MARK
I allowed Ivy to kiss me, and I expected an instant arousal, but it wasn’t forthcoming. Ivy noticed it too.
“Mark, what’s wrong?” She asked me as she touched and caressed me. “You are still very soft,” she stated the obvious.
I sighed and fell in bed. I knew exactly what was making it hard for me to get a hard-on, but I did not want to tell Ivy about it, and it was very convenient to blame it on the fact that Alexa had pissed me off.
“I just have so much on my mind,” I told her, which wasn’t a lie, because my head was filled with those bloody men dancing around Alexa at the club.
“Is it the divorce with Alexa?” Ivy asked with concern in her voice.
I turned and looked at Ivy, telling myself that she was the woman I loved and the woman that I was really in love with.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “It is taking a toll on me,” I added.
“I know that you cannot wait to be free from her, and I could talk to my mum and our dad to force her into signing the papers since she is trying so hard to cling to you,” Ivy stated.
Well, Ivy had no idea what was really going on, and I did not want her to know that instead of signing, I had burned the papers.
“No, please,” I said.
“Why not?” Ivy asked.
“I don’t want your parents to think that I cannot handle things on my own, Ivy. I will figure this out as soon as possible,” I told her.
Right now, I would have appreciated being alone so that I could think of the right line of action to take, and also, I wasn’t even exactly comfortable with having Ivy in this house.
“I blame myself,” Ivy said as she looked at me with sad eyes. “One minute, I was away to fix something very important, and when I got back, she was already married to you,” Ivy added bitterly. “She is just a gold-digger.”
I shook my head, because I still could not wrap my head around all that really happened. I was comatose, so I did not exactly know what was going on in particular.
“You stayed by my side the whole time, right?” I asked, even though we have had this same conversation over and over again.
“Of course, I did,” Ivy said defensively. “Why wouldn’t I when I was your fiancé? The only mistake was trusting Alexa, not knowing that she is a slut who just wanted what belonged to me,” she added.
“Yeah,” I simply said, because my mind had gone back to the woman I saw at Dancing Devil a while ago, and everything in my head just kept telling me that she was different.
“I am just glad that you are fixing everything now,” Ivy said.
“Yes, I am too, but I need you to stop showing up here unannounced,” I told Ivy, making her shocked and hurt at the same time.
“But why not?” Ivy asked, pouting her lips like a spoilt kid.
“Alexa and I lived here as husband and wife, even though there was no love between us, so I need time to get her memories out of this house before I begin to entertain you,” I answered.
“Okay, that is quite understandable, but it is too late to go home now,” Ivy said.
“Yeah, you can manage in the guestroom until morning, and I will ask my driver to personally drop you off,” I said.
I could feel that Ivy was slightly upset and disappointed, but there was really nothing I could do. No matter what, I would not be able to get it hard, and it would only make things worse. My mind went to Alexa’s words about my sexuality, and I quickly shook it off my head.
There was nothing wrong with me, because Ivy and I had been having sex, so there was no need allowing her words to bother me, even though they were insulting. I was only finding it hard to get hard because of how upset I was.
The night went by real quickly, and after much thought and brewing anger, I finally fell asleep later in the night. When I woke up, my head was banging, and when I was informed of Vector’s presence, it made me more irritable.
“What are you doing here so early?” I asked Vector as I strolled downstairs, still in my robe.
“It is almost noon, Mark,” Vector said. “I can’t believe that you left the club before the rest of us but woke up last,” Vector joked.
I flopped on the couch as Vector also sat down. “Gosh, I need a cup of coffee to wipe off this hangover,” I said, groaning.
“Come on, Mark, you and I know that you barely touched your drink last night, so I believe that the hangover you are talking about is the mess that Alexa created in your head last night at the club,” Vector said coyly.
I wanted to be mad at him for bringing Alexa and last night up, but if I was being truthful to myself, I would admit that I didn’t need the help of anyone to remember or think about it, so instead, I decided to ask the very question that was plaguing my mind as I woke up.
“How much longer did you stay?” I asked Vector.
“Well into the night,” He answered.
“Did Alexa leave with any of the men from club?” I asked carefully, but it still aroused suspicion and mischief in Vector.
“Mark, I thought you didn’t care about Alexa…you are acting quite the opposite,” Vector teased.
“Just answer the question, please,” I said, trying not to sound too jealous even though I knew that I was failing at it. “I just need to know if she spent my money on any of those man-whores,” I added, trying to switch it.
“What?!” Ivy exclaimed in anger and disbelief as she walked into the living room. “So you couldn’t get hard for me because you were with Alexa last night?!” She asked, very furious.
“Shit,” I muttered; I had completely forgotten that Ivy slept over.
ALEXAI thought I had thrown up everything in my stomach already, but I woke up and rushed into Noelle’s bathroom and threw up again.Then literally sat on the bathroom floor, because I was already weak and exhausted.Noelle came in with a cup of herbal tea and gave it to me. “Are you going to throw everything you have into the toilet?” She asked. “You have been vomiting since last night, even at the club,” she added.“Because you forced me into dancing with those men and it really got my entire system irritated,” I said.I didn’t know that being around other men would make me feel so disgusted, and even though I only did it to get on Mark’s nerves, I was beginning to regret my actions.“I am never do that ever again,” I said and I meant it.Noelle threw her head back and laughed loudly. “What are you never doing again; aggravating Mark and making him jealous, visiting Dancing Devil, or having fun with male strippers?” Noelle asked.“Going to that stupid club and allowing those freaki
ALEXA“I was merely having a nice time,” I said, almost stuttering.I did not see how this was a problem, because the last time I checked, Ivy was allowed to do whatever she wanted, and she had also indulged in wilder things, so why was mine a problem, and why had the blogs decided to make a fuss about it.“At the detriment of the family’s name?” Mr. Silver asked, sounding more and more angered and disappointed.The look in his eyes broke my heart, because I never wanted to do anything that would make him disappointed in me. Growing up, he always told me how proud and happy I made him…well, until Ivy and her mother came into the picture.“I didn’t do anything wrong, dad,” I said, trying to justify myself.“And she is still defending her actions. My goodness, I can barely stand her insolence and disrespect!” Clara huffed angrily.Mr. Silver was very crestfallen. “Alexa, you do know that for a year now, I have been trying to win a contract deal with a very reputable company, right?” He
ALEXAWith tears in my eyes, I packed my thing. After I told Mark that I was divorcing him, I left our supposed matrimonial home and returned home. Now, I had been asked to leave.Packing was even difficult, because I could barely see what I was shoving into my box. When my cell phone rang and I saw that it was Noelle, I was relieved, because I just needed something to calm my nerves down.“Hey, how did it go? What was it your dad wanted to see you for?” Noelle asked over the phone, and I just burst into hot and painful tears.“He asked me to leave, Noelle,” I blurted out.“What?” Noelle sounded stunned. “Why would he do that? What happened?” Noelle asked, but she quickly added even before I could answer her. “You know what, don’t answer that right now. Just bring your stuff over to mine, okay? We will talk when you get here.”“Noelle, no, I don’t want to inconvenience you,” I said, shaking my head, even though I knew that deep down, there was nowhere else I could think to go.It was
IVYI almost cried my eyes out, and when I thought I couldn’t cry more, the tears flowed some more.“It’s okay, honey,” Clara, my mum, tried to calm me down.“She fucking slept with him!” I howled, hating the sound of that even in my ears. “We already made him hate her and send her out of the house, and you also got your man back,” Clara said soothingly, hoping that it would comfort me, but it didn’t.I couldn’t forget the fact that Mark couldn’t get it up with me and I also overheard him talking about Alexa to his friend. Everything had been going on well until I returned to Paris and heard the most shocking news of my life; Mark and Alexa were married. From there, trying to get Mark back to me had been proving all kinds of difficult.“Do I really have Mark back?” I asked, looking at my mum.“Of course you do,” She said. “You spent the night at his, didn’t you?” Clara asked.“I did, but we didn’t have sex,” I confided in her and her eyes widened in shock. “We didn’t even sleep in th
ALEXAI tried not to think deeply about everything that had happened in the last couple of days as I eventually began to arrange my stuff in the room that Noelle gave me.I had been sulking and gloomy ever since I moved in with her, so I hadn’t even had the energy to arrange my stuff, and thankfully, Noelle was very understanding.“You have to pick yourself up and get your life going, Alexa,” Noelle had told me before leaving to get some groceries, and that was all I needed.So after she left, I got up and began to arrange my things.As I began to arrange my clothes on the wardrobe from my boxes, nostalgia washed over me. In my hurt, I had packed literally everything, including what I had from years back. Even when I got married to Mark and moved out, I did not take them with me, so seeing them now reminded me of how I was years ago before my life changed completely.Especially seeing my old favorite flowery gown…it reminded me of when I first set my eyes on Mark Ronando and fell madl
ALEXA“How did you miss him, Alexa?!” Noelle asked me as we hung out a few days later after the function.“I don’t know, trust me.” I said, trying not to sound as dejected as I had been since the function.I had already vented to Noelle over the phone, and even cried to her. I had thought about him and beaten myself up for days, and that was enough. “One moment he was there and I was keeping close watch on him, and the next, when I read and replied your last message, he was nowhere to be seen,” I had explained.“That is not enough, Alexa,” Noelle said using her scolding tone.When it came to boys, Noelle was always acting like the mother-hen. I didn’t blame her anyway, because she got a boyfriend before me, and she had the boldness of a lion; something that I doubted I would ever have in a million year to come.“What I am supposed to do, Noelle?” I asked, crestfallen.“Jeez, Alexa, you are so slow to learn!” Noelle continued to scold me.I knew that she enjoyed it, so I allowed her.
ALEXAI thought I was going to die right there and there; not just from seeing him, but seeing him and Ivy seated so close to each other.“What…what is going on here?” I muttered, staring like a zombie, hoping that had been like one of the dreams I had been having about him.I had hoped to wake up and realize that it was all a dream, but I had been wrong.Ivy had seemed happy, and I could see her blushing stupidly.“She is back,” Ivy had simply said dully.It had been as though my presence made her bored. Well, we were never friends, so the feeling was nearly mutual. What I had wanted to know instantly was what the man of my dreams was doing in our living room, close to Ivy.I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. My throat had suddenly become dry. Air had suddenly deserted my lungs, and I feared that my knees would give way and I would embarrass myself by fainting.Mark Ronaldo wasn’t even paying much attention to me I had been paying to him. It was as though he was
MARK“Are you going to sign this one?” Vector asked me.“No, I will not,” I simply answered and I meant it. “But why not?” Vector asked, sounding perplexed. “You clearly do not love her, Mark, and you were not even committed to the marriage, so why not just let her go? You burnt the first papers, and now you don’t want to get this one signed?” Vector prodded.“Whose side are you on?” I fired at Vector, glaring at him.He knew I did not like it when people questioned my choices and decisions and yet he always tried to do it.“I am on your side,” Vector said.I shook my head. “No, you are not, because if you were, we would not be having this damn conversation,” I said.“I am on your side, Mark,” Vector insisted. “And that is why I feel like the best thing to do is sign the divorce papers and let her go once and for all. You love Ivy and she is the woman you love, so divorce Alexa and be with Ivy fully,” Vector said.Somehow, his words only aggravated me.“Do you know how insulted I fee
ALEXA“Noelle, this is supposed to be a business meeting and not a date,” I complained to Noelle as she beautified me.Noelle knew that I wasn’t interested in meeting anyone romantically as I vehemently turned down her intentions. She eventually gave up and talked about meeting him and pitching my business to him, which was why I was right here, allowing myself to get dressed for the meeting.However, Noelle was doing too much.She had insisted that I wore an alluring dress and went through the hassle of looking dazzling.“I am not going to sell myself to him to date me,” I added as Noelle lined my eyes with mascara for the third time in seconds.“This is one of the richest men in town, Alexa. Now that he is back in town, he would be needing a good stylist, and you know what I always say about appearance when pitching your business,” Noelle said.“Somehow, I have a feeling that you are not talking about business alone,” I said and Noelle laughed.“I just want you to have a good time a
MARKI arrived at work and immediately sent for Mr. Devon. There were things that needed to be sorted out and I wanted to get right to it.“You sent for me,” Mr. Devon said as he walked into my office a few minutes later.“And it’s a good thing that you are here early,” I told him. “Please sit.”Mr. Devon took his seat.“You look really troubled, Mark. Did something wrong happen?” Mr. Devon asked.Usually, I would have kept this to myself, especially knowing that it was not out in the public yet, but then again, the video that Ivy showed me had been on my mind. I barely slept a wink last night, and I was still restless.Seeing the video had left me speechless, because I had no idea how that video came about. Since the accident, I had had trouble getting it up, but then in the video, I was having sex with another woman. It was strange.And confusing.“How discreet can you be?” I asked Mr. Devon.He looked at me with surprise. “I am surprised at your question, Mark. I have always had yo
ALEXAI patiently waited for Noelle to return to the apartment that we now shared together. I just wanted someone that I could talk to, and there was no one else that I wanted except my best friend.Things had spiraled out of control in the blink of an eye.In less than forty-eight hours, a lot of things had been revealed and changed. First of all, the threat that came from Clara and Ivy again, and secondly, Mark trying to get back with me. I wasn’t dumb, I knew that that was why he came to my store.Thinking about it put me in a rollercoaster of emotions.I was angry, because after everything I had sacrificed for Mark, he never thought that I loved him until he had to hear it from Ivy. If Ivy hadn’t made that revelation which I was certain that she regretted, otherwise they wouldn’t have come to my store trying to keep me away from Mark, Mark would never have wanted me.Then I also had the tiny feeling of regret.If all of these had happened without Ivy and her mother in the picture,
IVY“How did it go?” Clara asked.I understood her eagerness and dragging me right into her bedroom to question me as soon as I arrived from Mark’s house, because I had almost the same feeling right before I went.“Tell me, Ivy, how did it go?” She pushed eagerly.“I think Mark fell for it,” I answered.Well, he was pretty speechless after I showed him the video. I knew that he would have loved to deny it, but then again, it was a glaring truth he could not deny, and so he had been silent and quiet, and not wanting to make it stale, I had walked out.“You think?” Clara asked, her eyebrows furrowing. “Ivy, that wasn’t the answer I expected from you,” she added.“We didn’t come to a conclusion,” I told her. “Did he kick you out of the house?” Clara asked worriedly.“Of course he didn’t, because he wouldn’t dare,” I said with a smile.My mother was always right about everything! After using the video to get what we wanted months ago, I had wanted to delete it completely from my phone be
MARKThere was nothing that I could have said that would have changed Alexa’s mind. The resolve in her eyes had been firm.There was nothing else I could have done than to walk away with the last dignity that I had.Leaving didn’t mean that I would stop trying. Everything just happened, so I tried to understand that Alexa was still dealing with the emotions of her secret being revealed. All I needed to do was to give her enough time, and also impress her.“She cannot continue to turn me down when she eventually sees how important I am to her business,” I said to myself.Alexa was a businesswoman now, and surely, she would come to understand the power of influence and power over businesses sooner than later.As I drove back home, I began to think of ways to step in as her savior. I wasn’t a man who chased after women, but right now, the only thing I could think of doing was chasing Alexa Silver and wooing her all over again. Something shifted in me the moment Ivy made that huge reveal,
MARKEverything that had happened in the last couple of hours continued to plague my thoughts. Ivy had lied to me, and I had been stupid enough to let the one woman who stood with me and nurtured me back to health instead.I really wished now that I could turn back the hands of time. I would have stopped that divorce by every means possible. Now it dawned on me why I could only get aroused by Alexa Silver. It was like that with her because she was the only one my body was connected to when it was shut down in coma. Everyone around me had lied. They all knew, yet they had allowed me to live in lies for years! Doctor Jones knew; maybe he should be the one to get arrested first. Vector, the one person I thought was my best friend also knew, but he decided to take Ivy’s side. All along, I had thought that he had a fond likeness for Alexa, which was why all the years that we were married, he never had any ill thing to say about her. Yet, he had also lied to me.Ivy’s deception had been t
ALEXAReturning to my office seemed like a horrible idea, because I could not stop being agitated. Fortunately, my assistant didn’t have any more bad news for me, so I simply asked her to change the door sign to close and close for the day.He knows now; what next is going to happen?Or maybe I might be the one over-thinking things or overreacting. Mark had never cared about me, not even after I nursed him back to good health and stayed by his side for years. No, he never cared. Most men would have already known that I was hopelessly in love with him by then, but Mark Ronaldo, because he was still in love with Ivy, was too blind to see.Why else would I accept to marry him in the blink of an eye? Why would I still stay even after Ivy returned and tried to get him back? Even if I had taken care of him when he was in coma, I should have left the moment he woke up, but I didn’t. It had been for devotion, but every other sacrifice I had made wasn’t.It was for love.I continued to pace ab
IVY“I just want to hide my head in shame, mum,” I said to my mum as I buried my face in my hand. “We have worked so hard to get here, and now I have ruined everything,” I sobbed deeply.She stayed quiet, as she would usually do most times, and her silence always spoke the loudest volumes, because I knew without a doubt that she was already plotting something, which was why I was always confident to run to her for everything.She always had solutions to every single problem.After I left Mark’s ward at the hospital, I had realized that I made a terrible mistake by revealing Alexa’s feelings for him, but then again, I had been in the most agitated state, not knowing what to do and the words had just come out.It had saved me from that confrontation, but I had ruined things in the process.“Mark is going to call off the engagement; I am sure of it,” I continued when she remained quiet. “Maybe I could have found something else to say, but at that time, I was too nervous to think of somet
MARK“Everyone knows that Alexa has been madly in love with you from the very first day she set her eyes on you, way before we even met.”The words still kept ringing in my head even as I arrived back at my mansion in good health. It was as though I was hearing the love word for the first time.Alexa was in love with me before now? Did she know me before I arrived at Mr. Silver’s house that fateful day?I didn’t get any answer to all the many questions that were flying through my head, majorly because after Ivy stormed out, I was too stunned to have said anything. Then Alexa had turned and walked out too.It had been a brief moment of emotions for me, especially, and before I could come out of it and ask Alexa about what Ivy said, I was told that she had already left. Now I was back at my house, strong and better, but with confusion in my head.There was also the revelation that Doctor Jones revealed to me, which was intense, and that too, I did not get answers to it. Ivy ensured that