Chapter 13

*TRISTAN* I eyed Cora and stared at Alvin. I knew he was a good guy but the thought of other men being around Cora bothered me so much. No matter how angry I was,I still forced a smile out of me. “Alvin,I have to take my wife away now,we need to go meet some people.” He stared at Cora and seemed to noticed how unwilling she was. He reached out and held Cora’s arm. “She doesn’t seem to want to meet anyone else.” I really didn’t expect Alvin to say that.He had always been someone who minded his own business. I stared at him with a trace of inquiry and he just shrugged. I scoffed and took his hand away from Cora’s then I dragged her away. “What the hell do you think you’re thinking?!”I thundered as I dragged Cora into the guest room. I let go of her and continued.”I asked you to attend the dinner as my wife,not to embarrass me!When did you suddenly become a social butterfly?!You had an ambiguous relationship with Marcus just now and then you went drinking with Alvin.Is this some sort of revenge?!” “Stop saying nonsense.”She snapped,rubbing her wrist.”I already told you.Nothing happened between Marcus and I.And didn’t you say it yourself about the kind of person that Marcus is?!And for Alvin,you know how nice he is so you don’t have to act so upset with him.Also,you know I don’t get along well with your hypocritical family yet you invited me here and you expect me to do what?!” “Stop acting like a saint!You’re far from that.Your lies,you…”Before I could complete that,she bolted out of the room. I chased after her just to see her getting into a car and leaving the premises of the hall. My fists clenched as I watched the car drive away. Somehow,there was an empty place in my heart. I didn’t even know what I needed anymore. **************** *CORA* My life after divorce was not as boring as before.I was busy with my departmental store and I was also ready to take over my father’s company but I had to start from middle level management. I worked so hard because I didn’t want to think about anything else.I just wanted to devote myself to work,to my father and to my family. Looking at the piles of reports on the table,I knew it was not that simple to know about the company. Taking over all of a sudden made me feel clueless sometimes. “Cora, this is the financial information.”My father’s capable female assistant handed over some documents with a smile. She had always been so competent.She was still unmarried in her thirties and her working ability was better than many men. “Okay,I see.”With a forced smile,I said to her. The files were so many.By the time I finished going through them,I might have turned old and grey. But it won’t do me any good in the future if I don’t read them. Going through these documents,I got upset to realize that there were so many connections between my family’s business and the Godoy’s. I really should make harsh decisions against Tristan so he could declare a business war against my father’s company. Looking through the document in my hand,I frowned. The relationship between the companies couldn’t be cut off,instantly but now I also had to deal with the fact that I had to meet up with Tristan because of a company’s project. Tristan was the last person I wanted to see but I had no choice but to see him. Sighing,I headed for Tristan’s company. ************* I knew my way around his company and few of the employees knew me so no one stopped me when I directly headed for his office. As I walked through the hallway and got to the front of the office door,I paused,mentally preparing myself on how to face him. I was accompanied by two subordinates of mine and I was sure that they were staring at me oddly or wondering if I had forgotten how to knock. Suddenly,the door opened and Phoebe walked out. “Oh,hello dear Cora.” When she saw me,she came up to greet me in a rather exaggerated manner. I didn’t like this woman.I hated her very much.But I was accompanied by my two employees and there were also some of Tristan’s employees walking by the hallway. I didn’t want to make a scene but I couldn’t let her walk over me. I straightened and said to her,calmly. “Phoebe,I didn’t expect to see you here.What a not so pleasant coincidence.” Phoebe laughed.”Tristan begged me to come here.”And then she pouted. I rolled my eyes. “He said he felt so bored and he was missing me too much so he begged me to come and keep him company.” I sighed. She has him now. She doesn’t need to rub it in my face. And even if I tried to be unaffected,her words still made me feel sad. “Oh,Dear Cora,why do you look so sad?”Phoebe asked,mockingly moving closer to me. I took a step back,maintaining a distance between us. “Phoebe,can you stop calling me ‘dear Cora’?It’s just Cora.” Phoebe blinked and then slung me a condescending look.She moved closer to me and whispered. “In that case,Cora.Let me inform you that Tristan and I are getting married soon so you better stay away from him!I do not want to see you anywhere close to my man.” Raising my head,I looked at her as if she was a naughty child because she was really acting spoilt now. “You don’t have to tell me this.It’s no business of mine what you two do with your lives and if you didn’t notice,Tristan isn’t worth fighting for.” My words seemed to sting Phoebe badly. Suddenly,she burst into laughter and moved closer to me again. In a whisper,she said to me.”Stop pretending,I know you still love him.You’re just sad and heartbroken that you do not have a chance with him at all.” After saying that,she looked at me proudly. I smirked at her.”How sure are you that I do not have a chance with him?Because if you’re so sure that I do not have a chance with him,you wouldn’t be standing in front of me right now.You are scared,Phoebe and you should be.Afterall,Tristan and I were married for three years.We lived under the same roof for three years,I’m sure you’re curious as to how we lived,you’re curious to know how intimate we were.And you’re scared that Tristan might still be thinking of me.”I was deliberately taunting her. And as expected,her face turned pale and she became speechless.”You…you…” “Miss Cora,our CEO invites you to the meeting room.”A girl with ponytail walked up to me and said. I nodded as she led the way to the meeting room. I walked past a furious and still speechless Phoebe and I was happy I didn’t let her win today!