- 7 minutes earlier -
You walked the long hallway of Luke's huge office space, situated on the prestigious top floor of one of the tallest business centre buildings in Sydney. You glided down the hall and past the people, your energy immediately captivating the whole room. One by one, everyone slowly stopped working as the sound of your heels clicking echoed in the space, lifting their heads to stare at you with open mouths – you walked tall and proud, exactly the same as everyone remembered you.
You couldn't hold back a smirk that formed on your lips, as a hushed murmur waved through the office. Some people audibly gasped in surprise at seeing you back in the workplace, as they silently recollected the rumours they had heard about your sudden departure in the spring and you could barely hold back from glaring at them. You could only imagine the sorts of things that were being said about you in the office space, especially when the whole Hemmings family were nearly worshipped in this company for their generosity and good-heartedness. A 'bitch' was probably one of the least insulting synonyms for your name.
Just as you were about to stretch your hand out and push the glass door open to Luke's private office room, an unknown face popped up into your vision, the girl's body nearly bumping into you. "Excuse me," she chuckled awkwardly, however clearly not amused. "Who are you?"
You took a step back, slightly appalled at the manners of this young woman, whom you could only assume had barely even graduated from university, when she was hired (if even that). It didn't surprise you, though. Luke liked them young, or, as he would constantly argue trying to vindicate himself, "young minds keep the business strong and fresh."
You eyed the girl up and down, noticing her pushed up breasts nearly bulging out of the V shaped neckline of her fitted shirt and a tight leather skirt that was hugging her curves nicely. And of course, her skin-tight clothes made perfect sense – Luke's desk was positioned in a way that made her desk outside his office constantly visible through the glass doors, thus making her always visible to him.
You could barely hold a mocking smirk back, remembering his other secretaries that would dress in the exact same way for him. You stood just a little taller in front of her, regaining control of the room. "You must be new here."
"I'm not. The question is – are you? Otherwise, you would know that Mr Hemmings does not see people without an appointment. And, as his personal secretary, I know for a fact that he does not have any today. Certainly nothing with a woman," the girl spoke proudly. She clearly felt superior working for (and most likely sleeping with) one of the richest CEO's in the world – let alone Australia. You completely understood that, but her innocence still made you scoff quietly, and you could almost feel the whole office hush down in silence, awaiting for your reply.
"Oh, trust me. He will want to see me," you said, stepping aside to go around the girl without giving her a second glance, but her face was back right in front of you in no time.
She let out a humourless chuckle. "I don't think so, lady. You will just have to wait here and allow me to check with Mr Hemmings. If not, I'm afraid I'll have to call security to take you out of here and remind you once again that you should always make an appointment," the girl spoke condescendingly, a small smirk tugging on her lips. If it were your first time dealing with a naïve 20-something bimbo, you would definitely feel yourself getting worked up right about now. Unfortunately (both for you and for them), it wasn't your first time and the whole situation simply humoured you.
So you smiled at the girl, letting out a short breath as you cocked your head slightly to a side. "Well, then I'm afraid I'll have to fire you."
The woman let out an obnoxious scoff, her eyes bulging out in shoch. "What— Who the hell do you think you are barging in here and, and— and requesting to see Mr Hemmings and threatening me, and—?" The girl's panic quickly ran her out of breath, as you regained your tall posture in front of her with a smirk on your stained red lips.
"How about Mrs Hemmings?" You responded with a cocked eyebrow, shutting the girl right up in the middle of her outburst. You knew that that status had stopped being official the second Luke scribbled down his name on the divorce papers, but you simply couldn't allow an opportunity to see his girlfriend's jaw drop to the floor slip by. You always loved seeing his bimbos both furious and ashamed at the same time.
She stared at you for a second, blinking rapidly as she tried to gather her thoughts before loudly proclaiming. "Mrs Hemm— Luke is not married. No. He told me he's not—"
You sneered at her. "Luke?" You asked in a mocking tone, an amused smirk permanently decorating your lips, as you stared at the girl slightly appalled at the fact that Luke would allow his girlfriends to call him by his first name in the work place. "What are you – my husband's buddy? Or wait, let me guess – you two are fucking?" You grinned victoriously. "Ah, how typical! Sleeping with your own boss. Now, do you really think that's a good path to take in the beginning of your career?" You tutted with a soft shake of your head in disapproval.
Taking a step forward, you spoke up again in a threateningly lowered voice. "Let me tell you something, darling. Luke is married – in fact he has been for the past five years. Of course, you've only been working here for a couple of months – if not weeks – so I don't expect you to know much. But maybe next time check with your records before you come shouting at your own boss, okay?" You offered her a patronising smile, as your voice lowered into almost a whisper. "Now, I know my husband's a goddamn office slut and I know you sincerely thought he liked you. But trust me when I say this, you're not the first one in his bed, but I am definitely the last one."
The girl swallowed, her figure slumping more and more with every word you spoke, which only made the smirk on your face grow bigger.
"Now, if you don't get out of my goddamn way, I will fire your stupid uneducated ass that you tried so hard to show off in that tacky little skirt. And next time remember," you paused for a moment, stepping aside and walking around the girl. "It's Mrs Hemmings," you finished, finally pushing the glass door open and walking into Luke's office.
"Good morning, hubby."
You plastered a wide grin on your face, as you stopped just a few steps into the office, knowing very well that the girl was scurrying right behind you to tattle you out.
Slowly, Luke lifted his gaze up to look at you through furrowed eyebrows. He was stood by one of his desks in the corner of his office, completely oblivious to the shenanigans that were happening just outside the office door. His posture was slumped and his face was blank of emotion, except for the crease in between his eyebrows that showed off confusion.
The secretary ran in merely a second later, stopping only when she stood a foot away from Luke. "Mr Hemmings, I did everything to stop her! But she said she was your wife and I know you're not married but she threatened to fire—"
"Leave," Luke blurted out to her, his inspecting gaze leaving your face only for a second to glare at the babbling girl in front of him. "And close the door behind you. And the drapes," he quickly added before the girl left, as he turned back to the pile of papers on his desk.
You grinned at Luke's words. "Wow, are we going to do something naughty that nobody else can know about?" You spoke, walking over to his main desk in the centre of his office, quickly glancing over the huge windows behind it to admire the view of the city. You had just placed your coat and your bag on his desk chair, before his voice made you turn around to look at him.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Luke's voice sounded bored and uninterested, and even though his words weren't the most warming ones, you still expected at least a tingle of excitement to sound in his tone. You walked over to him and threw a small brown paper bag over the document he was reading, without saying a word to him.
"What is this?" He asked, pushing the bag away without even looking inside. His tone already had emotion, but it wasn't the warm and exciting one you had hoped for – it was just a little more irritated and indifferent than before.
"It's a doughnut," you spoke, a small smile playing on your lips as you sunk your teeth into your own delicious treat, whereas Luke simply walked away from you and over to a glass coffee table that was buried in yet another pile of binders and paperwork.
"I don't have time," he hissed at you sitting down on the sofa, without taking a single glance at you, his eyebrows furrowing even further, as he frantically searched the table for one specific piece of paper.
"Well, make some fucking time," you threw your own bag with a half-eaten doughnut into the trash, as you walked over to the table to stand on the other side of it, right across from Luke.
Suddenly, he shot up to his feet, brushing his face before glaring at you. "Look, what the fuck are you actually doing here? Shouldn't you be on some fucking cruise with your fiancée celebrating your newly found freedom? I signed the fucking papers, what else do you fucking want from me?"
You looked him up and down, with an annoyed look, crossing your arms over your chest. "Jeez, what bit you in the ass this morning—"
"I don't know. How does an illegal deal done behind my back sound to you? Pretty biting, don't you think?" Luke's eyes were fixed on you, making an uneasy feeling settle in your stomach.
"An illegal what?" You breathed out, your hands absentmindedly falling by your sides, as your brain started buzzing with thought. Was it possible?
Luke glared at you, his nostrils flaring in anger, but his gaze was fixed on you. "You heard me. An illegal deal done behind my back. With a gang," he hissed staring you dead in the eye.
Your stomach dropped at his words, as your heart started racing in your chest. No, it couldn't be. There is no way—
"What do you mean a gang?" Your shocked words came out just above a whisper, as you watched Luke's jaw clench in anger. Luke was rarely one to get angry; truthfully, he was rarely one to show any sort of strong emotion. But you saw his blue eyes fire up, you saw his nostrils flare, his chest start heaving and his fingers turn white around the clutched file in his hand.
"You fucking know what I mean. You fucking know. And you want to know how I know? Because I have it right fucking here," Luke was on the verge of yelling, when he threw the file across the table for you to pick it up and see for yourself. "What on earth was going through your head when you signed a deal with a goddamn gang, Y/N?!" He couldn't hold it in any longer, his voice loud in your ears, the vein on his neck becoming more prominent.
"Luke," you breathed, lifting your gaze up to look at him. You remembered every word on that paper like it was yesterday that you read it one hundred times before writing down your name at the bottom of it. You barely took a single look at it, feeling as disgusted with yourself as Luke seemed. "It's not what it looks like. I can explain—"
Luke scoffed, with a shake of his head, his lips stretching out into a sad smile. "Of course, you can. If anyone can, it's you. I mean, you're the defence lawyer, you're used to bullshitting your way through your cases and fucking with people's heads. And you can sure as hell can bullshit your way through this. But not with me, Y/N; and not this time," he looked at you and you could almost physically feel the heat from his eyes, as shivers ran down your spine. "It's so fucking typical of you," mumbling, Luke ran his hands through his hair, as he closed his eyes for a second to take a breath. "Of course you'd fuck me over and then fucking leave. I can't believe I'm so stupid," Luke laughed bitterly, which made him sound even more infuriated. "And even after I've seen and read that fucking file a hundred times, I still can't believe you would be capable of something like this; I still can't believe you'd do that to me," Luke sounded sad and helpless, disappointed even. He glared at you again, but this time his eyes didn't leave yours. He looked at you with so much anger, sadness and disgust, it made your skin crawl. It made you want to scratch it all off until you scraped off every single thing that made Luke look at you that way.
"I'm so sorry, Luke," you whispered, your throat tight with tears that were blurring your vision, but you held it back. If Luke is rarely one to show strong emotion, you never did. You'd barely even let yourself cry at your own wedding, wiping the tear away so quickly that the groom himself barely even noticed it before all traces of it were gone. "I swear I didn't think this would affect you. I never meant—"
"What? For me to find out?" He smiled at you, but the lack of a happy sparkle in his eye only made your skin crawl again; his eyes looked empty of emotion. "You never thought this would reach me, did you?" You simply shook you head in response and just as you were about to speak, he laughed at you; but the laughter was so forced and bitter, it hurt you to even hear it.
"Luke, just please let me explain this—"
"Explain?" Luke repeated staring at you, his usually icy blue eyes dark with burning rage. "What would you like to explain? How you made a fucking deal with a gang? Y/N, a gang! For money! What the fuck were you thinking?" Luke could almost feel his blood bubble in his veins; he could barely hold himself together anymore. He wanted to scream at you until his voice broke; he wanted to kick you out of his office and ban you from the building, so he would never have to look at you again. And for the first time in your whole relationship, Luke wished he'd never even known you.
Throughout your seven years of being with him, you have never seen Luke so furious with anyone; let alone you. The vein on his neck was popping, another one on his forehead was becoming more prominent, as Luke's anger seemed to grow by the second, making it more and more difficult for you to hold yourself together. But if there was one thing you never wanted Luke to feel towards you was disappointment – and he seemed to be feeling nothing but that.
Seeing him look at you with so much regret and fury in his icy eyes, that somehow seemed to be leaving a burning hot trail on your skin, pushed you closer and closer to your breaking point.
"They weren't a gang, when I met them. They were just three guys and I never even thought..." you sighed, feeling as frustrated with yourself as Luke was.
Your deepest secret and your deepest shame were coming out into the light and you could not feel more petrified if you had a gun pointed at your head. Your voice was weak and trembling, but at least it wasn't just a pathetic whisper anymore, when you spoke up again. "I don't expect you to understand, Luke. But just hear me out and—"
"Oh, I think I've heard plenty—"
"Luke," you spoke strictly. Finally, your voice was coming back to your control, when you swiftly interrupted Luke from going on another rant. "I knew what I was getting myself into signing that thing, Luke. I knew. I was well aware of the possible consequences and the dangers of this deal and I did it anyway. Willingly and with a clear head," you emphasised. "Yes, I probably should have told you, but... Luke, you have to understand – this was not done to hurt you," you offered him an apologetic look, as you watched him walk around the table, in thought. You followed him, stopping just a few feet away from him. "It's my greatest shame and I buried it so deep down in my head, there was no way I was going to tell anyone. Let alone my own husband, who I never wanted to think low of me," you paused just for a moment, your voice softening. "I couldn't bear you thinking badly of me, Luke. I couldn't."
Luke simply stood staring at you, his hands fixed on his hips, while his face held a sceptical look. "And do you think I think highly of you now?"
Sighing, you shook your head. "No, of course I don't. And I wouldn't expect you to," you sighed, your voice calm and steady, which seemed to help Luke calm down, too. "You're disgusted, I know. I can tell. You're disgusted and you're disappointed. But you have to understand that even if you hate me as much as you do—"
Luke puffed, a small sad smile stretching out his lips. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you, you know that," he looked at you and you could almost feel his hard eyes softening as they landed on yours; his shoulders almost seemed less tense and his previously scrunched up face seemed to relax a tad, too.
But that soon changed, when he cleared his throat, rebuilding his angry demeanour. "I do, however, want you to leave. And never come back."