CHAPTER TWO: A Bombshell

One year later.

Karen Hall had been sitting on the front porch of her mansion for an hour when the heavy steel gate finally opened. She stood up and walked over slowly. When the backseat door of the Bentley opened, she opened her arms wide with teary eyes.

"Grandma!" A thin and beautiful young lady ran into her arms.

"Oh, Zara. You have grown so big," Karen commented, pulling her granddaughter back to get a better look at her pretty face.

"Come on, Grandma. I have only been away for a year." Zara laughed and planted kisses all over the old woman's face. "I missed you so so much."

"I missed you too. Come on in. It's cold outside."

The next day, Zara and her grandmother sat at the dining table to have lunch after spending the whole morning chatting to no end.

"Gosh, I so missed your cooking, Granny," Zara uttered with a mouthful.

Karen couldn't help smiling. She spooned more of the chicken soup into her granddaughter's bowl dotingly. "Tell you what, I'll make you whatever you want to eat now that you are back."

"You don't have to, Granny. You shouldn't be stressing yourself. I'll eat whatever Abigail cooks."

"Young lady, I'm stronger than I look. The kidney transplant did me a lot of good. My back is the only thing that gives me issues now. Such a shame it can't be changed too."

The two women burst into laughter and continued eating in a good mood. Suddenly, the front door swung open. A woman wearing large sunglasses strode inside in a pair of heels. She had on leather pants and a small turtle-neck top. With a smile on her lips, she took off her sunglasses and said, "Look who we have here!"

"Mia!" Zara sprang up to her feet and went to hug the woman who just came in.

After an embrace that lasted almost a minute, Mia slapped her playfully and said, "Girl, look at you! England really did you a lot of good."

"I said the same thing yesterday," Karen chipped in from the dining table.

Zara blushed and basked in the euphoria of being praised. "Let's just say it was nice to be away from all the drama." 

"I'm full already, so I'll excuse you both to catch up, okay?" Without waiting for their response, Karen slowly got up and walked upstairs to her bedroom.

The two friends sat at the table and ate. Thereafter, they did the dishes while chatting and laughing.

"So how is your dating life now, Mia? Are you still seeing that guy... What's his name again? Derek, yes Derek," Zara asked, wiping her hands with a kitchen towel.

"What? Derek was ages ago. I have dated two other guys after him. There's a new catch now, but he's proving very difficult." Mia twisted a wisp of her hair as she responded.

"You still haven't changed!" Zara shook her head at her friend.

Mia slipped into a chair by the kitchen countertop and took out her phone. "What about you? Seeing anyone? I heard that the guys in England are built different. Sweet and all..."

"You did not just ask me that, did you?" Zara raised a brow at her. "Come on, you know I don't have time for men now."

Mia tapped the counter with her manicured shiny fingers. "You don't have time for them or you just don't want anything to do with them?"

"Same difference!"

"This is about Scott, right?"

Zara let out an exasperated sigh and slipped into the chair close by. She shrugged again. "Kinda."

"Look, Zee. I know that bastard broke your heart, but you can't just decide not to date again because of that. Not all men are the same."

"He didn't just break my heart, Mia. He tore it into shreds. One year in England did me good, but I have barely healed. Don't you wanna know why I came back earlier than planned?"

Mia replied, "Isn't it because you wanted to be there for your grandmother?"

"Well, that's part of it. But my grandma is fine. She has been doing well ever since the transplant. The real reason I came back is to seek closure by getting revenge on that bastard who treated me like shit for a year!" A fiery glint flickered in Zara's eyes as she spat the last sentence.

"Whoa!" Mia inched back a little. She placed her palm on the cold countertop and asked, "Why did you come seeking closure? I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with Scott even if it was to get back at him?"

Zara huffed, "Well, my therapist said that revenge is one of the best cures for trauma. Since I still have a bone to pick with Scott, I came to do just that."

"Serves him right. I'm glad that you finally decided to get your own pound of flesh. That guy really did you dirty."

Zara nodded, looking distant. "He sure did."

Her mind flashed back to her unhappy marriage. She had loved Scott with her whole heart despite the painful history their families had. However, he took her heart and chopped it into many pieces. He was not only a cheat, but also a narcissist who never seemed to see his wrongs. The one year she spent with him was hell.

Mia cleared her throat, breaking her train of thought. "But will that be after you get the divorce finalized or before?"

"Let's just say that I am gonna kill two birds with one stone." Zara took out her phone and sent two emails. One to her lawyer and the other to the current deputy CEO of her family's company.

A few minutes later, she dropped the phone in her hand and looked up at her best friend. "Okay, out with it!"

"What?"

"You have been staring at me since I last spoke. Something is on your mind, so spill!"

Mia sighed. "Well, I bumped into Scott yesterday..."

She paused to study Zara's expression. When she couldn't get a good read of it, she continued, "It was at the mall."

"So? Everyone is allowed to shop, aren't they?" Zara uttered with a shrug.

Mia leaned forward. "That's not the issue. I was shopping with my sister-in-law. You know she's expecting a baby soon. We were in the baby clothes section. Scott was picking out baby clothes!"