Chapter 1-Breaking up

Echoes of clicking heels filled the exquisite marble-tiled hallway that led to the VIP suite of the Apollo Hotel as Avery Archer made her way to the most expensive room in the luxurious hotel owned by her father.

Avery’s styled, mid-back, wavy, black leather hair bounced off her shoulders as she elegantly followed behind two hotel staff members hurrying along with her with anxious looks on their faces.

Avery wasn’t smiling; her stone-cold expression struck fear into the hearts of the two hotel attendants dressed in the fine, neatly ironed red and white uniforms of the hotel.

“Open it,” Avery commanded, her long lashes raised to the brunette holding the master key to the suite.

“But ma’am, the policy—” The words seized in the nervous brunette's mouth as she ordered her to open the suite, which a customer, Avery, knew too well, was currently occupied. “Yes, ma’am.” The attendant gulped in response after receiving a sharp, chilly glare from Avery.

With trembling hands, the attendant forced open the locked door. Replacing Avery’s sounds of clicking heels were loud, hearty moans from the bed at the far end of the vast, luxuriously decorated room.

Avery walked right to the middle of the room, watching from afar as her naked boyfriend roomed between her former classmate’s legs. 

Their loud moans had drowned out any sound of footsteps from Avery and the fact that the two customers weren’t expecting to be disturbed on their joyride made it impossible for them to hear or notice Avery’s presence.

Avery walked over to a beautifully crafted vase housing decorative flowers that adorned the glass table situated in the middle of two armrest chairs facing the glass walls for the guest to enjoy the view of the city, lift it high, and drop it to make a sound so loud the guests couldn’t help but notice.

Startled, the two disengaged and immediately glanced back to see Avery standing in the middle of the room, forcing the two to drag the bed covers to their bodies, an attempt to hide their unclad bodies.

“If you were going to fuck some other woman, at least try not to do it in my father’s hotel, you bastard!” Avery cursed while her carefully lined eyes squinted in disdain as her eyes landed on the woman her boyfriend Desmond was fucking; she couldn’t help the disgust that spread through her face.

“Avery,” Desmond breathed, his face hardening as he let out an exasperated sigh.

“What the fuck do you think doing Des? did you want to break up with me that badly?” Avery demanded and Desmond gritted.

“Yes… fuck, I’m sick and tired of you restricting every damn thing I do. Dating you…is suffocating, Avery; I’m tired of it. So, yeah…I want to break up.

“Fine…I’m breaking up with you.” Avery cut in before Desmond got to finish and Avery watched his eyes widen with shock.

Avery, of course, expected him to be shocked, after all… he had asked to break up twice but Avery had turned him down because she thought she could fix whatever the problem was between them but she never expected he would go as far as cheating on her in a place where she wouldn’t help but notice.

Avery had constantly covered up every article and squashed any rumour revealing her problematic relationship.

Her friends and family all believed she was in a perfect relationship and she had intended to keep it that way but her boyfriend walked into a hotel she was in charge of with her old classmate, which she had recently introduced him to at a dinner party they both attended a week ago.

“Well, isn’t that what you wanted…so, you can leave now. I’ll have my lawyer contact you about every single penny you borrowed from me and never gave back.” Desmond paled but Avery, however, was shattering on the inside.

Even if she wore an indifferent look while retaining an intimidating demeanour as she was always taught to do… losing her 3-year-old relationship with Desmond somehow hurt more than she thought it would.

‘Would things have been better if I hadn’t proposed to him?’ Avery thought as her cold, blank eyes moved between the man she cherished and the pathetic woman who was merely used to get what he wanted.

Avery sighed and turned sharply as she felt like her hard exterior might just crumble.

Pausing by the door, Avery voiced, “I hope we never see each other again.” Avery concluded before walking out the door, leaving the two hotel attendants.

With a heart as heavy as stone, Avery returned to her office while passing by gossiping staff who unfortunately had gotten a whiff of what happened to her relationship she had tried so hard to masquerade as perfect.

Avery Archer, 29 years old, daughter of Finn Archer, a multi-billionaire business tycoon and investor; the unfortunate cannery forced to act as an eagle, was someone who had never had a successful love story until Desmond West.

Desmond was her longest relationship and she thought she had finally found the one, but the moment she proposed, trying to evolve their relationship, pulling out a ring on the top floor of their high-class hotel, Desmond demanded a breakup instead, with the same excuse as every other man she’s dated: they feel ‘suffocated’ being with her and thus, another unfortunate end.

“Fuck, I totally forgot Rosie’s birthday,” Avery mumbled under her breath before hurrying out of her office with her bag and car keys.

“Hey, Avery, you’re here!” Roslyn cried out in excitement, leaving the three-person group she was cooped with as Avery walked into the open courtyard of Roselyn’s father’s mansion, where she was holding her birthday party.

Even though she hated loud places, was still battling with break-up emotions and had tonnes of other things on her schedule, Roslyn's birthday party was something she still couldn’t afford to miss or her friend might just kill her and bury her in their backyard.

Avery watched Rosie bounce over in her chin-length bob, raven-black hair, and spooky Gothic makeup that somehow managed to go well with the shimmering champagne-gold short dress she had on.

“Happy birthday, Roslyn,” Avery beamed as she met Roslyn in a brief hug.

“Thanks, Avy, and I got your text about Desmond. Seriously, I never liked him. He was awful…you were always too good for him. Rosie said and Avery chuckled; she knew it was Roslyn's way of comforting her, even though she used to always encourage her relationship with Desmond.

“Yeah, I know,” Avery muttered with a gentle smile, a smile she could only ever show Rosie since she knew the real her, behind the cold-bitch mask and nonchalant demeanour.

“Hey…that’s enough with the bad energy. Forget all about him…this party isn’t ending until morning. We’ve made rooms available upstairs for people that want to conk out but…we’re getting you drunk all night and who knows, maybe you might just get lucky tonight. My big brother and little brother have shit tonnes of people over; that makes me wonder whose birthday it is really but maybe that might not be so bad." Rosie winked, bringing her over to the bar situated at the end of their luxurious courtyard.

“Not in the mood, Rosie. If it wasn’t your birthday, I’d be home, getting ice cream and crying myself to bed. Like I’ve always done after a breakup, then wake up and forget it never happened—

“Des doesn’t deserve your tears. I hate to say it but I totally saw this coming; he was horrible; you were the blind one.” Rosie interjected and Avery rolled her eyes as she pulled her a seat before grabbing them both some cocktails.

“I honestly don’t get it,” Avery cut in. “Why exactly does he want to break up with me? We were doing pretty good. I’m pretty, I make good money, and my relationship with my dad might be whack because of his mistress but I still have a good background. What exactly is the problem?” Avery complained, feeling a burning sensation in her throat as if the tears she’d been struggling to hold back were ready to spill.

“Thinking you are the problem is a problem, although you can be a little bit too much. I mean, you literally show up at every damn place he’s at but it’s not your fault this time.” Rosie made clear and Avery frowned.

“What’s wrong with that? I just want to be with him; besides, it’s to prevent this from ever happening, although it still happened” Avery frowned, her insecurities hidden in her gentle, innocent voice, and Rosie replied with an exasperated sigh while they both rolled around their olive pick in their cocktails before emptying the content at a go.

“That hits the spot,” Avy exclaimed.

“You never give him space, Avy; that’s a big problem. We’ve been through this a lot of times, Avy; guys don’t like that… you seriously need to tune it down. Rosie advised.

“But I keep him satisfied; we have great sex… I give him whatever he wanted. I’ve done everything I can possibly think of to make him happy.”

“You’re just not getting it.” Rosie paused. “Is it just me or has that guy been staring at you since you walked in here?” Rosie paused, forcing Avy to turn in the direction of the chuckling group at another corner of the elaborately decorated courtyard.

She was already used to the attention she always received due to being her father’s daughter but people attending Rosie’s birthday party were people of the same social group; seeing her shouldn’t be something new, and they all preferred not to approach her since her attitude made her seem unapproachable.

“He looks young,” Avy furrowed as her eyes met with the guy who continued staring at her despite turning back to look at him.

Even though his group of friends was laughing and chatting so loudly, the background music sounded non-existent; his eyes seemed glued to her.

“Who cares about that these days? I think he likes you, Avy smirked.

“Not now, Rosie. Look, I just came to wish you…have a couple of drinks and head home.” Avery laid down her plans as she turned away from the guy but Rosie didn’t like her plan very much.

“You’re kidding, right? it’s my birthday and you’re just gonna go after some drinks… hold on, he’s walking over,” Rosie said while Avy was ordering a new drink.

“No, he’s not,” Avy said, rolling her olive pick in her drink again but she noticed there was no response from Roslyn this time.

“Rosie” She turned to her side and noticed it was empty. 

‘Where the hell did she go?’ Avy wondered before she jolted as electricity seeped through the exposed skin of her armless shoulders from a single touch of an unfamiliar yet familiar guy.

“Mate,” she heard him mumble.

“Do I know you?” Avery asked, switching her tone almost instantly to a cold, assertive one as she turned.

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