Chapter Five

Carlton strolled into the large, splendor living room at dawn, and dismissed the maids that had come around to welcome him as he made his way upstairs. He pushed the door to his room and slouched onto his bed heavily, as the memories of the previous night came flooding into his head.

He thought about the outcome of the party he ended up attending, even if it was unintended in the first place. The second encounter with his ex-girlfriend, and the words she said to him when they went outside together. The fact that he did the opposite of what he swore to do if he ever met her, and his vulnerability that she used to her advantage to apologize. The kiss. The unplanned sleepover.

'Shit! He shouldn't give her a chance to come back to his life. He was done with her the moment she left him at the altar, so he shouldn't allow her tactics to try and come back to him. He really shouldn't.'

As soon as he lay there thinking of how messed up things could become, the realization that his wife had not come to his room since he had come home hit him, as he sprang up immediately and looked around to be sure he was not confused. He stood up from bed even though he was tired and dazed, and sat on his balcony for almost thirty minutes till it was time to start getting ready for work.

'She was probably sleeping,' he concluded.

Carlton took more minutes than he usually did in the shower, with his mind thinking of quite some things that were not exclusive to office work. Everything revolved around his life for the past few days and his decisions too.

He had come out of the bathroom fully dried and draped in a black bathrobe, when it dawned on him that something was different in his routine than other mornings. He looked around and figured out what.

Usually, every custom-made suit to be worn for each day by him would have been arranged in order with the perfect shoe, and Stacy would have been waiting to help him knot his tie perfectly. Then she would pass everything to him in perfect unison before he even asked.

That was when he realized. He had not heard her voice since day break.

His brain calculated what could have happened so fast, as he struggled to find the right trousers and shirt to put on after wearing his favorite combination of cologne from the ones which were neatly placed in front of the dresser. Stepping out of his room half dressed without a tie or proper shoes, he pushed the door to her room open, and entered to confirm what was truly going on.

That was when he realized that the folder of the file which had been presented to her was on her dresser, and that the room looked somewhat more empty than it usually was.

'She was gone. She truly left.'

He thought it would take longer for her to accept reality, and sign the papers, but she actually left without picking up any further fights.

'They were truly divorced.'

Carlton's mind wandered back to the last conversation they both had on the phone, and how pissed he was when she kept texting nonstop while asking about his whereabouts. He felt somewhat guilty that he was probably harsh to her.

However, all that didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that she had signed the papers.

'He was finally free from his fake marriage.'

The morning went more hectic than Carlton planned. He couldn't find the right tie after changing it almost ten times, and was not pleased with every shoe that he had chosen to go with his clothes. He had no idea where his socks were arranged, or in the order in which she had set his cufflinks for each day.

Vicious rages flew everywhere in the mansion. The maids were confused as they ran around, thinking of what they could do after they just found out that their boss and his wife were divorced. It came as a shock to them, and her sudden packing of boxes made sense.

His assistant, James, was clueless, because he had never been in charge of picking out the right clothes for his boss.

To make things worse, breakfast was awful for Carlton. No one knew where Stacy had placed her menu book for Carlton's food arrangements, and they had no idea how she made the food so palatable and delectable with cute designs that made the food look like art for him.

Irina was confused as she tried to call Stacy's phone several times to no avail, hoping that she would give them some pointers concerning how she managed every morning regarding her ex-husband. Everything seemed to fall apart one morning without her.

The ride to the office was suffocating and overbearing, with Carlton getting pissed off at every little thing that got on his nerves. The workers at the company as well as others in other branches were all on edge till the end of the day, because the boss was in a grouchy mood till the end of the day. The board executives had it worse. Every business improvement proposal was disapproved with shredding words to accompany it, and every meeting for the day was rescheduled for another time.

Nothing suddenly felt right.

*****•••******

Night at Howard's mansion the next day was quite usual and lively as before, and the air around felt oddly different with Stacy gone. It was the second night that no one heard her usual voices at the dining table making the perfect table for her husband, ever since she had been married to Carlton and started living in the mansion with him.

The walls seemed to somewhat sag under the weight of emptiness by dispelling the pervasive sense of Stacy's absence, and the maids appeared to be disturbed all day that they were going to be left with a cold and angry boss after everything they went through in two mornings. However, they soon had something to talk about, followed by the gracious visit of an unexpected person. A beautiful lady they had never seen before.

They all rushed to gossip again in their corners.

"Barely a day that Mrs. Howard is out as a wife, a mysterious lady comes in?!" The first maid, who brought the information, yelled in exasperation.

"A new lady? Really?" The ones that were oblivious to the entertainment of their guest asked in surprise.

"And she is so hot. Did you see her? I literally thought her gaze would murder me when I was asked to usher her in," the second lady that accompanied the first one added.

"Wait. Do you think she is going to become the new madame?" The youngest suddenly shrieked in horror, and they all gasped with their mouths wide open.

"Wait. Has the boss been cheating on Mrs. Howard all the while?" Another one speculated shakily, the moment another thought occurred to her.

"Is that even the point?!" The first lady hissed and hit her head in frustration, "If this new lady becomes the new head of the house, then we are screwed. She'll drain our lives out."

"Heavens! I didn't even think of that."

"Now, you see what I have been trying to……."

"IR coming……" the youngest announced quickly, the moment her gaze wandered off the focus of discussion.

They were all dispatched as soon as they caught sight of Irina, and walked away immediately to get prepared for what was next. They were never allowed to show a lackadaisical attitude during work hours, because she was so strict and disciplined when it came to affairs concerning the mansion as the person in charge.

However, she didn't even mind the gossiping maids, and just strutted past them with a sullen expression. She felt saddened about Stacy's sudden departure.

…….

"I didn't expect that you would come," Carlton's voice didn't sound impressive the moment he set his eyes on his guest, thinking she would not drop by as promised after their discussion the previous night.

"Well, I told you I would," her lips stretched out in a seductive, but modest smile as she spoke eloquently.

Sitting comfortably on the couch, she looked like a life model ready for a gorgeous magazine cover shoot. Dressed in a luxurious, black dress that topped her allure, she exuded an aura of self-assurance, as if she knew the power she held over those around her. Her radiant, porcelain skin glowed softly in the warm glow of lights, and her beautiful, stunning blue eyes gazed so delightfully at Carlton as he took his seat.

'He looked different from the last time they met, and he melted her insides with his increased charm. She didn't think she would let him go this time.'

"Would you like a glass of champag……"

"I want us back, Carlton. I am so sorry for my dumb attitude years ago. I am willing to make up for everything," she jumped into the discussion she came for immediately, without giving him any chance to start acting like friends. She wanted him back as her own, and she was willing to do everything to make that possible.

"Can I ask a question before we proceed on that topic?" He went ahead to ask her because he was still curious about the conflicting part of his memory that omitted why they were both in bed together earlier that morning.

"Of course, anything," she flashed a smile.

"Did anything happen between us last ni……"

A phone call disrupted the question, and Carlton flipped his phone over to see who was calling. His hand suddenly became cold, and his heart skipped a beat with the force reverberating through his entirety.

"Any problem?" She asked when she noticed a visible change in his mood.

"I will be right back," he answered her and walked away to pick up the phone.

"It has been ages, Carlton. How are you, brother?" Hudson's voice asked from the other side of the phone.

"I…. I was not expecting this call," Carlton stuttered. He didn't even realize it when he picked up the call.

"I know, right? It's been like months now. I am so sorry for neglecting our friendship. I couldn't even attend your wedding or one-year anniversary. You know I have been trying to build my company from scratch and all, getting investors and expanding. It has kept me crazy busy," Hudson apologized with a heavy heart.

"I understand. I totally do," Carlton replied, still cautious of why Stacy's brother suddenly called. He had rejected his help many times when he wanted to invest massively in his company, so that things would not end up ruining between them. Still, he was wary. Hudson would probably have cursed him thoroughly if he had found out already.

"Yeah……" Hudson's voice trailed tiredly.

"You do not sound good. Any problem?" Carlton asked.

"I feel terrible and shattered bro. Some crazy shit has been going on in my family in my absence for almost two years, and I just found out! You know my little sister, Stacy, right?"

Carlton's heart thumped so badly when he heard that.

Hudson continued furiously, "She got married two years ago without anyone's blessings in our family to some random nutjob that was probably her boyfriend, and didn't even finish school. All this while, she's been texting me from the guy's house all this while. She dropped out of school for a fucking guy that nobody knows!

"She didn't finish school?!" Carlton yelled incredulously at the news he was just finding out about.

"Now, my ma is just telling me after all this while of hiding it, that she came back home yesterday, crying and stuff. Seems like she finally got kicked out. Dad disowned her, and kicked her out too. I'm in pain, Bro. My little sister was going through a lot, and ain't even aware of it. Now, she's picking up nobody's call. Her phone's off too, and Mum has no idea where she is. I am a terrible brother!"

Carlton felt so guilty about the sudden call and his friend's ranting, knowing he had taken part in it, and rushed out, leaving Marilyn by herself. He entered his car and drove himself onto the highway, with one place in his mind as the only place he felt she could have returned to. Driving at a great speed, he didn't realize the impending doom.

Gbam!

That was all.

The car tumbled thrice in shatters of glass shards, as a drunk truck driver ran into it from the other side, and smoke erupted after.