CHAPTER SEVEN

HEAVEN

I woke up with a start, the blaring sound of my phone's notifications jolting me from the depths of a restless sleep. My head throbbed with a merciless ache, the remnants of last night's fiasco pulsing behind my temples. I could barely recall the events, but the snippets that did surface made me want to burrow into my bed and never emerge again.

 

As I reached for my phone, squinting against the harsh light of the screen, I was bombarded by a stream of messages, missed calls, and notifications. Panic clawed at my chest, my heart racing as I began to piece together the chaos.

 

"What have I done now?" I murmured to myself, scrolling through the notifications. My breath hitched when I saw it—a video that had been shared and re-shared across various social media platforms, gaining traction with a speed that felt unreal. It was me, in one of my most vulnerable and embarrassing moments, immortalised for the internet's unforgiving consumption.

 

"God, no," I gasped, feeling a wave of nausea. My hands trembled as I clicked on the video, the events of the previous night playing back in a cruel, relentless loop. There I was, drunkenly professing my undying love to my ex-fiancé, a man now engaged to my  step-sister and making a total fool of myself.

 

Tears sprang to my eyes at the sight, a feeling of dread consuming me as my mind raced.

 

What was I going to do? The whole thing had clearly gotten out of control and had escalated beyond imagination during my slumber. A quick click on Twitter notified me that I was, in fact, trending. With a sigh, I turned my phone off, settling for acting like my problems didn't exist.

 

Ignorance was bliss, after all.

 

I trudged my feet along the spotless tiles, wasting no time to undress as I practically threw myself into the shower and turned it on at the coldest temperature.

 

The cool water hit my skin in steady droplets, washing away my embarrassments as they flowed and pooled beneath my feet, getting sunk in the drain. I sighed as my eyes fluttered close, the most reoccurring thought in my head making itself known once again: Adrian was going to kill me.

 

I turned off the water after that thought settled, opting for a quick and effective shower instead.

 

I got out, wrapping a towel around my chest loosely as I went through my morning routine at high speed, throwing on a white blouse and black slacks as I slid on my most comfortable heels and made my way downstairs.

 

I stopped in my tracks, nipping at my bottom lip and fondling with my fingers in uncertainty as he narrowed his eyes at me. He looked livid.

 

“Heaven.” he said, calling my name as if he was trying to decipher if it was really me and not whatever demon had possessed me last night.

 

“Look, I-” I tried to explain, but he cut me off.

 

“Let's go.”

 

I furrowed my brows, deciding not to try to say anything else and following him without hesitation instead as our feet fell into a rhythmic pace.

I couldn’t place the look in his eyes, it was stuck somewhere between anger, disappointment and worry. I wished I could get inside Adrian’s head, just a peek. I wished he would shout at me even because, this eerie silence unsettled me, caused a turmoil to brew within me. Exact step I took caused my heart to pummel in my chest, fear holding me in a choking grip.

 

We got into the backseat of the car and I voiced the only question that had been at the tip of my tongue. “W-where are we go-going?” My voice trembled, my eyes searching his features for any hint of emotions, but I found none. He turned in my direction, his cold eyes that held no ounce of emotion peering into me, making me nervous and edgy before he averted his gaze to the screen of his phone like I wasn’t worth his time, refusing to answer my questions.

The car ride was silent, the fact that the driver and I kept making eye contact through the rear view mirror made it awkward more than anything. I let out a short exhale as the car rolled to a stop, but the relief was short lived as I stared out of the window, realizing that we had stopped at the company.

“Uh-Uhm Adrian,” I turned back to face him, his brows tugged up in irritation. “Why have you brought me here?”

“Look, I know you must be angry with me but I—“

“Get out,” he cut me off, his voice as cold as ice, piercing through the atmosphere, filling it up the tension that had my heart beat two times faster. He got down from the vehicle, and I followed suit.

“Ask me anything else, and you’ll be regretting it for days.” He warned sternly, straightening out his suit, an action that caused his biceps to bulge. I gulped, nodding in understanding.

If I had thought the pointed gazes of the guests at the wedding left me perturbed, then the walk to his office once we had arrived at the company building, however, rattled me, leaving me discombobulated.

 

It was almost as if the workers weren't even trying to quiet down, their hushed whispers and judgmental glances adding fuel to the fire. Their prying eyes making me feel bare and naked, as they offered ‘good mornings’ to us. From the corner of my eye, I could see Adrian's jaw clench—in irritation, no doubt.

 

He didn't even so much as glance in my direction the entire time, and I figured that maybe it was for the best that none of us said anything.

 

My phone buzzed in my hand, and the screen lit up with a notification from my mum, a simple ‘What have you done?’ in capital letters making itself known. I rolled my eyes dismissively, finally looking through the stray messages I had missed overnight during the chaos.

 

A familiar ding and the sliding open of the elevator doors announced our arrival at the top floor and I muttered a half-heated greeting to the receptionist who gave me a reluctant smile.

 

“Sit.” Adrian stated as soon as we were within the four walls of his private office, grabbing some files laying on his desk. I plopped down on the nearest piece of leather furniture as he started his one-sided monologue.

 

I observed in silence as he paced back and forth, ranting about how this could affect the company negatively and how I should be sympathetic to the consequences he'd be forced to face due to my neglectful actions. I wanted to object and say that I was remorseful and the guilt was eating me up from inside, but I chose to say nothing and remain silent, my eyes following his every movement. I didn’t want to escalate things, and it wasn't like I was aware I was doing it anyway—if I was sober, that would've been a different story but, Avery just had to spike my drink and cause way more troubles in my already complicated , sad life.

 

A knock on the door had him pausing the assault on his hair as the hand that was threading through it stopped midway. He ran his hands along the collar of his shirt, straightening out his outfit for the umpteenth time today. His suit looked as spotless and neat as always. He made swift amends to his tousled hair before letting out a gruff ‘come in’.

 

A young lady came in, around my age, dressed in a typical suit for women. Her skirt short, a few inches below her thighs, the deep blue color a total contrast to her milk skin tone, yet complimenting it perfectly. Her blonde hair — which were clearly extensions — curled from the midlength to the tip, ran as long as her smooth, milky legs did, stopping almost at her waist. Her red lipstick shone underneath the well lit lights of my husband's office.

 

It irked me that she put so much effort, making it painfully obvious as she irritatingly batted her eyelashes at Adrian. Even those were fake too.

 

If he noticed, Adrian didn't say anything about it as he placed his hands on the woman's shoulders firmly.

 

“This is Diana,” he started, cutting me off before I could even mutter a word out. “She'll be taking care of the problems you caused.”

 

That was all he said before he left, leaving me alone with her. The corner of her lips twitched, forming that of disgust as she stared down at me from where she stood.

 

“H-Hi..?”

 

Waving her hand dismissively, she sat down right beside me, invading my personal space and crossing her legs, determined to get whatever point she had across.

 

“Heaven, right? Here's what's going to happen,” she breathed out, setting her palm on my thigh as her equally fake nails bore into my skin harder with each word she hissed. Her eyes bore into mine, resentment glimmering in them. I let out a low his, shrugging we off me, my brows furrowed as I watched her, a lopsided smile etched across her features.

I didn’t know this woman, and she feels she can just lay her hands on me like I’m some worked or something?

“Just because Adrian decided to marry you, doesn't mean he wants you. I know him, you're simply here to give him an heir, right?”

 

I slapped her hand away, gaping at the sheer display of audacity. “What's your problem-”

 

“My problem is that you think you can just appear and take him away from me. What he has with you-” she gestured towards my slouched and fed up form, distaste evident in her features, her voice like poison, “-is merely a business negotiation. I'm the one he wants to be with, got it?”

 

“I don't even want him-”

 

“You couldn't have him even if you tried.” she folded her arms across her chest, her posture rigid and stern. “Just stop making his life stressful and do your role as a trophy wife right.”

 

 

** * ** * **

 

 

She kept going on and on about my image, giving me tips on what to do and handling my phone as if she hadn't warned me after that, putting on a painfully fake smile the second Adrian came back.

 

The ride back to the house was even worse than this morning's, and this time, Adrian didn't hesitate to grab onto my arm once we shut the front door behind us, dragging me closer to him and tightening his grip when I tried to walk away.

 

I winced, already knowing that his fingers would leave little bruises with the way he was grabbing onto me.

 

“You will never go near Kyle, or any other love interest of yours, while we're married, understood?”

 

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. It seemed everyone got an extra shot of audacity today.

 

“You can't tell me what to do,” I snapped.

 

He let out a dark chuckle, leaning in as he whispered against my ear. “You're my wife, and if you want this marriage to be even the slightest beneficial to you, you'll do as I say. I will not let you jeopardize all my years of hard work, and you need to get that straight. Am I clear?”

 

He gripped my jaw next, retreating and forcing me to look him in the eye, an eyebrow quirked at my silence.

 

“I asked if I made myself clear, Heaven.”

 

I gulped. “Crystal.”

 

Losing his hold and walking away, Adrian left me to run my hand along my arm, desperate to soothe the slight throbbing. My bottom lip quivered, my teeth clenching at my embarrassing display of vulnerability as he ascended the stairs.

Not only have I been forced into marriage with this man, I have to give him a child too to validate my freedom, and I met his ex today too, and now I’m being physically assaulted, thrown around like I worth nothing more than a rag.

The tears I’ve been holding back for days cascaded down my cheeks, the ugly muffled sounds filling the air as I dragged myself to me room, glad that Adrian wasn’t there.

I threw myself on the king sized bed, bawling out my eyes, staining the sheets with the evidence of my suffering and agony that never seized to torture and torment the living day light out of me.

Each day I died, feeling myself being pummeled into a pit of darkness. Each day I died, slowly but excruciatingly painfully, watching all the colors being drained out of my life. I cried, hoping that all of this would be over soon so I could get my life back—the one that was forcefully snatched from my cocoon.