From Hate Flourishes Love

With This Ring

Zander's POV

Wandering through the graveyard I felt lost. Angry at myself that I hadn't visited her grave in years.

I took small steps until I saw the headstone, her name was written with italicize letters, Elizabeth Ross. The love of my life, I remembered every moment I spent with her from when we first meet to when we got engaged to the look on her when I told her I messed up the night before our wedding. Her funeral was possibly the worst day of my life.

It didn't take long for news to get out that I cheated the night before our wedding.

I remember her parents blaming me for what happened. I didn't blame them I hated me too.

I just wanted to say goodbye but they didn't even want me at the ceremony. The press was there catching every moment of the event, my being present would've made their suffering worse.

They even had the headline printed ahead of time, Zander Storm pays respect at late fiancee's funeral after cheating. That would be the title of every tabloid and news outlet in the country. What the media paints you as is what the world will believe you to be, and for me the media paints me as a sexually troubled, playboy, trust fund baby, abuser and now unfaithful bastard .. Sometimes the media doesn't see the full picture.

I wonder what Kai thinks of me. Why would what he thinks matter to me? When he's pretending not to know who I am. Messing with me somehow, trying to get my pity by being hardworking. Too bad for him a job as a waiter wasn't a good depiction of financial stability.

Leaving fresh flowers at Elizabeth's grave. I walked out of the cemetery to my car.

***

Arriving at the office, all the employees hide seeing me. I guess I was a little cold.

"Why must you scare everyone away ?"

I turned around to see Mrs.Jones with a coffee in hand.

I steal the coffee from her hand and hurry to close my office door before she would react. Fetching coffee for her boss was too much of a menial job for a woman of her pedigree.

"You win this time ." She shouts over the intercom.

After signing off on a merger, I had a single meeting left. And I was going to have bare my mother's demanding personality for this one. I loved the woman, but when it came to shopping she was even more demanding.

" Zander, would you please head out to meet your mother now !" Jane says, entering the office. She doesn't hesitate to start packing up my things.

"Tell your mom I'd have loved to come, but I made other plans." She whispers.

I laughed, I already know she was just saying that to avoid shopping with my mom.

***

For the whole ride to meet my mom, my mind keeps concentrating on Kai. I have come up with a plan to break off this engagement. No way was he going to act like he doesn't know me and get away with it.

During the drive to meet my mom, I come up with no plans to break the engagements. I arrive at the private location my mom wanted us to shop. Her personal jeweller, how many earrings can one woman wear.