Reyona disconnected the call and looked out of the window of her office.
The picturesque view outside the building didn't penetrate her consciousness at all. No, she was unable to enjoy the view as always, nor could the faraway sound of the traffic mingled with the voices of her employees thrill her the way it normally did.
Not when her heart was filled with so much betrayal that she had no idea how she could stand it.
Not when her mind's eye was focused on the laughing picture of the man who had promised to love her for better or worse.
Not when she could still see herself as the blushing bride who had been so happy to marry the love of her life, the man she intended to make a life with. The man she vowed to raise a beautiful family with.
The man who promised to always be there for her.
She could see the girl she had been then—one who thought she was mature. One who thought that all would be well with her world now that she was married to the man who cherishes her above all others. One who was proud to call her his own.
"How naive," Reyona muttered to herself as a lone tear trailed down her face, marring her lightly made-up face.
"How stupid. How utterly foolish that girl had been."
She looked at herself through the glass wall of her office.
She was a beautiful woman with a heart-shaped face, a full mouth, and clear skin. Her face had matured from what it used to be, but she was one of those kinds of women whose maturity made their beauty bloom.
Reyona flicked off the lone tear that left a track on her face and trailed her index finger over her facial features.
"You will never be that stupid again, Rey. Nobody will play you for a fool again. And those who did, every single one of them would pay," she chillingly smiled to herself as she thought of the call she just received.
The man had come through. She saw his number online and picked it up to give him a call. She had doubted her sanity.Even when she explained what she wanted done for him and he told her he would get it done without stress, she hadn't believed that it would work.
Just that morning, she had called him again and again until she was sure that his patience had been tried. She was so scared that everything she planned would be in vain, all because of a flop.
She had not been relaxed throughout her meeting with her team; her mind had been on the phone, and when it would ring, she could hear the news of the success of their plan. Or the failure of it.
She knew it could only be either of the two, but she would rather learn that they succeeded than fail. She had already failed once when she tried to stop them from getting the visa, but that had not worked as she couldn't provide valid evidence why the couple should not be allowed to leave the country.
She shuddered as she thought of what the result would have been if she had failed. Those two would have been making fun of how foolish she was when they got to their destination while they patted themselves on the back for how clever they were.
"I have truly been foolish," she muttered to herself as she wondered how today would have been for her if she had not known about these days beforehand. Suppose she had not made sure that she did not end up as a laughing stock for someone who thought that he was wiser than any other person. For the one to whom she gave all her whole life.
"How ironic," she thought as she remembered how she had vowed to herself as she walked down the aisle that she wouldn't have a broken home like her parents did. "Divorce was not an option" was the promise she had made to herself that day.
"Whatever happens between us, please let us talk about it. Let us air it out and make amends. Let us seek help if we have to, but please let us never forget this love of ours that brought us together."
She cringed as she remembered how full of love she had been for him when she said that. He had smiled at her, closed the distance by drawing her tighter against himself, and told her that he understood.
"The bastard. He understood, he said. Yet this was what I would have gone back home to meet today. Naive, little me," she thought in anger as she squeezed the slip of paper in her hand tightly.
She did not need to read it again before she could recite it. The letters jumped behind her eyelids even though she closed her eyes.
"I am sorry, Reyona. I know I don't deserve you. Please forgive me. I wish you all the best in life."
That was it.All her ten years with the man, and that was all she got from him; she did not even deserve an epistle that explained the reason for his action. All she got was a one-line, hastily scribbled note.
She gave a curt laugh as she turned away from the perusal of her reflection in the glass. She unclenched her fist and straightened out the paper in her hand. She kept it in her drawer for safekeeping.She picked up her bag and looked around to check if there was something she forgot to take. She had a question for the man who thought this was what she deserved after all they shared.
"But as for today, I have my dear husband to go home to. He would need all the comfort he could get today. What kind of wife would I be if I couldn't be there for him to provide it?"Thomas was going crazy. He was sure that he would be carted to the loony house soon, as he turned over the house in his search for it. He thought he kept it on the coffee table, but he couldn't find it yet. She was not back yet. So, where could it be? Had he merely thought of it but forgotten it in his haste to join his partner? He searched some more. The couch? Nope, could he have placed it on the TV? Not there. Did he stick it on the stick-it board in the kitchen? That was ridiculous, he thought after running back to the living room when he couldn't find it. Thomas sat on the couch and decided to calm down. What good will it be for Reyona to come back home and meet him in a frenzy like this? "I probably took it with me when I was rushing out, or I didn't write it after all; yes, that must be it," Thomas thought as he stood up and went to the bar to get a drink. A scotch. Yes, that would be just the thing.He heard the sound of her car as he was on his way to the bar, though, and
Thomas held her as they moved to the gentle beat of the song. He didn't want to remember that day. No, not now."Are you sure you are fine?" he asked his wife again. Reyona tilted her head back as she looked keenly into the eyes she had come to love so much. The eyes she had believed she would stare into for the rest of her life. "Yes, honey," she said breathily. "I am dancing with you, the love of my life, ain't I?"Thomas nodded. He had no idea what else to do but to nod. He knew he should let it go. He should let her have her moment, but he couldn't shake off the niggling feeling that something was not right. He had to ask her. Reyona saw the look that entered his eyes as they moved without missing a step—the way they have moved for years. They were so perfectly synced, and she thought that he was not so closed off with his expressions after all.She must have been the one who had not noticed. She knew he wanted to ask something, just as she knew what he wanted to ask, so she laid
Thomas looked at his friend like he had just informed him that the apocalypse had already happened. "What do you mean by you have sold it? Both? How is that even possible?" he asked his friend, Lance. The latter beckoned on the waiter to bring beers over to their table. He looked over at Thomas. "The usual?" "I don't care about crappy beer, man. What do you mean by that?" Thomas fired back at the man, who seemed nonchalant about his plight. "Cool your jets, man. I have been up and about since morning, and I am not about to miss out on a cold beer because you suddenly changed your mind. '' He turned to the waiter. "Just give me a chilled Guinness, thank you. '' My friend here would be having none." "You got it," the waiter said before going back to get the order. Lance Pratchet loosened his tie before sitting more relaxed in his chair. Work had been hectic recently, and his ex-wife seemed to think he plucked money out of the air with the way she had been on his neck about alimony.
Lance Pratchet gaped at his friend when the latter looked at him incomprehensibly. He had never known Thomas to be a prankster. The man might be an asshole in Lance's book because of what he had done to his wife of many years, but bros had got to stick together, and that was why he had agreed to help him with the sales of the two properties that Thomas had acquired with the help of the wife he was leaving for his side chick. Lance had never liked the bimbo-looking babe with her voluptuous body and wiles that had hooked his friend for years, but Lance did not really like females these days anyway, not with the way Alexa had frustrated his life throughout their three years of marriage and continued to do so since they finalized their divorce a year ago. She had gotten everything she planned with her friends, and they had accused him of being abusive. Fat, dark bruises had shown up in graphic details in court, and with a long line of witnesses to corroborate her claims, Lance knew t
"The transaction went through. Sorry about the delay. There was a little transactional error with the mule account. Check out the account now." Reyona set aside her phone as she got the message and looked up at her assistant, who was standing in front of her. The lady was telling her about one company that would like them to handle their audit this year. The owner of the company intended to use the audit to test the strength of ReyDexter LLC. If they are satisfied with Reyona's company, they intend to hand over their portfolio to them and make them their official accounting firm. Reyona was a Certified Public Accountant who had realised earlier that she would rather have a firm of her own than be in a company where she only dealt with the company's finances. Reyona loved challenges, and she believed that one way she could get them in her chosen profession would be to have a company of her own where she could handle the cases of the different companies, as she believed that no t
Reyona was sleeping, or at least trying to sleep, when she felt the bed depressed, and Thomas stood up and went out.She waited for it as she heard his phone vibrate where he had kept it beside him. He wouldn't put his phone so close to him like that normally, as he had said that the radiation from the phone was not meant to be kept anywhere near the brain, especially in sleep.Reyona knew that today was a special day, though.She was sure he was expecting something, so she didn't comment on his out-of-habit move; she had merely curled up against his side, laid her head on his chest as she took his hand, and wrapped it around herself before kissing him good night.She smiled to herself as she heard the phone vibrate, and he checked if she was asleep before gently removing her arms from around him. She had thought briefly of tightening her arms around him to see what his reaction would be, but then she decided to let him go. The show was about to start anyway.He had been on edge since
Thomas looked back sharply when he heard her voice. Damn it. He had not realised that he had spoken out loud. That was why he left the bedroom for the living room, after all. He should have just gone downstairs to the sitting room or the library. Yeah, the library would have been okay. With all the volumes of books in there and the soundproof padding his wife had installed in there as it doubled as her workspace when she wanted to as well, he could have shouted all he wanted and she wouldn't have realised. He knew that his shout was inevitable, even as he blamed himself and turned in the direction where he heard her soft footsteps. He knew he couldn't have helped his reaction, not even if a gun had been put to his head when he opened his email earlier. Even a hardcore guy would have reacted as he did. Thomas was no hardcore guy. Just a 35-year-old man looking for a soft landing in life. Ah, what would he do? He thought as he recalled the message that was burning a hole throug
Reyona tamped down the revulsion in her as she said those words. She could feel bile in her throat as she closed her eyes tightly. Who could have believed that there would be a day on earth when she would feel her skin crawl at the thought of intimacy with her man? What did she know?Theirs had never been a super passionate "get wet with just a look at you" kind of sex life, but they had a healthy sex life. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, and she could turn to him whenever she wanted to do it with the assurance that he would accommodate her and vice versa.She remembered a saying that a man's penis could be separated from his heart. She couldn't remember where she heard the saying from, but she remembered that the person had said that a man could be having regular sex with a lady while, in his heart, he held someone else dear."It is just how they are wired; just because he is fucking you every day does not mean he loves you. You are just that. A fuck buddy."Reyona released t