All Chapters of The Woman He Never Chose: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

EMILIAThe next morning, I was numb.“Em,” Sunny called out gently as I was about to walk out of the door. “What if you take the day off? I know you said you were fine, but you don’t look okay. Maybe a break will do you a lot of good. You know, get some sleep and…”“I’m fine, Sunny." I told her with a small smile. Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I couldn’t cry. I had done enough of that at night. “Going to work is better. At least, I would be able to take my mind off it."“How would that help?” she argued, clearly frustrated with my stubbornness. “You said Bianca comes to the office almost every day. That means you still have to see them."“I’ll be fine, Sun. I’ve been through worse," I told her and left the house before she could voice any more protests.Alexander noticed my mood the moment I walked into the office, but I told him the same thing I had told everyone else who pointed out how pale I looked.“I didn’t sleep well last night." The reply had turned robotic after saying

EMILIA“So?” Tommy asked, a brow raised.“Fine.” I finally agreed and fought back the smile trying to show as he grinned. “But I won’t stay long."He looked like he could barely contain his smile, which finally made me let go of mine. “I’ll take what I can get."Tommy took me to a small place that was about three blocks from the office. I had seen it a couple of times but had never gone there. We took the corner table by the window and ordered.I got a chamomile tea instead of coffee. I already had a cup in the office, and I didn’t want to risk taking any more with my condition. I had read somewhere that I had to limit my coffee intake now.When the waitress placed the cup in front of me, I muttered thanks and wrapped both hands around the mug and let the warmth ground me.“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Tommy asked, breaking the silence. “We barely met, but I feel so comfortable talking with you."I didn’t want to admit that I felt the same. It would feel too fast, and that was something I d

EMILIAMy head snapped to the door where Bianca stood, and for a second, nobody moved. Her eyes moved, narrowing on the space between Steven and me. Or the lack of it. She eyed Steven’s fingers curled around my arms and the expression on his face.I watched her take it all in and rearrange it into something else.Steven straightened, and his hands dropped. The walls went up immediately, and his mask slid into place as he stepped back and retreated into that man I hated.“She nearly fainted. I caught her before she could fall," he said, walking back to his chair.Bianca shut the door behind her and stepped into the room. Her eyes were fixed on me, and they were cold. I knew this was going to be another vicious encounter.“How convenient," she said softly, coming to stand in front of me. “It’s amazing how you always find a reason to be around him. "It's a skill you have to teach me," she said, her voice turning hostile with the last word."Bianca," Steven warned, but she ignored him, not

EMILIAThe pre-gala planning meeting was held on Thursday afternoon in the large conference room on the executive floor.Alexander had told me to attend so I could take minutes, so I sat at the far end of the table with my laptop, ready to write down every important detail.Steven was at the head of the table with Alex beside him. The event coordinator, PR lead, head of corporate relations and everyone who held important roles were present. I think this was the first time so many heads were in one room together since I started working here.My eyes fell on Bianca. She didn’t hold any official roles in the company, but she insisted on being here and had stationed herself beside Steven as though they managed the company together.She had a smug smile when she sat beside me, her eyes reminding me that at the end of the day, she was the one who mattered. I tore my gaze from them when I noticed Steven looking at me and pinned my eyes to the laptop for the remaining forty minutes that the m

EMILIAI was on my way home when my phone rang. I didn’t want to answer when I saw who it was that was calling, especially after everything that had happened two days ago.I ended Tommy's call, but he called back immediately, so I decided to answer and see what excuses he would come up with this time.“I know you don’t want to hear from me," he said immediately after I answered. “But I just need a few minutes of your time. I want to explain why I did that."“You have two minutes. "Start talking," I demanded coldly.“I shouldn’t have done what I did," he said. “I was wrong and made our friendship seem like it meant nothing when I asked you to choose. That wasn’t what I wanted.”“Really?” I scoffed. “Then what was the plan?”“I was going to tell you the truth, or part of it," he said, his voice turning quiet. “I didn’t go into this willingly, Emilia. When Bianca came to me with the plan, she told me she was doing it to get the man she liked back because she was desperate that his mistre