Chapter 3: Pain

Emelia’sPov

"Let's get married,” blurted out, stopping him in his tracks.

'What the hell are you doing, Emelia?'

"What?!”

"Let's get into a fake relationship." I rephrased, meeting his eyes once again.

It was an insane request, but one thing I was more than sure of was that I needed to make Jeffrey regret what he did, and there's no better way to do that than getting into a relationship with billionaire CEO Isaiah Lyon.

"And what makes you think I'll agree to that?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Because you just broke up with your girlfriend, and I assumed you need a replacement." I said, giving a wide smile.

“Well, you assume wrong,” he gave a straight answer.

"I need a man to be in a relationship with and he needs to pay for what he did,  there's no better way for me to do that than to be in a relationship with you," he said, almost pleading.

"No."

"Why?"

“I have no interest in being part of your marriage catastrophe,” he replied coldly.

“Please”.

A deafening silence took over, and for a moment, I held on to the belief that he'd agree to my proposal.

"Goodnight," he said instead, walking to his car. I stood still, watching Leo—the driver closed the door the second he entered into the driver's seat—and watched as they both drove off, leaving me all alone.

And again, I was rejected the second time that evening.

—----------  -----------  -------------  --------

As the cab driver stopped, I paid him and practically ran into my apartment. I needed time alone; I needed time to think.

I took out my keys once I was at the door and unlocked. and took a step inside, memories of Jeffery and I in the building swamped my memory, a place that had held so many cherished memories that had once felt like home but at the moment... was just a mere building.

I dropped my car keys on the shelf and headed straight to my bathroom. I stripped off my clothes, entered the bathtub, and soaked my body in it.

I closed my eyes, feeling the water envelope me, getting lost in the silence. It was extremely quiet, and that was exactly what I needed.

"I want you to be my wife, Emelia," he said softly, holding my hand in his. His green eyes were filled with love, an emotion that was reserved only for me. "It's time you be my legally wedded wife and be the only woman I get to spend my whole life with."

Tears streamed out of my eyes, drawing me out of what's now nothing but a memory. I sat up, beating at my chest over and over again, hoping the pain would just go away.

I loved him... I gave everything to him, and I spent seven years of my life doing everything he wanted. But it clearly wasn't enough.

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed. The pain was unbearable, and I needed it to stop. I needed someone... anyone to put a stop to the pain.

The ringtone of my phone echoed in the silence room. I looked in the direction of my phone, staring blankly as his name flashed across the screen.

I stood up from the bathtub, grabbing my phone from the table to accept the call.

"Will you open the door, Emelia, and stop acting like a spoiled princess?!" He yelled, and for a moment there, I couldn't help but ask myself what exactly made me fall in love with someone like him. What exactly made me see him as the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with?

"Will you answer me?!"

"Leave Jeffrey or I'll call the police," I said weakly. I should have headed to the hospital after the minor accident, but I couldn't bring myself to do exactly that. I needed time alone, but it seems I won't be getting that either.

"You won't freaking dare, Emelia. We are getting married tomorrow, so open the freaking door."

"Married?" I let out a sarcastic laugh. "No one is getting married here, Jeffrey, and you need to get that to your freaking skull," I hissed.

"You won't do that, Emelia. We've planned this for months, and I won't allow you to ruin it just because you caught me with another woman."

It seems I was really a fool after all. I was really a fool for planning to get married to someone like him.

"I gave you everything, Jeffrey," I paused, trying so hard to stop the tears in my eyes from falling. "I freaking gave you everything! I gave you my body, my heart, and my freaking soul. I loved you even when I wasn't supposed to. I ignored all your silly tantrums and gave in to your demands, and you still go ahead to cheat on me and that too, right before our wedding. And you don't even feel remorseful?!" I snapped, finally losing hold of the anger I had been trying to tame.

"Emelia..."

"We are done, Jeffrey. You might be planning to get married tomorrow, but your bride would definitely not be me. So, you might as well go to hell," I hissed, ending the call before he could answer.

I dropped my phone on the shelf, brushing my hair with my fingers. A part of me was still hoping all this was nothing but a dream. But the other part of me knows too well to know that this was real.

Way too real, and I won't be getting married after all.

I let out a frustrated breath. I was done crying for a jerk like him. And the fact that I spent seven years of my life loving him hurts way more than I could imagine.

My phone rang once again, but this time an unknown number popped up instead. I stared blankly at the screen for a minute before finally accepting the call.

"Okay then," a long pause followed. "Let's get into a fake relationship.”