Chapter Thirty four

Ariana's POV;

I was seated at the balcony working on my laptop as usual. It had been about a week and there was still not a word from Damien. I was not in any way surprised about his actions though, plus it's not like I wanted to speak to him anyway.

I stepped inside the room to get something - a pillow for my aching back. I had been seated in one position for hours and I was not in the mood to lie down so taking a pillow was the next best option.

I heard a slight rapping on the door so I halted in my movement just to be sure I was not assuming anything.

I heard the sound again but louder this time, that was cue to walk over to the door and pull it open.

"Hi."

"Oh, uh, hi Aleena." I said, wondering what she wanted this time.

"Can I come in?" She requested.

"Hmm okay..." I said and sidestepped for her to get in. She flipped around as soon as she entered while I pushed the door close. She sat on the couch while I stood still wondering what she was doing here.

"Won't you sit?" She asked.

"No, I've been sitting for a long while."

"Working?"

"Something like that." I was not going to give her too much information about myself. It was just too much of a risk to take considering how close she was to Damien.

"Hmmmm." She hummed and nodded while at it.

"Well, I just came to tell you that, I'll be leaving today." She announced.

"Oh?"

"Yes, I'll be back some other time. I have some work to sort out." She informed.

I nodded. I was actually glad she was leaving, I did not know why. It just gave me great joy that she was going away and I secretly prayed she was not going to return anytime soon.

"That's alright, I'm sure you and Damien would keep in touch." I said conclusively.

"Yeah." She said barely above a whisper and got on her feet. I walked her to the door while I said my goobyes and she left with a strange smile plastered on her face. Weird.

I shrugged it off and positioned myself back in front of my laptop. I checked my mail and realized that I had just been invited for an interview by a small firm in the city. I grinned. This was a step in the right direction. It was by 10am the next day, I got on to prepping for it.

Finally I was going to leave the house and see the outside world again, I had been trapped indoors for close to two weeks and it was so tiring. I prayed I would get the job because it seemed like a good place to start up my career.

I reached for my phone and scrolled over to Instagram. I had barely spent a few minutes when Damien's name popped up from one of the blog pages I followed. The headline read thus; 'Barely two weeks after marriage, America's hunk of a billionaire has been spotted in Italy, Rome, alone?"

I rolled my eyes, these bloggers were doing the most. Why did they have to insinuate that there was an issue because he was found without his wife in Italy? Their subtle ways of raising suspicions irked me sometimes. Why did they have to make other people's lives their business? I shook my head.

I stared at the side view picture they had of him walking in quick strides. He had sunglasses with a long black jacket on. He looked so good in spite of the fact that he did not pose for those pictures, he was most probably unaware of them being taken, I was sure.

I scrolled down and read some other news and eventually saw that my picture had been posted on their page some few days back. I had no idea because the notifications on my page were way too much. What was I supposed to do now? Comment when it was already too late or just like and scroll past it? I bit on my lower lip in confusion.

I read through the caption; 'Damien Kingston's new bride be giving us some good summer vibes.'

I was going to take Fiona's advice to not read through comments because no one knows what to expect from people on social media. It could get really messy sometimes and it was absolutely unhealthy for one's mental health. I liked the post and left the page immediately afterwards.

A message came in from my dad via WhatsApp and that took me off Instagram and down to his inbox.

We had been chatting for a while and I was legit laughing so hard at all the things we talked about. He sent me a video of him. He was trying TikTok and Snapchat for the first time, he said our neighbour's teenage son had helped him install it and was trying his best to put him through on how the app worked. It was hilarious.

I decided to send him a Snapchat video of myself to keep the vibe going. I smiled and made a kissy face before laughing at myself, then I saved the video. I was trying to send the video directly to my dad on WhatsApp and instead of tapping on my dad's contact, I mistakenly tapped on Damien's, I had already sent it before I could realize my mistake. I tried correcting my mistake but he had seen it already.

"Oh shit!" I cussed, pacing the room in a frenzy. I could not bring myself to look at my phone for a few minutes.

My phone soon started ringing. It was a voice call from none other. I kicked the air and grunted loudly. I was so embarrassed, what was I supposed to say to him in that state?

Hesitantly, I picked up the phone, cleared my throat and slid the green icon.

"Hello?" I said softly.

"I didn't think you would miss me so much, Ariana."

His voice sent tingles running through me. The way my name rolled off his tongue did things to me. I had unknowingly missed his deep spine chilling baritone.

"It's not what you think, Damien." I defended weakly.

"Is that so?" I imagined him lifting one of his brows when he spoke.

"That video was not for you to see." I stated plainly.

"Who was it for then?" His tone sounded a little edgy.

"My father." I said truthfully.

"Hmmm." He hummed.

"The same person I was speaking to before you threw my phone into your swimming pool." I said, trying to make him realize how wrong he was for doing that.

"If you had answered me instead of arguing that wouldn't have to happen." He remarked casually.

I was appalled at how unremorseful he was. He was unapologetic.

"Besides, I did replace it after all."

My jaw dropped. There was nothing anyone else would tell me, this man was just scum. The scummiest of all scum. I took in a deep breath and tried thinking happy thoughts to calm myself.

"Hmm. When are you going to be back?"

"Eager to see me, are we?" He teased.

"No, I just want to be well aware of how much time I have left to be happy." I retorted, sure he understood.

The line went dead for a few seconds before I heard him chuckle.

"Not much time but enjoy it while it lasts." He said and hung up before I could say anything else.

I plopped on the bed. That call lasted only about two minutes but it had literally drained all of my energy. I truly hoped he would stay away for as long as he possibly could. His presence only increased my blood pressure.

Later that day, he had my video posted on his Instagram story with; 'wify can't wait to see me' with lots of heart emojis. I rolled my eyes at the unnecessary show off. At least it would leave the speculations of our marriage being rocky- because of his trip to Italy all by himself- in the mud.

Quick thinking Ariana, now you got him out of the mess he created. I thought sarcastically.

****

I woke up early the next morning and picked out a white chiffon top, a black skirt and a blue blazer along with black stilettos. I had to look as professional as possible.

I scurried into the bathroom, brushed my teeth and had a warm shower. After my bath, I wiped myself clean and picked up my filled make-up box, mom had got me. I was going to apply something light on my face since I was not a fan of make-up in the first place.

I styled my hair into a low bun and laid my edges. I put on my clothes and paired the look with a nice white Louis Vuitton bag. I picked up my phone as well as some other necessities. I had my CV packaged in a manila envelope. I shut the door behind me and strutted down the stairs and saw everyone seated in the dining room as usual.

I exchanged pleasantries with all of them as I took a seat.

"Oooh I saw Damien's story on Instagram. You two are so cute." Mom practically squealed like a little girl, I laughed.

"Easy honey." Gerald said to her although amused at her actions. He turned to me.

"Seems like you're heading out." He said and I nodded in the positive.

"Yes, I have an interview." I said and sipped on my cup of coffee slowly after.

"An interview? You want to get a job?" Mom asked, looking astonished, I wondered why.

"Yes, I did not get a degree just to sit down and do nothing." I shrugged blithely.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you study?"

That was Jesse. I smiled softly at him.

"I have a degree in Economics from NYU." I replied.

"Whoa...!" His mouth formed an 'O' as he exclaimed.

I saw everyone's eyes on me and I was still wondering what was wrong with them.

"I didn't take you for a college graduate. Not because of how you sound or anything, you're definitely a smart one-" Mom rambled but Tracy cut her off.

"What my mother's trying to say is that, we thought of you as a high school graduate who could not afford tertiary education and had to work as a waitress in a restaurant before she was able to snag her boss and have him marry her." Tracy was brutally honest, that was the one thing I had noticed she had in common with her older brother.

"Tracy!" Her father yelled sternly but the deed was done.

Her statement hurt like a bitch and I was sure it was evident in my reaction because everyone else looked at me with guilty expressions evident on their facial features.

I swallowed

"Excuse me, I have an interview to catch up with."

I picked up my stuff and sashayed out before anyone could respond. I felt their eyes on my back as I left.

I walked past the guards at the front entrance while asking for Miguel because I wanted to go out and Damien would not like it if I left without him. One of them put a call across to him and he was next to me in no time.

"Can you please get me a driver? I have an interview by 10am and I'd like to leave as soon as possible." I requested.

"Sure thing ma'am."

Everything happened so quickly and before I knew it I had shown the driver the company's address, he put it in the GPS and we were soon on our way.

Miguel must have noticed my countenance because he asked if I was okay.

"Estoy bien Miguel." I said with a sigh. He nodded hesitantly and turned to sit properly.

I truly was not fine but what could I do about it? Nothing.