“The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies. It comes from those you trust the most.” — unknown.
Angelina told the driver to stop at the mini-mart; she was craving something to eat. Even though she had just finished eating junk at jasmine's house, she still wanted something — her mouth was too dry. She entered the mart, took the trolley, and went to the chocolate rows, and she packed all the snickers bar chocolates at the counter before taking the Cadbury dairy chocolate. One of the bodyguards helped her to push the trolley to another row.
Angelina happily strolled around the mart, buying everything and anything with the black card Nathaniel gave her. Angelina never knew she enjoyed shopping, and she danced around.
Her eyes caught a florist shop beside the mart, and she went there, leaving the bodyguard to pack what she had bought, not after pointing to the florist shop and informing him that she would be there.
She knocked on the door before pushing it open and entering. The scent of different flowers assaulted her nostrils while making them itch and sneeze.
"Welcome," the florist dropped the scissors and greeted her with a smile while Angelina returned the smile.
Angelina scrunched her nose, feeling itchy from all the flowers' scent, "I want to buy flowers," she mumbled, one hand protective under her baby bump while the other at her lower back.
The florist's eyes twinkled and smiled at her before pointing and mentioning different flowers and their symbols while she was confused.
"Ah—" she laughed awkwardly, "I don't know much about flowers," she muttered shyly, "I just want flowers," she said.
"Okay, sorry! I'm blabbing too much," the florist spoke in a small voice while Angelina shook her head.
"Hmmm, what flowers can I give someone to show I'm theirs and they are mine?" Angelina asked.
"Oh very simple," the florist responded, going to the flower and plucking some red roses, "roses represent love and passion, but 24 roses mean 'I'm yours," the florist articulated, packing the flower in a bouquet.
Angelina brought out a slash of bills to pay, but the florist declined, and she refused the money. "It's a gift," she said, "I hope your partner will understand the meaning," the woman smiled. Sadness dripped and could be seen in her eyes.
When the florist noticed Angelina looking at her, she wiped her eyes and smiled, wishing her luck. Angelina didn't know what the woman was going through, but she wished her a happy ending.
Angelina took a whiff of the flower, grinning excitedly as the driver drove home. Angelina felt giddiness in her stomach. Her smile stretched on her face as her heart thumped in glee. She couldn't wait to give Nathaniel the flower she had bought.
When they got home, Angelina got down, not waiting for the driver to open the door for her as she ran with the flower in her hands. She didn't stop even when the nurse ran panicky after her, in fear of her head from Nathaniel's wrath. As she made her way to their room to wait for Nathaniel to come back from work, she could surprise him by putting the flower on his face.
She grinned, dancing to their bedroom. When she got to the door, she paused, catching her breath and wiping her sweaty hands. She didn't know why she felt nervous all of a sudden, and she patted her bump a little, then the door. But the scene in front of her made her stagger a little.
An unknown woman was on Nathaniel on their marital bed, and she felt her heart removed from the ribcage as hot tears flowed down her eyes before throwing the bouquet on the betrayer's face, not waiting for any talk as she ran and ran like her life depended on it into the heavy rain.
****
Nathaniel pushed the girl on him away, not caring where she fell, as he ran after his wife in the rain without putting on a shirt or slippers. Nathaniel's heart shattered, remembering the tears on her face as he shouted her name on a cold night. God, let her be alright, he prayed silently, ringing the bell for all the maids to assemble.
"Where is she?" he asked Tony, who came in a wet cloth.
"I was following her, and then for a moment, I couldn't find her."
"You can fucking find her?" he yelled, his voice hoarse, "you better know what you are fucking paid to do," he snarled, still walking in the rain.
The pitter-patter of the rain was not helping his situation. He was distressed about where she could be.
It wasn't how it was? It was a misunderstanding, and he just wanted to explain himself. He could never think of cheating, and he was hers only.
Nathaniel reached his office to meet the client; his PA told him he had brought a good proposal. He came today to see the man and finalize the signing because he liked the proposal. They would generate profit from accepting the work. But when he got to his office, his PA told him that the client said he wasn't interested in the offer. He even told his PA to inform the person they would increase the rate, but the person declined, and his number wasn't going through again.
He threw the nameplate on his desk away in anger, rubbing his face in irritation. Had he known the person wanted to waste his precious time, he would have stayed home with his lovely wife and cute baby.
Nathaniel rechecked the client number and called it with his private number, but it was unreachable. He pinched the bridge of his nose frustratedly and sent the number to Nicholas to track.
Nicholas wasn't in the state, he'd gone out to visit his grandma, but Nathaniel hoped he would be able to track the number by tomorrow. So that he could know who the heck had the gut to play with his time.
Nathaniel drove home, stopping at a florist shop by the roadside, and bought a bouquet for Angelina. He smiled, imagining Angelina's expression when she saw it. His cranky mood immediately lifted when thinking about Angie.
When he got home, he dismissed all the maids to their quarters as he went to the bedroom, had a cold shower then went to his study room to pass the time by reading some files.
Nathaniel glanced at his phone, waiting for any message from Angelina every now and then. He was itching to take the phone and call her, but he didn't want to disturb her ladies' time with her mom and Bell. She wá so happy this morning to be parted away from his nagging. It wasn't his fault that he nags so much. Precaution is better than cure and to be safe is better than to be sorry.
This was the first time they'd been separated for some hours. He missed her. His eyes were glued to the clock, following the seconds to minutes to hours. He took his phone, checking some pictures he'd snapped with Angelina, smiling at each picture. His Angie was so beautiful, and no one could be compared to her.
When there was nothing to kill time, he reluctantly went to their room. He'd been stopping himself from going because her lovely scent would make him miss her more. He opened the door and switched on the light only to see the least expected person.
Clara.
His runaway fiancee.
His face morphed into anger immediately, and burning lava wanted to erupt. It was like she had forgotten what she had done. She smiled sultry at him, wearing revealing lingerie that her boobs were nearly split from the cups. Her face was coated with heavy makeup, as the eye face made her look like a clown.
"Fucking get up from the bed," he seethed in anger. He could feel his body shaking in a fury to strangle her to death but cautioned himself, remembering his nanny's worried face. But how the fuck was she able to enter? Was the security lagging?
"Awwww, Nathy boy," she giggled, and Nathaniel cringed at her nasal voice. It was unpleasant to the ears. Was this the voice he liked before? How the heck did he like something like this? "is that how to greet your first love," she pouted. "And Woah," she looked at his chest, licking her lips suggestively as Nathaniel shivered in disgust, "your chest is scrumptious as usual," she jumped from the bed and touched his chest softly.
Nathaniel pushed her away, feeling his skin crawl l from her touch as he walked to his closet to find a shirt to cover up before calling the security man to chase her away. She ran to him in full force, colliding with him unaware, making him fall on the bed and using the opportunity to straddle him and smiling slyly like she won.
At that moment, the room door was yanked open, and his wife bustled in, holding a flower but, seeing him in an illicit position, threw the flowers at him. Nathaniel was in shock; the look on Angelina's face made him freeze in shock before his mind clicked when he heard her footstep fading,
Nathaniel crouched on the ground in the rain, waiting for the guard to bring news about Angelina. Where could she run to in a short period? His body was shaking in the cold, but he couldn't enter when his pregnant wife was out there in the rain. Then he remembered he didn't hold his phone and went inside to take it but stopped when he saw the culprit, sitting comfortably on his couch.
"Why the fuck are you here?" Nathaniel snarled in anger, going to her in full force as he wrapped his hand around her neck, choking her against the wall while she smiled painfully, coughing. Nathaniel's hand around her neck lifted her up against the wall, making her reach his eyes level and her legs dangling in the air.
Nathaniel didn't care about killing her again, and he was holding back earlier because Clara was his nanny granddaughter, but now, there was no reason to hold back because she'd crossed the line.
"Are you now into choking kink?" she coughed out, eyes rolled back, laughing through the pain, "well, I like it; choke me more, daddy."
Nathaniel added more pressure to her neck, and he didn't care. Her face turned purple, her eyes rolling back, but the ding on his phone made him drop her on the floor as she scrambled away, coughing while holding her neck.
He quickly unlocked his phone, his heart thumping if the men had any trace of Angelina, but it was a message from the runaway client which read.
«If you want your wife, come to xxx warehouse harmless. Call the police or inform someone. Her life will be on the way. An eye for an eye.»