Belinda

Raymond kept his word and showed up early for Lisa’s mother’s birthday party. Lisa had returned home that evening and was quite surprised to see him home, sitting comfortably in the sitting room. Perhaps, because she was used to having the big mansion all to herself.

  “You’re back.” He greeted and she hummed in reply, caught off guard by his gentlemanly attitude.

  “Don’t stare at me like you have seen a ghost. I promised to come, didn’t I? Well, I am here.” He turned to the maid nearby. “Quick. Take madam’s things to her room and set the table for two.” His gaze returned to her, “We’ll be having dinner together.”

Lisa looked at him in surprise. Well, that was Raymond North. One minute, he was the guy who slept around with nearly all the ladies in town, and the next, he is back to acting all loving like the best husband ever. She chuckled dryly when the maid left to carry out his bidding. “Are you okay?”

The smug smile on his face irked her. “What? Isn’t it what you wanted?”

  “You don’t have to be so extreme with your acting. All I ask is that you keep your ‘thing’ between your legs and don’t embarrass me tonight.”

Her words didn’t seem to irk him one bit. “You are getting viler with your insults. Should I praise you?”

She rolled her eyes and walked to the dining to take her seat. She had informed Sonia to be light with the food so she would not be bloated. Raymond joined her minutes later and they managed to have their meal in peace with both of them engrossed in their phones and personal life.

She had never loved him. Right from when she married him, it had only been a marriage of convenience for both their companies and whatever single admiration she held in her heart for him died when she caught him buried deep inside her stylist just a few minutes before their wedding. Not like he cared about what she thought or felt about him.

Lisa stepped into the bathroom; the scent of lavender wafted into her nose. She closed her eyes and entered the bath filled with water, a moan escaping her lips as the warm water kissed her skin. It brought relief and unknotted the bundle of nerves in her stomach. Somehow, she wished she could spend the rest of the evening relaxing in the bath. She sighed at the thought. If only she didn’t have to show up at her mother’s party.

The Stylist arrived just after she got off the bathroom. About an hour later, she reappeared down the stairs. Her fiery red dress complimented her porcelain skin just perfectly, trailing behind her as she walked. The stylist and her team trailed behind her showering their praises.

  “You look beautiful, Madam.” It was Sonia who commented.

  “Thank you so much, Sonia.” She replied with a big grin plastered on her face. When she entered the living room, Raymond was already standing there, looking all handsome in a black suit with a fiery red tie to match.

  “You are not looking bad.” He said carelessly with a shrug.

Lisa rolled her eyes. It wasn’t like she was expecting him to say something nice. Her eyes scanned through his outfit. “You are not looking bad either.”

Her eyes finally stopped at his face just in time to witness him shamelessly flirting with her stylist. She scoffed. “Have some respect for yourself, Mr. North.” She no longer bothered to call him by his first name.

However, his eyes didn’t leave his prey even for a second. “I am just admiring God’s handiwork in his creature. I can’t be wrong doing that, am I?”

Lisa scoffed and turned to dismiss the stylist who quickly scurried away with her team to avoid further trouble with her client. She then returned her gaze to her husband. “Have some shame, Raymond North. I asked you to behave tonight. You agreed, remember?”

He smirked. A smirk that told her he would get her after tonight. She would be surprised if he didn’t.

The venue for the event was Lisa’s family home. Of course, because her father was well known in business and because of Raymond and his father, the event was filled with important people from different countries. As she and Raymond walked in, she slid her arm into his, giving off a charming smile for the camera. She could feel the sea of eyes following them as she weaved her way into the mini crowd to look for her mother; and she found her, dressed in a piece of customed dress that made her look far younger than her age.

  “Mother.” She called softly; her signature smile still plastered on her cheek.

  “You both are finally here. I was beginning to think you would not make it.” Mary, her mother, said, her smile widening at the sight of the two.

  “I wouldn’t miss your birthday for anything in the world.” She replied, plunging into her mother’s arms.

  “Happy birthday mum.” Raymond’s baritone voice sounded from behind her.

  “Come here, son.” She hugged him for a bit. “I am glad you both are doing well. It is all that matters to me.”

Lisa smiled, ignoring her inner demon that was pushing to shout and tell her mother they were not doing as well as she thought. Soon, she was pulled into the crowd to entertain the guests with her mother.

“Lisa!”

Lisa froze instinctively, wishing she could just disappear into the crowd without turning to see who it was. Well, she couldn’t. it was too late now. She turned, putting on her best smile. “Belinda!”

The blonde, busty lady before her was no other than Belinda; heiress to a big oil company and top socialite. Lisa took sneaky glances at her small group of gossip sitting right behind her. She prayed silently to be able to escape from them but…

  “Come over here and join us, will you?” Belinda invited.

Lisa did not want to be part of the group that did nothing but gossip about the guests while sipping wine like they were innocent. Her arm around Raymond’s tightened. “No, thank you. Ray and I still have to entertain the guest.”

Raymond smirked. “Actually, you can go ahead and join them. My friends are looking for me over there.”

Lisa turned to glare at him sharply. What was he trying to do?

  “Come on, Lisa.” One of the ladies at the table summoned. “Don’t be a chicken.”

What?! Lisa felt so insulted and peeved. Plus, Raymond wasn’t helping matters. He was unresponsive no matter how much she dragged his arms to help her out of the situation.

He leaned over to her so dangerously close, his breath fanning her ears. “Take this as punishment for making me lose a beautiful whore tonight.” He whispered to her ears.

To others, it was a beautiful sight of public display of affection. Only she and Raymond knew it wasn’t what they were thinking. Lisa turned to glare at him, resisting the urge to punch him across the face. Of course, she knew he was talking about her stylist. Really? Was he expecting her to just ignore the both of them while he flirted in her presence? Or was she supposed to watch the both of them fuck in her presence? Now, she found reasons why she would rather be with a group of socialite gossip than spend the rest of the evening with him. She let go of his arm quickly and joined the girls at the table.

The rest of the party went uneventful for Lisa. Aside from a few businessmen who walked up to her and held a brief conversation, she sat like a piece of wood, sipping wine from a glass and refusing to join in their gossip. She knew if she didn’t find a way out of there sooner, she might end up drunk. She was already tipsy. Just as she was about to come up with an excuse to leave, one of the girls who had gone out before, returned to the table in a hurry, whispering something to the lady next to her.

Lisa couldn’t care less about what it was. She didn’t even want to hear about it. Whatever it was, she knew it was not going to be good news. Soon, nearly all the girls at the table had their heads turned in her direction. Despite that she wasn’t scared of them, Lisa couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. Had they realized her plan to escape? Perhaps, they could make it easier for her by letting her go.

When the lady who had returned finally whispered into Belinda’s ears, a victorious smile appeared on her lips.

  “Oh my God!” she yelled, just enough to draw attention to herself.

Lisa’s heart skipped a beat. Now, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.