CHAPTER 2

Xavier's POV

She changed her hair color so I won't recognize her but she is wrong. I can recognize her without looking at her face. I can identify her with her skin color and shape. I have a lot of ways to identify her.

Changing her hair color is a stupid thing to do. She thinks I will fall for it and assume she is someone else.

Andre has red hair but she changed it into straight black hair.

That red hair was one of the things that attracted me to her in the first place. But she humiliated me. She disappeared into thin air while I was patiently waiting at the altar for my bride to show up.

I didn't come to Chicago for anything. I came back for her and we are leaving for New York City tonight.

I watch as my men run after her. She keeps glancing back till they catch up with her.

Leaning on the car, I continue to watch them drag her back and shove her forward till she is right in front of me.

My gaze finally leave hers. I shift it to meet Ethan's cold look. Suddenly, I punch his face and she gasps, looking scared shit again just like she looked a few minutes ago when I cut that bastard's wrist.

"No one hurts my woman. No one is allowed to hurt her except me. Understood?" The rest of the men look shocked until I growl out in anger.

Andre seems shocked as well. Her chest is heaving up and down.

"I asked you to get her, not hurt her", I point towards Ethan. He is my right-hand man and he ought to know what I want and what I don't want. He was the one who shoved her toward me.

"Get lost now!"

They all disperse quickly while two of them remain. They take the other car while Chase opens the car behind me and gets into the driver's seat before opening the door for us to get it.

Left with Andre, I take off my hood and fold my arms to scrutinize her carefully.

Something is missing.

That look. That wicked glint is no longer evident in her eyes.

The hair color isn't the only difference between them.

This Andre has suddenly become cool-headed and not fiery and stubborn. She looks calm and timid.

She tucks the fallen pleats of her hair behind her ears and smiles nervously. "Hi."

I do not say anything. "Thank you for saving me. I don't know him from anywhere, he just showed up from nowhere…."

"Andre….", I cut her short. 

This is Andre. She used to be a chatterbox.

She raises a brow with confusion skating her expression. "Andre?"

"Andre Moore, the same woman who left me at the altar eleven months ago and came to hide her in Chicago of all places."

Her confusion intensified but I care less. She is good at acting. She once told me she wanted to go to an acting school but her parents wouldn't allow her.

"Who are you talking about, sir?" Her hands tremble but she quickly hides them by holding both hands together.

This is the right time that I am supposed to let it all out. The pent-up anger. The frustrations. The humiliation.

"You think I am a fool?" I yell, unable to control my anger. "You think I wouldn't find you? Do you think you can hide from me forever? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Her trembling increases and she tries to balk away but I grab her arms. "Where do you think you are going?"

"I'm so..sorry. I don't know what you are talking about", she stutters, her face red and a tear rolling down her eyes.

I won't fall for this. 

She knows how much I hate liars and people who pretend. She knows this yet she is doing this. She is lying and pretending to be someone else.

I let go of her and wicked laughter leaves my mouth. "You don't know what I am talking about?"

She shakes her head, unable to reply to me. 

I nod. "Good. Get into the car."

"What?!" She exclaims rather loudly and I arch a brow at her.

"You heard me, get into the car!" I order with implacable authority.

Without any arguments, she takes giddy baby steps toward the open door and enters.

I flop in beside her, a deep sigh of relief escaping my mouth.

This is it. It's time for my revenge. 

"Who are you?" I question her, giving her the liberty to lie all she can till she is tired of lying.

She is not going to suffer only for the humiliations she caused me, she is also going to suffer for lying to me.

I hear her heave a deep sigh. "I'm Jasmine. Jasmine Cooper."

"Jasmine?" I snap my head towards her. She nods, avoiding eye contact with me now.

I shift my gaze to her dress. "Roll it up."

"What?" She asks in confusion, wondering what I mean.

"Roll up your jacket", I utter firmly, my gaze not leaving her hand. I just need one more piece of evidence of knowing that she is truly the woman I have despised for eleven months who couldn't balk out of the arranged marriage like an adult would do but instead did a childish thing by running off and leaving me to face the consequences of her actions.

She left her home, her parents, and her real-life to come here all because she doesn't want a lifetime with me.

What more could be painful for a man like me who had a reputation and dignity to protect?

It made me feel less of a man. It was business, there were no feelings involved but she ruined my plans by running off.

At first, I thought she ran off with a lover but her parents admitted that she never had a boyfriend. 

When Ethan first brought the news of her appearance here in Chicago, I almost waved it away because I thought she wouldn't have the nerve to be somewhere close to New York after what she did but I know how courageous Andre is and how stubborn and determined she can be.

She was determined to leave me at the altar but she didn't act suspicious for me to know that she was planning something huge.

We have searched all around for her; her parents included but she is nowhere to be found but now I have found her.

She works in a local restaurant here in Chicago where there is a big possibility of a good life waiting for her in New York for eleven months.

Carefully, she rolls the left-hand sleeves up and I see the last piece of evidence that indicates that this is indeed Andre.

It is a tattoo.

The tattoo of a tiny baby with an alphabetical A below.

This is indeed Andre.

I lock eyes with her and smirk mischievously before ordering Chase to drive.

This is indeed Andre and revenge time is finally here.