So she draws closer, and she hears the voice clearly and hears there’s a woman’s voice and a man’s voice. They seem to be engaged in a heated argument; she realises and although she knows eavesdropping is wrong, she’s already doing it.

“He’s my husband, what do you want me to do?!” Exclaim the lady exasperatedly.

“I don’t know, how about stop letting him shove his tongue down your throat whenever I’m around? You owe me that much?” The familiar voice suggested with an infuriated tone.

The feminine voice seems to be as angry as the other voice as it comes up, “I don’t owe you anything, Cainan, we are through!”

Neriah eyes widen and although she sees nothing, she knows someone is cheating on their husband with Cainan.