5| Rafe

Her bizarre appearance confounds me for a second. I lift up my brows. Hairs are covered with a small scarf, tied on the top of her head. Her lips are dry and eyes have dark circles. The plain tee shirt and crop pants are clinging to her body as a second skin, that makes me think that she's skinnier than I thought.

"You're here." She says with a remorseful smile.

A feeling of worry trickles up in me for a second after witnessing her disoriented self. Then I remember what Matteo said about her so I dispel that feeling. Her appearance is explaining that Matteo was right.

She's tiring out herself with household chores, that's a reason behind her disorientation. I don't want to get involved in it.

I ignore her as my rage takes over me. There is a strong odour of detergent coming from her. I again turn towards the closet to find my office file. This time I turn aggressive in my search. I want to do it quickly and get out of here.

"Talk to me, Rafe." Her voice sounds pleading, "You can't avoid me forever."

I increase my speed, mess up everything whatever is there. Damn it, where is that bloody file? I'm hating her voice.

"We can't solve this problem this way. We can talk about it and find a solution together."

Anger rushes through my veins. I stop and turn to her, "Solution? Hmm...I should hear this. Do you have a solution, Miss Howard, oh I mean Mrs. Freya Eastmond?" I say her new name with venom in my voice.

She gets sad at my words. They hurt me as well. But I conceal it under my blazing anger.

"I know you're hurt, but believe me, I'm going through the same."

"No. No. Don't seek my sympathies, you dimwit, brainless, woman." I deliberately speak my mind to show her how I've been thinking of her, "It's not the same for us. You chose this path on your own. I didn't. I was dragged into it so don't crap about your pains."

Her eyes fill with tears. She frustratingly pulls down the scarf from her head, discloses her disheveled hairs. "Why are you putting all the blame on me?" She raises her voice, "You had your chances too. Why didn't you tell the truth to your parents? Why did you come to the wedding?"

"Because I'm not like you." I snap louder, "I'm not selfish like you who only thought about herself and her sissy boyfriend. I couldn't risk my family business, our public image because of your lies. Things would have been devastated if I wouldn't have come. We have different priorities, Freya."

I did fully plan not to go to the wedding when I found out about it. I wanted to take my revenge and let them experience humiliation. I purposely reached the wedding late. This was my way of showing condemnation and protest but then my fretfulness for my business and its prestige overpowered me.

If the wedding had been cancelled, it would've badly hurt the company and its image. Eastmonds would have become the title-tattle in the entire construction sector. Of course, that brainless Freya could never understand it. She doesn't care about the damages her clumsiness could bring. I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to harm our thriving business because of our family politics. It's my duty to protect my business with whatever I have.

"I'm sorry, Rafe." Freya breaks into tears. I get more irritated, "I didn't know my single mistake would lead to--"

"Cut it." I bluntly stop her, "Your apologies and tears won't work. You're just unbelievable! Within days you managed to trap me with you in this marriage and I felt like your puppet."

"It's not true. Why are you thinking like that. I didn't do anything on purpose." She cries.

"Do hell with it." I lash out my frustration that I was bottling up since the wedding, "You used me. You used my name without my permission, without even bothering to have a courtesy to at least let me know your plans. All was one-sided. And tell me what exactly you were planning? That you'll keep me as your husband for a cover and continue your affair with your boyfriend? This way you wouldn't have to lose anything or get any trouble with your family."

She takes a step closer, "No, Rafe. Listen to me. Ben and I--"

"I don't want to listen to your third-rate excuses." I step back and gesture to her to stay away, "It doesn't matter what happened to you or what you were thinking. You ruined it. You made me feel worthless as if my whole existence was worthless. You made me your puppet. And there, Father made me his puppet too. Damn all of you. I'm not anyone's puppet. I'm not going to do what any of you will tell me to do."

"You're taking it wrong. I tried, I swear. I tried stopping Mom and Dad--"

"But the situation got out of hand, right?"

She stays silent. I get my answer.

Our families are unbelievably crazy.

My Mom and Father were living in their own bubble, having their own celebrations about my fake engagement without even thinking of me. I didn't anticipate their controlling nature would go to that extreme. Who just planned a wedding quickly? Why were they so eager to make me married with Freya?

"Well, you won." I surrender defeatingly, "You won the kind of life you wanted so congratulations on your victory. You can now freely date your boyfriend."

She again doesn't answer, but weeps silently. Her face is dripping with guilt.

"Do me a favour now, Freya. Don't show me your face. Don't come in front of me unless it's necessary. You can't know how much you're enraging me. I don't want to do anything with you."

She gets astounded, "Does it mean you are breaking our friendship tie? Don't do this."

As if we can be anything now. She's really thickheaded. I'm surprised that she's still expecting that we can go back to normal again. "I guess I made myself clear. Now get out of here."

I say then ignore her presence in the room, ignore her remorseful face. I continue searching for the file. I open the locker where I expect that file would be there. I sense her leaving the room after a minute.

Freya is still not grasping the situation we're in. What can I expect from an immature woman. She can't understand anything.

We're fucking married now. I can't befriend a woman who has become my unwanted, forced wife. Her face will only remind me of that. For me, she's now a spoiled daughter of Howard from whom I should stay away.

Finally I find the project file. I swiftly take it and leave the apartment right away.

The only good thing that is left in my life is that my chances of becoming the CEO of Eastmond Builders has gone higher than ever. Father has finally suggested my name for the CEO nominations and has called the directors' meeting on Monday.

This meeting will decide my future. Father however has assured me that this time I'll get the majority vote, but still I have kept my fingers crossed. You never know especially after going through the series of misfortunes. I sit in my car and drive off.