I can't lift my head from the steering wheel, ashamed at what just happened. Oliver's grandfather is long gone and I'm sitting in my own car with the weight of the cheque heavy on my consciousness.
"God!" I sigh with heavy breath. I just displayed what I've been labelled all these years. A freaking gold digger. I just picked that good sum over a human being! In my defence, I'll need to pay back what he's burnt on me and I'll need all the money I can get but taking it from Oliver's grandfather-- he must be having a good laugh. I don't know how I feel. A part of me wants to feel bad about my actions but a much bigger part worries if this is a blessing from God to help me save myself. Why didn't he use someone else? Why Oliver's grandfather? That man gives me the chills and the creeps. He looks like he can go at any length to make sure he has his way. His words from earlier flash in my thoughts and I grip the wheels. Betrothed from birth? Well now that's a huge shame on me. I understand now that I've been a fool. He's hers by every right, please Annie Quinn, have your man by all means. My phone buzzes in my bag and I take it out, expecting to see Oliver's famous line, 'where are you?' but I find it's only my colleagues from work texting in our group. 'Good job, everyone. We'll be going out for drinks at XX pub. If you're around and you can make it, let's go have fun, mate.' Fun. I stare lazily at the word. Another message pops up and it's from Tania- another of my colleagues, who has been trying so hard to make my friend list since I began working at the company. 'Want to hang out for drinks? I'm here!' I can feel her enthusiasm through the text and I scroll through her other texts where I always give very short and simple replies, 'No.', 'Sorry, I can't.', 'Maybe next time.' Fuck! All because of that bastard! I couldn't even be involved in anything. It's 'work and go straight home'. I looked forward to seeing him each day and I was silly enough to want him to acknowledge my presence in his damn life. Speak of the devil because his call comes in just at that moment and I glare daggers at the heart emoji next to his name, remembering how I'd saved his number with a fluttering feeling in my heart. A fucking idiot. I make up my mind to ignore his call and let it ring till it ends before sending a text to Tania and pulling out of the driveway. I'm gonna do what I want for the first time in three years, I'm going to hang out. *** The shock on my colleagues' faces when they see me is priceless but Tania has a lovely smile and a proud look as I approach the large booth big enough to hold seven people. The other girls clean their eyes and so do the guys. "Oi, I only drank one glass," Lauretta says, wiping her eyes clean and leaning next to Fiona, "Is that the stuck up, goody-two-shoes, miss-my-boyfriend-is-the-Oliver-Wright-so-bow- hmph!" The two by her side throw their hands over her mouth, shutting her up but she's already spoken that far. I feel nervous, a sinking feeling in the pit of my belly. I've never been socially awkward but tonight, I feel like the whole bar has its eyes on me. "Hi," I say nervously. "I uhm… saw the text on the group so I decided to-" "Grab a beer and take a seat, Rebecca Hoffman." "You must have had a terrible day. We've all seen the news. That's something to drink too," they chuckle and I'm grateful they don't press any further or try to taunt me like the press and the comments under those blogs. I take a seat next to Tania who waves and mouths, 'Hi.' and I do the same, feeling like a teenager who is let out to see the world for the first time. I grab a beer when she hands it over and gulp it all down in one go. My colleagues cheer me on and I feel their support as they join me and we order more drinks. We're tipsy shortly after, drunk as we giggle and talk about little things, the conversation shifting to each of us and when it's my turn, I'm rolling my eyes at the mention of Oliver. My phone continues to ring and this time I groan as I take it out, wanting to give him a piece of my mind. "Eh!" My eyes widened at the time. "It's past nine!" And I've already had about fifty missed calls from Oliver. I admit I ignored his calls to spite him, for once I didn't want to go running when he called but damn, didn't I overstep? I can imagine how pissed he is already. "As I was saying," the ladies slur in their speech. "It's good to have you here, Becca. You're always running away at the end of the day and going on fancy dates-- don't you have friends?" She throws the question out there with her eyes squinted and she's swaying back and forth too. "Hey, cut it out!" Tania can't stop blinking as she warns them. "I'm sure, Rebecca," she corrects the name with wide eyes, "Knows how to have fun... Right?" "As a matter of fact," I put down my phone, ignoring his call again. "I do not!" I scream and grab a bottle again. "Woah!" They cry in a prolonged scream and grin as they are fired up to drink more. "Why should I have to go home early?" I rant, pouring all my frustration as I finally feel the release of talking about it with other people. "Why should I wait by the door each time? I'm not his mama! "Yeah, right, you're not!" "I let my best friend go and all for what?" I snicker, "For dick!" The ladies giggle and laugh, "Yo, that's wild!" "Oliver must have some good dick," they say. "But that aside, your best friend must hate you." I shrug, "I don't blame her." I've thought about Molly throughout these three years we've been apart and every single time I do, it brings tears to my eyes. "Fuck him!" Tania screams all of a sudden, jolting me out of the despair I was sinking in. "Yeah, fuck him!" I yell right back then pause and groan, "Ugh! But I really wanna fuck him," I whine. "No, c'mon girl, you can't be dickmatised by that fine ass looking piece of man who, of course, every woman wants and who," she squinted her eyes and mumbled, "seems to be walking right up to our table." "The bastard wouldn't let me breathe!" I continue to rant just as my phone starts to ring. "I don't care if the world fucking wants him! Let me fucking go, you piece of shit! Go back to your fucking fiancee!" I grab my phone to answer his call and yell at him but from the screen, I see a figure loom behind me and it casts a shadow over the table. The table has gone quiet and the girls all seem to be glancing behind me. "What's going on?" I wonder and turn, almost having a heart attack when I hold his gaze. Oliver's eyes screamed pure malevolence, piercing me with an intensity that can set me ablaze. He's gripping his phone in his hand and he looks at my hand where I have my phone still ringing due to his call. "I would have preferred if you had been kidnapped," he narrowed his eyes, causing fear to strike my heart. "So this is where you've been." The disgust in his tone as he looks over my colleagues somehow fuels me with rage. I hate how belittling his gaze, his words and his tone are. So this is where I got that stuck up attitude from? I loved him so much I tried so hard to be like him. "How pathetic!" He spits with so much disdain but tonight, I'm not having it. "Don't talk to my friends like that!" I scream at the top of my lungs, the consequences be damned. I choose the way I live now!I open my eyes, frowning at the bright lights from the unfamiliar looking window.Where am I? The question comes as I jerk to sit, looking around the small room with wide eyes. I hear noise from outside and I step out, feeling thankful and a bit relieved that I'm still wearing my outfit from last night.My head bangs from the hangover as I quite remember little things from last night but I can't seem to remember past seeing Oliver. The shock was something else and I still shiver just remembering it."Stop it," I pause when I hear a giggle and a man's soft whisper, feeling a bit nervous as I step into the kitchen to see a man hugging a woman from behind. He's swaying her gently and pestering kisses on her neck.The sight warms my heart as I get flashes of Oliver hugging me from behind once in a while. The deal was not to fall in love but to pretend to be in love."Fake it till it looks real, Miss. Hoffman," he would often say whenever I get startled by his sudden hugs, kisses and PDA.
"Girl, you better not be thinking about his ass," Tania yanks the phone from my grip before I can do something stupid. "Let him have a taste of what it's like to be hated so hard," Tania growls before breaking out into a smile, "On the bright side, look at all those positive comments, yo! No more 'pet' or 'gold digger' , it's just you.'I stop worrying about Oliver for a while and I open my eyes to see my own life. For the first time in three years, the world is in my favour. They even called me a girlfriend not a pet anymore.It brings tears to my eyes and I'm suddenly crying. Why do I feel so justified and relieved? Everyone has been against me for so long that I've forgotten what it's like to have supporters.I used to think it was okay that the world was against me for him but, I've been so burdened. I didn't know I craved relief so bad."It's okay," she's patting my pack as she puts my phone down. "Now let the world see how much of a scumbag he is. Getting engaged in your face--
- Billionaire's Ex-girlfriend Rebecca Hoffman takes to the Mall by storm'.- 'Rebecca Hoffman not bothered by her ex- boyfriends pestering'."Oh my God," I freeze at Tania's flat exclamation as she frowns at me peeking at her phone from where she's sitting beside me."No," she warns sternly. "No phones."I sit my ass down, pouting a little as I reach for my doughnuts. Those headlines don't seem so bad. I've always tried to ignore the news. Now I find myself wanting to look at them, wanting to see what they have to say about me."That's not so bad," at least they make it seem like I don't give a shit anymore. I wish that were truly the case."No shit," Chloe, one of my colleagues at work said while patting her blonde hair. Tania had called her over since they were very close after I had decided we would go to the mall and do a little shopping.We were sitting at a restaurant in the mall with every eye turning to our table, secretly taking pictures like we can't see them."How's Oliver
I can't let her out of my sight again. It's been three years since I last saw Molly.After Oliver made our relationship public and the news wouldn't stop coming at me, Molly and I slowly fell apart. It was my fault anyways.I was getting so carried away by Oliver that I let other parts of my life die. She hated it when my grades dropped and screamed at me when I said I was moving out.The moment I moved out was the day our relationship took another turn. According to her, I was losing myself in him and she wasn't going to stand there and let me lose myself.I'm not going to stand there and let some idiot drag her around like he fucking owns her!I approach the VIP room but I'm quickly stopped by the bouncer by the thick red curtain, dividing us from the VIP section."It's full," the man says and folds his arms. "You can try the others-""Oh no, I have to go in. My friend-"He cast his terrifying gaze on me, "I said it's full." His voice is deep and bold, just like his thick body in th
**TRIGGER WARNING**I hand the phone over to him after deleting Oliver's number and the bouncer has his brow arched in silent question. He's observing my face a lot harder this time like he's trying to remember.I pay him no mind, instead, I'm worrying about the hole I've just dug myself in. Another favour. In the past, he wouldn't hesitate to do anything for me, we were still bound by the contract.But now that I made it clear that I was done, I can only imagine what he'd request for.'Don't ever mention leaving again!' I can hear him yell in my head, maybe he'll pin me down on the bed and stuff dick inside me to drill the information deep into my mind and my body."You look familiar," the bouncer says in a loud voice and proceeds to say, "But even a phone call won't get you past this-" he tenses up and places his hand over his ears, receiving instructions from the intercom.His brows jerk as he stares at me and he replies his boss or whoever it is, "Yes, sir. She's with me... Okay,
I stagger out of the club with Molly's weight on my shoulders as she's leaning against me and one side, Chloe has her arm wrapped around her."I'll go bring the car around," Tania says before she hurries off."Who is this chica?" Chloe wonders as Molly starts to struggle. "I don't want to be arrested for kidnapping. We said go wild, not this wild."I roll my eyes, "She's a friend." It pains me to say but there's nothing else that can make her feel rest assured.Molly is wiggling in our hand, staggering from the cocaine and saying gibberish. I doubt she even knows where she is nor who I am right now."Fuck! She's lost it. Completely drugged. Who knows what the fuck would have happened if you haven't rescued her."I can guess and I swear I want to get the image of my fucking head. Seeing her in that state still plagues my mind.Molly suddenly throws both arms around me, caressing my face as she breathes on me and slurs in her words, "You look oddly familiar." She giggles, her smile weak
Molly's words slam into me like a wall and I stagger as the air whooshes out of my lungs with a force. She's keeping a blank gaze on me, relaxing her clenched jaw as if waiting for me to say something; to try and deny it. I gulped as my emotions swirl inside of me and my heart clenches painfully. "I did what I had to do-" "Ha!" She scoffs mockingly, rolling her eyes as she falls back on the bed. "So did I, love. Don't try to question me-" "Molly, you got sold-" "And you didn't?" She bites harshly and the annoyance in her words make me realise she must have hatred for me stored somewhere. She's sitting up again, staring at me in disbelief like I am one to talk. I've had my moments and I'm still going through my moment but she has no idea how much I'm determined to fix my life. "You know why I accepted that contract in the first place," I say in a broken whisper. "And I had my own damn reason. Not like I should even be explaining myself to a dickmatised, broke ass fake girlfriend
I don't know how long I stayed in the hotel but when my phone rings and I check the time, my stomach grumbles as if scolding me. I've been crying my eyes out on an empty stomach for close to three hours now, mourning her absence all over again like the first time I realised we were over. I swipe the call to answer it, "Hello?" "Good day, Miss. Rebecca. This is-" "I know who it is," I interrupt feeling rather numb as I pick myself up from the floor. "You're downstairs, aren't you?" "Yes." I don't know how he always finds me but I've long suspected he bugged my phone. That's one thing I'll need to do away with as I plan my escape. "Okay, I'll be down in a few. Are you alone?" "Yes," trust Oliver to send his driver to come fetch me while he waits at home like a patient master looking forward to seeing his pet again. I dreaded the moment when we'd be together, alone and I'll have to answer to my behaviour- Goodness! Just thinking about it can make one shrivel in fear. As much as I