KATHERINE
The incident at her father's office had taken place hours ago, but as Katherine slowly brushed her hair in front of her dressing table, her chest bubbled with rage.
Needless to say, she had been extremely excited and grateful when her father brought up the talk about her and Damien getting married. To be honest, it had been at the back of her mind the whole time, and at one point she wondered if Damien even thought about getting married and settling down with her at all.
She had been dropping subtle hints to him for months, and once she even told him about her father's wishes of her getting married quickly but if she could recall vividly he gave no positive reaction to any of her talks.
Even when she mentioned matter of factly that her father would hand over his company to whomever she got married to, it had not moved him at all and back then she had wondered if the hints were way too subtle and flat, or if he just chose to ignore them but now... She was convinced that there was more to his neutral behavior that meets the eyes.
They had been together for quite some time and never for once did he hint at marriage, even though she so much wanted that.
Which was why she had been so happy to hear her father say they were discussing marriage and a wedding, and her hopes had soared to the high heavens.
It was about time as well, and the fact that her father was present made her even more comfortable.
Now he had to make his intentions clear, but to Katherine's greatest surprise Damien had brushed her and her father off.
She had wanted to say more but she knew her father would not appreciate her causing a scene in his office, or even anywhere near his company... So she held her peace, boiling inside as she listened to them discuss business at length.
When they finally concluded, Damien greeted her father and then he was off, without as much as a glance at her!
Ridden with shock, Katherine watched his retreating figure, but as if a switch had clicked inside her she ran after him.
After she had screamed her head off at him, asking why he was being so brutish to her, he was still so unapologetic, looking like he didn't care, and it hurt so much.
He just didn't care about anything at all. The fact that he had hurtfully brushed off the marriage talk, and literally acted like she didn't exist was nothing to him and as she watched him drive away from the company, she had stood, anger building up within her.
What was happening to him? What was happening to them?
She couldn't understand Damien again at all, and he was acting so weird lately!
Was he getting tired of her already? Things had been just fine, so what the hell was going on?
She paused in the middle of brushing her hair, thinking and thinking until finally it all started to piece itself together, "That fucking bitch!" She muttered under her breath.
There was no other suitable explanation to Damien's surly behavior, than the fact that it was became of that bitch! It was her! It was all because of her.
Since that bloody waitress had somehow materialized into their lives, Damien had begun to act so different towards her.
Days following that event, he started to show her signs by not giving her any attention, and also snapping back at her so easily whenever they argued.
Now that she noticed, she also noted that he stopped complimenting her like he used to! It was like... he was only tolerating her, just managing her presence and it was all because of this Madison girl.
Katherine clutched her hairbrush as she wondered if her greatest fears were coming true at all, and if the lady was truly the cause of this all.
Damien had stopped showing interest in her, and this was because he was obviously still in love with his ex, who had returned after so many years stirring up feelings inside him.
For the umpteenth time again since this whole thing started, Katherine wondered what he saw in that bitch. She was lame and of lower class, she wasn't even fit to be in their line of sight or their status at all, yet all of this was happening.
That bitch! That Madison was single-handedly ruining her relationship with Damien.
"FUCK!" She yelled, her clenched fist connecting with her bedside mirror, which instantly shattered into tiny little pieces.
Seeing the damage she had caused, Katherine felt shock at first but then glancing up at her uneven reflection on the glass to her bruised knuckles which had begun to bleed, her look turned evil.
She took short fast breaths, her hands shaking as she tried to calm herself, and counting from one to ten in her head until she finally calmed down she finally relaxed a bit.
Anger still making her shake, she stood to her feet making her way to the bed to pick up her phone. She needed to check up on things, and know if her plans were going like she ordered.
With everything that happened with Damien today, she needed the investigation to be faster and she needed the answers quickly.
Suddenly she remembered that she wasn't supposed to use her normal cell phone, and popping open her bottom drawer she took out the small burner phone she had purchased for this sole purpose, and the dialed the only number saved on it.
After it had rung twice, someone finally picked the call and slowly bringing the burner phone to her ear she said, "Give me some news."
.......
As Madison scoured through her tiny kitchen in search of something to have for dinner, a loud sound from the back startled her, making her nearly fall over in shock.
Her heart beginning to pound, she snatched up the first thing she saw on the tabletop; a small kitchen knife.
"Sorry, Madison! It's just the cat." She heard Mrs Sterling call out from outside.
Madison leaned back against the door, a hand placed over her forehead as she greeted Mrs Sterling from the window.
She had never been this scared before, and as she breathed heavily trying to regain herself, she then remembered that she had forgotten to do something important.
She had forgotten to call Alvarez.
Rushing to her bed, she quickly grabbed out her phone from her purse, wanting to go through with it before it would escape her mind again. She was so tired after the long walk back home earlier today, that she had completed forgotten about the stalker not until this startling incident.
The first thing she did when she returned home was to take a cold shower, and jump right into bed. It had completely skipped her mind, that she was supposed to call Alvarez.
Her heart falling to the pit of her stomach now, she glanced back at her door, cross-checking it and her window too, making sure they were locked and secure and then after she dialed Alvarez's number.
As usual he didn't waste time in picking up. "Madison? Hey, what's up? It's nice to hear from you?" He sounded so happy that Madison felt bad, that she was as going to bring him this kind of bad news, but he was her only hope now and she really needed to talk to someone.
"Alvarez, how are you doing? How's your wife, and Ivy?"
"They're all great." He replied albeit enthusiastically and she could picture him smiling, "We're good. How's London treating you?"
"Good, good." She managed to croak out.
There was silence on the other end for a few moments, before he broke it off asking with an alarmed tone, "Madison...is something wrong? Are you okay?"
Madison rubbed her forehead, "Yes I... No ...nothing is fine, Alvarez. I have something I need to tell you." She began, "S-some strange men have been asking all over town for information about me, and the whereabouts of my family."
"Strange men?" He asked, surprise coating his words, "Since when?"
"Weeks now, I heard from someone close to me actually and then today...I saw someone sneaking behind the bushes and trying to take pictures of me while I was walking down the road." As she said it out, recalling the memory, chills went down her spine and she shivered a little bit.
"What?" She heard Alvarez yell, "Are you safe?!"
"I-I am. But I'm scared, Alvarez. I'm so scared. I came here to get away from everything that happened in New York, and I just want to be free and live in peace, but why is all of this happening? I know it has something to do with what happ..." Her voice broke off, and for the first time since forever, hot tears stung at the back of her eyes.
"Hey, Maddie...it's okay. Just relax okay? Please be careful from now on, and try not to go out late at night."
Madison sighed deeply, "Please, Alvarez...I think we both know who's behind this." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, "It's common knowledge just how much Damien despises my family, and I'm sure seeing me brought back lots of memories of how we treated him back then and now he wants to get his revenge."
"Are you saying you think Damien is behind this?" Alvarez sounded confused, and sniffing Madison replied, "Seriously, Alvarez? This should be common knowledge, and yes he is behind it. Like I said earlier, you know how much Damien hates my father and how bad he was treated. Even if he forgot about it all, seeing me in New York must have rekindled all the memories."
"God, Madison...I'm so sorry." He trailed off.
"Alvarez, I need your help," She finally said, "P-please plead with Damien on my behalf. I know my family did so many shitty, heartless things to him in the past and none of us deserve his sympathy.. but, I am so sorry for everything. I know it's not enough but please... I apologize on behalf of all of us. Please, Alvarez. Beg him to just... to just leave us alone. He should leave me alone, please."
Madison's voice broke and she raised her hands to her face, wanting to stop the tears from falling.
She knew exactly what would happen if this somehow got to her family, and they heard about her going to New York, and meeting their arch enemy. Her father and brother wouldn't hesitate to blame her, and they would all accuse her of being the cause of it all.
"If...if anything happens to any of them, my family, they would come for me. They will point fingers at me, and blame me for it. I really don't want to get into any sort of trouble with them. So please, I need you...in any way you can, just talk to him."
She heard Alvarez finally sigh, "I'll try my best Maddie, but I can't promise you anything. I don't even know what to say all these seriously, but I'll try."
Madison nodded shakily, her heart filled with a little bit of gratitude. He would try at least and that was all that mattered.
"Thank you."
"Maddie... I know you don't like it when I bring this up, but what really happened with you and your family? You still haven't told me anything and I'm really worried on your behalf. Please Maddie, talk to me."
Her heart suddenly clenched, and there wasn't enough air to fill her lungs anymore. Tremors passing through her, she realized that she didn't want to talk about this.
"Last I remember, you were so close. What went wrong, Madison? I still can't seem to wrap my head around it. It's so strange..."
"Alvarez please..." Madison cut in, trying to hold back the tears that had already started to spill down her cheeks. Talking about the past meant talking about her family, talking about the baby she'd lost and everything she had gone through. She didn't want to...
No! She couldn't say anything. She wasn't ready.
"I'm sorry, but I really don't want to talk about it..." She sniffed back her tears, wiping her face.
From the stoic silence from the other end, she knew Alvarez was hurt. But she didn't know what else to do.
"Thank you for being so helpful today," She whispered.
"It's okay. Take care of yourself Maddie."
"Take care, Alvarez."
After they had exchanged somewhat awkward goodbyes, Madison hung up.
The tears spilled from her eyes, and laying on her bed she tried to muffle her sobs with a pillow.
She was keeping this secret from the one person who truly loved and supported her, and even though it wasn't right all she just wasn't ready. She didn't want to talk about it because it hurt too much.
It really hurt.
Burying her head in her pillow, Madison sobbed her heart out, struggling and failing to take the thoughts out of her head until she successfully cried herself to sleep.
.......
Thanks for reading. 💕