Always You

#8 - His Ex

Last time I updated I was about to have my semester exam. Coincidentally it's happening this time too. Tomorrow (or today as it is 2 am now) I have my semester exam. So please pray for me... hehe!

And I hope you find the following chapter... intriguing!

Enjoy.

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I was quite enjoying my time. Mrs. Lovegood, Amelia, was an excellent hostess. I was immensely swept up in the intricacies of the gossip that was floating around the room. I had come to know that Molly Bishop, the daughter of well-known Drs. Bishop, had finally decided to stop studying medicine like her parents wanted and applied in a fashion course. How that was going to work out still remained the question. Mona Reid, the twenty-something daughter of the biggest philanthropist in the city, had dumped her boyfriend of four years and was now dating a richer man. The identity of the mystery man was still unknown. Though Jenny Poole, the owner of JPJ – Jenny Poole Jewelries – was pretty sure that Reid had dumped her boyfriend because she had caught him cheating.

It felt good to blend in the crowd and being the wife of the most sought out man in city wasn't bad either. A few times I had realized that Leon was staring at me, whether he was standing two steps away or across the big room. No matter who he was speaking to, I always found him looking at me. Sometimes it was annoying, other times it was lovely. I felt important and special. It was different. In all the years I had spent with Joseph I had never felt this way. I always had to make sure that whatever I was doing was worth him, worth my boyfriend so I wouldn't lose him. But with Leon it was quite opposite. With him I felt self-sufficient. That whatever I do and whatever I gain, I deserve it. A few weeks into the marriage and I was already enjoying it.

But for how long?

I was deep in my thoughts when a woman in stunning royal blue gown approached me. There was no mistaking who was wearing that unique piece. Hayden Burke aka Leon's wife number one was coming towards me as if she was the predator and I was the prey.

"Oh hellloooo Brianna," she greeted me with a hug and kiss on the cheek. There was an audible 'oomph' and a fake smile on her face. Like come on! Botox already?!

"Hey," I replied awkwardly. Formal dinner or not, I am no friends of any of my husband's exes – unless, well, I know them. And Hayden Burke isn't one of them.

"Brianna," Hayden said in a singsong kind of voice, "Oh how I've missed you."

"You have," I half-answered, half-asked her.

"How many years has it been? Oh yes! Many!!! Last I saw you was at my wedding with Leon," she gushed, or so she seemed to. I couldn't tell with all that Botox. And then she giggled.

And then I giggled. "Uh ha-ha-ha," a tight fake smile was plastered on my face.

"Oh Brianna, that man I tell you," Hayden said.

No, don't tell me. I thought.

"Ah all the time we spent together. It was so memorable. All those mornings," and then in a conspiratorial whisper, "and all those nights."

I think I found myself imagining crushing her head.

"I was married to him and he was just so sexy even then–"

"Hayden!" I all but almost shouted. "I am married to him now, so why don't you keep your reminisces to yourself."

"Oh!" she went for the innocent look but her eyes said it all. She wanted me all riled up and humiliated. "I am so sorry, I just got carried away."

I took a step forward and looked her straight into the eye. "Let's cut the crap Hayden." She looked amused by what I said. "We both know just how much you miss him. That's the reason you left him and he never bothered looking back." A bit of the smile slipped off her face. "I might not be his first wife, or his second or third for that matter, but I sure as hell am his wife now," I lowered my voice another octave to make a point – yea I know, dramatic – and said, "If you so much as even look at my husband the wrong way I will make sure you won't be able to look anywhere but at your own battered face."

Wait! Am I saying all this?

I don't threaten people. Ugh!

By now that smirk had been wiped off her face. "Oh Brianna, you think you have him now. You think that if he looks at you a certain way, touches you with care, treats you like his queen, you are going to become the center of his world," she challenged. "Everyone in this room knows exactly why this marriage has taken place. If everyone shuts their mouth, it isn't because they are ignorant silly socialites. It is because Westley Enterprises has them tied up in one way or another."

I knew she was trying to make me doubt myself. Heck, I knew the truth. But something was pricking inside, it felt like something was cracking.

She took a semi-circle around me, coming to stand at my back, drinking her champagne so casually as if we were discussing the weather.

"Look around you. Where is he now," she said and indeed Leon wasn't there in the room. "I'll tell you where he is now. He is outside on a call with another woman. Another woman, Brianna, while he is here showcasing you as his new – newest – bride."

"You don't know anything," I said.

"Don't I," she said and left me standing there in the middle of a room I wanted nothing but to run from. I know, I bloody well know the truth of my marriage, but someone throwing it on my face doesn't make it bearable.

I turned around and saw Leon in the doorway. He looked like he was about to kill someone as the anger on his face radiated simply too many negative vibes. Not helping here since my negative vibes weren't any less.

And then he looked at me. He looked at me and like that all my doubts seemed to disappear. Vanished into thin air.

Ridiculous. I thought.

First what Hayden says affects me and now Leon only has to look at me and I think my world is alright. He looked at me and his face morphed into one of concern and worry, as if what Hayden had just said and how I took it mattered to him. That is when I realized that angry face was meant for Hayden.

And that made me happy.

That made me smile.

And then that made me frown.

Like what in the world? This is so exasperating!

"Bree are you alright? What did she want," Leon had reached me and asked me with sincerity.

"I... She was...," I was at a loss of words.

What did she want? Why did it affect me? Was she telling the truth? Should I ask Leon? This was a business arrangement after all.

Too many questions and yet no answers.

"Bree? Sweetheart, are you okay," he asked.

Sweetheart.

I shook my head and said, "Please just take me home, Leon."

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If you guys thought it was a good enough chapter after a long time please pray for me exam tomorrow. If you don't... well please pray for me still. Thank you awesome people. ALL OF YOU!

ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN WANTING AN UPDATE YOU ARE THE GUYS THIS UPDATE IS A REALITY. THANK YOU!

THANK YOU FOR ENJOYING MY STORY AND LIKING IT! YOU GUYS ARE HEARTS.

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~chocolates4ever