Chapter 1: Her cheating Fiancé

“...In other news, Jayden Gerano, the heir to the Gerano empire, is back,” she heard the news reporter say, and she turned off her tablet.

The last thing she wanted to listen to was to hear about the man she hated more than anything in the world, especially when she was preoccupied with getting her fiancé to talk to her.

They couldn’t be having such a useless fight when they were days away from their wedding.

Matthew Terrence, the man she loved the most in the world. He was an employee in her dad’s company, and it was love at first sight when she laid eyes on him.

A lot of people, including her family, didn’t think the relationship would last due to their differences in status, but she and Matthew had proved them all wrong as they were in their second year together.

If their relationship was able to survive the scrutiny, then the fight over where their honeymoon was going to be didn’t stand a chance.

“Ma’am, we have arrived,” she heard her driver say to her.

“Don’t wait up for me, I’ll be spending the night at his place,” Zendaya told her driver just as she got out of the car. Without wasting time, she got into the building and headed straight to the elevator.

Upon reaching Matthew’s apartment, she immediately punched in the passcode and entered. She opened her mouth to call his attention to the fact that she was there, but she paused when she heard a woman’s voice coming from his room.

Did he have company? She wondered as she headed to his room. The door was slightly opened and Zendaya peeped in to see what was happening.

Her hand flew to her mouth to cover the gasp that escaped her lips, as nothing would have prepared her for what she was looking at, which was the sight of her fiancé naked on top of another woman as he pounded in and out of her.

Her brain screamed for her to look away, but she remained rooted in her spot. After what seemed like forever, her fiancé slumped beside the woman he had just slept with. 

“You know, you’re getting married in a few days, right?” She heard the woman say to Matthew, who chuckled. “You can't keep cheating on your fiancée. What if she catches us?.”

“That fool. Trust me, she can never catch us,” he waved dismissively as though it wasn’t something important. 

“You of all people know that I’m too smart for that to happen,” her fiancé said, and the woman chuckled. Her heart dipped to know what he thought of her. 

“How is she considered smart when she can’t even see what is happening in front of her?” he laughed.

“But that’s all to our advantage, isn’t it, as we can be together?”

Had she really ignored the signs that were pointing to the fact that the man she loved was cheating on her? She wondered, and her mind took her back to when she had found lipstick stains on his shirt and things that didn’t belong to her in his apartment, all of which she ignored multiple times.

Memories flooded her mind; the way Matthew had held her when they first met, the warmth of his words when he was still wooing her. 

But just as vividly, she recalled how that seemed to change when they finally got into a relationship.

There were subtle changes in his affection as he was less passionate and more distracted, but he had played it off as him being overwhelmed by work. How didn’t she see?!

“It’s hard to see you two together when I know you love me and not her,” the woman continued the conversation and Zendaya wondered who the woman was, as it was too dark to see her face. “You’re getting married in a few days, it’s going to get hard to see each other. Do you have to get married to her?”

“I have to. I got lucky that a rich heiress even fell in love in the first place,” Matthew responded. “This is my chance to become extremely rich, and I’m not letting it slip from my hand. Once I get her to sign all the documents transferring her assets and all her shares to me, I leave her and get married to you.”

“I’m scared you’ll fall in love with her during the process,” the woman whined as she still had her doubts, and Zendaya wondered who it was as her voice sounded very familiar.

“That’s not possible, as I’ve always been in love with you. She’s not my type, and she will never be, Tatiana,” she heard her fiancé try to convince the woman.

Zendaya was hit with another shock as her fiancé finally revealed who was with him. Tatiana was Matthew’s step-sister, and she was the one who had encouraged her to get into a relationship with Matthew. Realization hit her as she had been played by the two of them.

Hurt and anger coursed through her veins, but she pushed the former to the back of her mind. She would cry later, for now, all she wanted to do was to murder the two of them for what they had done. They deserved to rot in hell, and she would be the one to personally send them there!

“Stop worrying too much. I love you and not her,” Matthew chuckled. “Enough of talking about her. I’m in the mood for another round.”

Zendaya placed her hand on the door with the intention to confront the two, but she paused in her steps. It was an unwise decision to confront him while she was angry, as she remembered her father’s words to take decisions with a calm mind.

Barging in there would only prove their point about how she was a fool and was usually clouded by her emotions. Matthew had underestimated her because he had only seen her loving side. It was time she showed him just how cruel she could be if she was pushed to that extent.

‘You’re dead, Matthew Terrence,’ she muttered to herself as she quietly turned and made her way out of his apartment without letting him know she had been there.

“Taxi!” she flagged when she got down. “Take me to the nearest bar,” she instructed as she got into the car. Even though she was trying to act strong, it still hurt to know that the man she loved betrayed her. She needed to get it out of her system, and what better way than to drink till she dropped. 

In no time, she was seated in front of a bartender, gulping down glass after glass while drowning in her sorrow.

Her name was Zendaya Valencia, and she was the heiress to one of the most powerful families in the world, the Valencias.

Her family was a force to be reckoned with due to their influence. Although she was living in wealth, it didn't always use to be that way as her father didn't know about her existence till she was four all thanks to a crazy ex of his.

Due to the fact that she had come from a humble beginning, she didn't judge people who were below her when it came to status, which was one of the reasons she had no problem with falling in love with Matthew but look at where that landed her.

‘How dare Matthew do this to me?!’ She hissed as she gulped down another glass as the hurt was finally kicking in. The tears she had been refusing to shed finally spilled out, and it was like a dam burst as she couldn’t stop them.

She was indeed a fool for dedicating her life to a man who never loved her and was just using her. Two years of her life wasted. Zendaya regretted not listening to her family when they told her Matthew wasn’t the one for her.

She had been too blinded by the man she thought was Prince Charming, and now that decision had come to haunt her.  Not only did he cheat on her, he did it with someone she considered family.

She had grown to accept Tatiana as the older sister she never had and had loved her accordingly. However, the latter didn’t even think twice before stabbing her in the back. Her eyes looked at the ring on her finger and slowly reached out to take it off.

“What’s a beautiful woman like you doing, crying at a bar alone?” Zendaya heard a man say from behind her before she could take the ring off.

When she turned to look at who had just spoken, she saw a handsome-looking man grinning at her, and before she could respond, he took his seat beside her and ordered a drink for himself.

“Life’s stupid, I just caught my fiancé cheating and I couldn’t  even confront him because I want revenge,” Zendaya told the stranger as she gulped down another glass of alcohol.

“That’s sad to hear, I’m sure you must be feeling down,” the stranger said to her, and she nodded. 

“You know, I have a solution to make you feel much better,” he suggested as he slowly ran his finger up her shoulder. 

Even though she was drunk, she wasn’t oblivious to what the man wanted from her, and maybe that was just what she needed to clear her system.

After all, she and Matthew were done and even though he didn’t know it yet, she was more than free to do whatever she wanted, including sleeping with a stranger. This would be her way of breaking free of the stupid relationship she had been in for two years.

“You and me tonight. I guarantee that by the time I’m done with you, you’ll have forgotten all about your fiancé.”

“Deal,” she agreed, willing to do anything to feel free from Matthew. The man then stretched his hands towards her. She took his hand as soon as she stood on her feet, her legs were unable to carry her weight with how drunk she was.

Thankfully, the man caught her and led her out to where his car was. However, when they got there, they met another man there. He was shrouded in darkness, and they couldn’t quite see his face.

“Who are you?” The man who was holding Zendaya asked, annoyed that he was being delayed from taking her home.

“Let go of her,” the man who was resting on the car said as he came into the light.

“Jayden,” Zendaya whispered as she blinked to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. There was no way Jayden could be there. However, the more she looked, the more she was convinced she wasn’t seeing things.

“Come here, Zendaya,” she heard him order her.

“You’re not the boss of me, Jayden,” Zendaya responded as she glared at him.

She and Jayden had always hated each other right from when she was four and he, six, and it was because of a stupid reason.

When they had first met, Jayden had stopped her from playing on a swing, and he had gone as far as to push her and she, in retaliation, pulled his hair when they met for the second time.

It was something children, especially their age, would do, but their actions had led to a lifetime of hatred with the two of them out to get each other.

“Wait, Jayden as in, Jayden Gerano?” The man who hadn’t recognized Jayden up until that point said as his eyes widened in horror.

“I’m sorry, man, I didn’t mean to.” He said as he quickly let go of Zendaya, and the colour further drained from his face when she recognized Zendaya.

Jayden Gerano was the heir to the Gerano family, one of the most powerful and influential families in the world. Everyone knew just how cruel of a person Jayden was, especially if he considered one his enemy, and he wasn't ready to be considered one.

“Get out of my sight,” Jayden hissed at the name who didn’t need to be told twice as got into his car and left.

Zendaya’s legs shook as she lost her balance, but before she could fall, Jayden caught her effortlessly. When he observed her closely, he saw that her eyes were swollen as though she had been crying. It seemed the cat was really out of the bag and she had discovered the truth.

“Why are you here, Jayden?” She asked as she stared into his blue eyes, the same one that had once mesmerized her and the same one she had given herself to.

“To save you from making a foolish mistake, Zendaya,” Jayden responded. “Were you really going to have a one-night-stand with him?” He then hissed in anger.

“Yes,” Zendaya affirmed, and the frown of Jayden’s face deepened. Noticing this, she asked, “Why do you care? After all, you already rejected me after sleeping with me?”