AMELIA'S POV
"Yes. This is Amelia Carter speaking," I said as soon as the person on the other end picked up. "I would like to make a reservation for two tomorrow in one of your private booths.""Alright ma'am," said the woman. "Please hang on."I heard the rattle of computer keys in the background and kept my fingers crossed. I wanted my anniversary to be perfect so I couldn't afford any disappointments.The restaurant I had called was a very fancy, very exclusive one, and was usually booked weeks in advance.I breathed a sigh of relief when a moment later, she said, "We have a spot just for you."I told her the time my husband, Noah, and I would be arriving, and went through other details for the evening. The woman assured me I would be getting the VIP treatment when I told her my husband and I were coming to celebrate our second wedding anniversary.I began humming a tune as soon as I hung up. I stood up to get my computer and caught sight of my reflection in the mirror.There was an excited flush on my cheeks, and a sparkle in my eye. I looked like a school girl who had just gotten her first date to the prom. Only this was better. It had been two years since I had gotten married to Noah, two years of bliss and perfection.I got my laptop and surfed the net. After about an hour, I found the perfect gift for him online: a Patek watch worth $25,000. I ordered it, paid and gave the exact time that I would want it delivered.I wasn’t bothered about the price because I knew Noah would get me something more expensive and would even send me a weekly allowance.After preparations for the next day was done, I didn't know what to do with myself. In order to resist the temptation of staring at the clock every few minutes, impatiently waiting for Noah to come home, I went downstairs and started setting up the dining table for dinner.I was so attuned to Noah that I knew the moment he walked through the door. In a flash, I dashed to the front door. With a huge grin on my face, I ran towards him. My steps faltered a bit when I noticed that he looked rather grim. But I didn't let that stop me from going in for a hug. Perhaps he just had a really stressful day at work.Just as I reached for him, he moved away and gave me look that sent a chill up my spine. His lips curled in disgust. It was like he had smelled something bad. I froze, frowned, and sniffed myself. I smelled of perfume and strawberry shampoo, and there was nothing offensive about that."Honey, what's wrong? What's the matter?" I asked.Noah looked at me but didn't respond. He moved as far away from me as possible and dropped his suitcase. I stood rooted to the spot, my mind in a whirl. We hadn't had a quarrel. I had done nothing to offend him, so what was with his sudden coldness?The sight of the front door opening again interrupted my thoughts. My best friend, Lucy, sashayed into the house like she owned the place."Lucy? You didn't tell me you were coming," I said.Lucy's baby blue eyes regarded me with contempt. She casually flicked her long, perfectly styled, blonde hair over her shoulder and took a seat. I gaped at her. Talk about rudeness! And in my own home too! What was with her? What was with everyone's weird attitude today?Deciding to leave Lucy's attitude for later, I walked up to Noah, pitched my voice low so that she couldn't hear. "Honey, listen. I don't know what... this is about, but if I've offended you in any way, I apologize. If there's a real problem, we can talk about it after our anniversary-"Noah let out a short, bitter laugh."Anniversary?" he sneered. "I thought you were smart enough to read the handwriting on the wall, Amelia. But you're dumber than you look. There isn't going to be any anniversary celebration. Not for you and I anyway." While I stood in stunned silence, he bent, pulled out a sheaf of papers from his briefcase and threw them in my face. "Here. Take a look."Slowly, I bent and picked them up. A glance was sufficient to tell me that they were divorce papers and he had already signed them. I instantly felt a tear in my chest and the entire room started spinning around me. I clutched my chest, my breath hot and tears streaming down my face."Why?" I wailed when I finally found my voice. "Why do you want a divorce? What have I done?”"I would have thought it was fairly obvious. We've been married for two years and we have no kids. You can't even boast of having a miscarriage at least. Who's going to inherit all this wealth I built after I'm gone. Huh?""Noah. Noah. Please. Think about what you're about to do. I can still give you children-"He made an impatient gesture. "There's no need for that. I already have a child on the way. Lucy-" Noah's eyes lit up when he said her name. "Lucy is carrying my child as we speak."I had entirely forgotten about Lucy after Noah had dropped the bombshell. I stared right at her, hoping and praying that she would smile, laugh and tell me that it was all a sick joke, a prank. She met my stare and deliberately rubbed her stomach. I felt a stab of almost physical pain stab through my heart when I realized this was all true. My best friend and husband had been sleeping together. The shock made me stagger back a step. Tears fell unchecked down my cheeks, blurring my vision."But why... how?" I croaked. The pain was eating right through my heart and I thought I would die immediately.Noah raised a brow. "Want me to describe the whole process of making a baby to you?" Lucy giggled at his joke. "Amelia, we're done. Let's look at it this way, Lucy here is even better suited to bear my children. She's a fast rising fashion designer from a respectably wealthy background. She's wouldn't be a liability like you. You're a nobody. You have no talents, no personality, no charisma. Now, look at Lucy and you'll see a woman with the looks and the poise to carry on the Carter name."And though what Noah had done hurt so bad that it felt hard to breathe, I loved him so much and I could not bear the thought of letting him go. I divested myself of my last shred of pride and fell on my knees before him. I put my hands together in a gesture of entreaty."Noah. Please. It's just been a couple of years. We can still sort this whole thing out. I'm hopeful that I can still get pregnant. I'll go see a fertility doctor, I'll eat right. I'll do anything, anything at all. Just give me a little more time.""Two years is more than enough time," he retorted hotly. "Just sign those papers and get out of my life."I heard a snigger and turned once more to Lucy."You two faced backstabber," I cried, scrambling to my feet. "What did I ever do to you? How could you do this to me?"Lucy let out a laugh and shrugged. "No hard feelings, friend. I just did what needed to be done. I gave Noah what you couldn't give him after two shitty years of marriage.""Lucy-" I began."Alright. Alright. That's enough," Noah interjected. "Amelia, go upstairs, pack your things and leave my house.""Noah. Please-"I approached him. He jerked back, swore, and ran upstairs. In a couple of minutes, he returned with suitcases crammed full of my clothes. He added the divorce papers on top and wheeled them outside.I fell on the floor, sobbing. He came back, pointed at me. "Get out," he thundered."No, Noah listen-” He grabbed me by the arm, cutting short my protests. “Please, don’t do this to us. Noah, please..”"There is no us!" he barked as he shoved me outside. No matter how hard I cried and struggled, I couldn't break his hold. He dragged me outside the gates, gave me a shove that had me stumbling and I fell to the ground, bruising my elbow and knee."Get out and stay out. Don't ever come back here," he yelled, and then shut the gate in my face.AMELIA'S POVI didn't know how long I remained sitting and crying in front of the massive gates of what used to be my home. I tried to get Noah’s attention by banging on the gate several times but he wouldn’t come out. “Noah, please!” I cried out loud. “I’ll do anything to give you children. Please don’t leave me here.”But all I received was silence from him.I could hear him and Lucy laughing inside and my heart churned with the thought of them eating the meal I prepared. After an unknown length of time, I got to my feet and had walked for a few paces before I realized I had forgotten all my belongings, contained in the suitcases. I went back for them, and wheeled them as I walked. I walked for an hour before it registered that I actually had no destination. "Doesn't matter," I muttered to myself, feeling completely drained and exhausted. It felt like a huge weight had fallen on me and it was crushing me with each passing second. Some passers-by shot me curious looks, whispered
NOAH'S POVI blew on the coffee Lucy had made. She didn't always get the temperature right and It was always too hot. Picking up the remote, I turned on the television to catch the early morning news. My fingers automatically found the buttons to turn the volume up while I scrolled through my phone, checking for business emails I could have missed. "...the former Amelia Carter engaged." I froze midday in opening an email. My ears immediately perked up. What had I just heard? The former Amelia Carter engaged? The voice had come from the television and that was where I directed my entire attention immediately. The newscaster, occupying a quarter of the screen went on talking, but my confused mind could barely make out what he was saying. My gaze was riveted on the caption in bold black type at the bottom of the screen.It read, DAMIAN DONOVAN, BUSINESS MOGUL, AND NEW JERSEY'S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR SET TO GET MARRIED TO THE FORMER AMELIA CARTER IN LAVISH STYLE. I gaped at the screen
AMELIA'S POV"Yes. Yes, I will need the documents tomorrow." Damian's voice came floating out of the living room and I strolled to him, and saw that he was still on the phone. Jeez!Did the man never take a break from work? Surely, his staff could hold the forte, especially after considering the fact that it was the night of his wedding and obviously his honeymoon. Even though our marriage was not real, I expected him to at least take a break. Just as I was about to leave, he ended the call so I decided to join him on the sofa. He turned towards me immediately, his brows raised. "Did you want something?" he asked. I swallowed, wondering where to start. His tone was somewhat cold. "Actually, I was hoping that we could talk... you know, get to know each other." I snuck a glance at him from under my lashes and flushed when I saw his steel grey eyes staring at me fiercely. That gaze unsettled me, had me stumbling to get the words out. "Seeing as we just got married and it's our honey
AMELIAIt almost felt like I was on a literal high as I watched Noah being thrown out of the mall. When Damian had spoken of me getting sweet revenge on Noah, I never imagined that it would feel so good.There was one thing I knew about Noah. It was that he didn't he didn't accept defeat... not that it did him much good anyway. He raved, cursed, swore and struggled with the guards. In the end, the guards had to practically bundle him out like a sack of potatoes. In the struggle, his neatly pressed shirt got rumpled, his tie got awry and he looked half demented. There were sniggers and outright laughs as most of the shoppers gathered around to watch the unfolding scene. I daresay most of them brought out their phone to take pictures and videos of him. I didn't bother to turn. I struggled not to laugh myself. It would seem very petty, especially to those who knew my history with Noah.Noah, panting like he had run a marathon, managed to turn around. His eyes, almost bulging out of his e
AMELIA POV"Amelia?" I heard Damien say my name but it felt as though he was calling me from the far end of a tunnel. The breakfast tray was heavy and my arms were trembling with the strain of holding it, but I hardly noticed. Hell! At that moment, the whole world could have crashed and burned and I still would not have noticed. All of my attention was focused on his body. Damien's lithe, naked body was every bit as I had imagined it, and I had imagined it quite often, especially on the day I thought we would have an actual wedding night. He was perfection. He was perfectly toned and muscled, just as I had expected. The smart suits and long sleeved shirts he wore all the time had not been able to disguise that fact. Standing next to the open window as he was, the early morning sunlight bathed him in a golden, warm glow. The droplets of water still clinging to his skin shone and glittered like tiny, many faceted diamonds. My eyes, of their own volition, traveled down his body, and r
AMELIAAs much as I tried to tell myself that his rejection of my food didn't matter, my mood took a nosedive, and with a sigh, I picked up the tray. As I slowly walked to the door, I looked around the room. This morning, I had been so engrossed with the room's occupant that I had not even spared a glance at the room itself. Damien's room was plush, decorated in muted colors. A handful of paintings hung on the walls. Every item in the room was perfectly in order. It's sterile cleanliness reminded of a hospital room; cold and very impersonal, sort of like Damian. My foot caught in something. I stumbled, regained my balance, but a fork slid from the tray and into an improperly closed chest of drawers right beside me.I set the tray carefully on the floor, peered into the drawer. It was full of Damian's pairs of socks, neatly sorted by color. I opened it, and carefully fished out the fork, taking it carefully so as not to disturb anything. Damian looked like the kind of guy that would
AMELIA"Stop already!" I groaned and clapped both hands to my ear. The banging steadily increased in volume with each passing second. It soon became so loud that it felt as if my head would split open. It rose to a crescendo and I opened my eyes. Still disoriented from sleep, it took a few seconds for me to realize that the banging was coming from inside my own head. I groaned as I sat up slowly, gripping my aching head, which felt as though it would detach itself from my shoulders at any moment. Only bits and pieces of what had happened was what I recalled. I only remembered drinking a lot of brandy, and then calling someone- Damian most likely, and then I must have passed out because everything from then on was a blank. The effort it took for me to remember increased the intensity of the headache. Damn! I could not recall ever feeling this hungover. Had I somehow drunk my way through all the alcohol in the house? It certainly felt like I had.I couldn’t even remember why I was s
DAMIANTHREE DAYS LATER"We're here, sir," the driver said, his voice bringing me out of my swirling thoughts. I opened my eyes to see that the jeep came to a stop in front of the hotel. Finally! I breathed a sigh of relief. I fiddled with my tie and loosened it a little. Today's conference had been more tedious and tasking than the others, and I had to keep up with everything that was said and done. But it was the final day of the three day business conference, thank goodness! All I wanted now was a long, cold shower, a lot of rest and then perhaps something to eat. I got down and headed straight for the elevator. I got a bit irritated when I found that it was in use. I glanced towards the stairs, but I was too tired to climb up them all the way up to the fourth floor where my room was.I fidgeted, transferred my briefcase from one hand to the other as I watched the elevator's panel. Finally, the doors opened and I was face to face with none other than Noah. My fingers clenched on