His Gold Digger✔️

Chapter 10

Susan's Pov…

Holy shit!

As I went into the brightly-lit room, dreading the return to the ball, I heard splashing and blowing noises. My thought was: What on earth was happening! Why now!

It had always been true that I'd not treated Mark right but it didn't help to see him with another woman. At times I was stung with regret, wishing I could have him back. Despite being forced to marry me, he'd always shown me the genuinely sweet part of him. And in the end, just as I'd inadvertently dreamt, everything fell apart between us and we went our separate ways. Having divorced him, I'd reunited with the man I truly loved.

But lately, everything has seemed to be falling apart for Derrick and me.

They stood out from the crowd, talking with McGregory. The tall blue-eyed billionaire and his lovely wife whom nobody knew anything about. They were exceptionally good-looking, of course, but that was not all. It was the sudden appearance of a woman by his side that had set tongues wagging.

Almost everyone had heard about the talk more than sly whispers-about Mark Noble's liaison with a certain Yugoslavic model. But this was not the model. I strained forward to see her, as though I knew who she was.

'Isn't it true that he'd been divorced only a month or two ago?' a woman asked

A cat-voiced woman looked in her direction and whispered 'I heard that she had no child for him- I wonder what the poor lady must have done'

The lady who'd just spoken gave an exaggerated shudder, even while her eyes continued to watch Mark. She surely couldn't help imagining what being married to a man like him would look like.

With a soft smile, I narrowed my eyes to the objects of attraction-Mark and his newfound wife. That was when my heart leaped. I certainly knew this woman from somewhere. I racked my brain and finally came up with an answer. But the answer I came up with wasn't a good one, not one bit.

I was shocked watching both couples, especially the woman Mark had come with.

And she was Lizzy, the exact woman Derrick had driven out that very afternoon. It took me constant gazes to agree that it was her.

I felt a foreboding as I gazed down at them. Only heavens know how they must have met. I was never going to watch my plans to get Mark back fail.

Not when they were newly forming. Although the chances that I would ever reconcile with Mark again were ridiculously low, I felt a ray of hope somewhere.

The billionaire I had divorced a month ago was already courting, if not married. In my place was the woman whom I hated, the woman who I'd despised from the very start.

Why did I feel so guilty? Why did it feel as if I had forsaken nobility for serfdom?

I was going to do everything possible to make sure I never came across him. Tapping my hands on the wood-rendered table, I sat to think.

The door behind me creaked open and I heard my name. Behind me was Mrs. Mark. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her so angry or dangerous looking.

But it was the growl that came from the front door that completely unsettled me. I had a shock of vague surprise when I perceived that Mark's mother, Nina, was the one standing there.

Silence…

She stood there. Beautiful as ever, frothing with rage. Her hazel eyes were almost black. Her lips curled back as she snarled her obvious displeasure. I looked back at her as our eyes locked. My hand tightened around the table.

I could read the resentment in her countenance, and it was tailored to no other person other than Mark's new woman and me.

Had she not known? Had Mark kept her in the dark? The thoughts and their rhetoric nature only led me to greater complexities. But I wouldn't be quick to admit how sorry I was, knowing that she'd not said anything yet.

'What are you doing here?' she asked and shot me an angry look.

'Nothing I was just..just..' I was still looking for the proper words to use when she cut in. The look on her face went pale.

'Why would you ever do this to me. I trusted you with everything and now he's dating a nobody'

'Same here. I am so sorry I…'   It was soothing, hearing that they were not yet engaged.

'Don't! just don't' the anger had returned to her voice 'I've lost a lot just because you're mentally twelve years old'

'I'll fix this, I promise, I'll fix this

Another silence seemed blanker than those which had preceded it, and finally, her voice came —it was blank, too.

'What are you going to fix? What are you going to fix when you both have divorced already? Your presence alone just keeps making things look worse' she whirled around and made for the door 'What am I even doing here'

I continued to look at her inquiringly a moment or two longer, and there was an unconscious seriousness in her stare, something truthful as well as inquiring.

My eyes drooped thoughtfully, and I seemed to address some inquiries to myself. I looked up suddenly.

'I know how I will make this work even if he never accepts me again. At least let me help you in some way, please!'

She abruptly stopped and tilted the side of her face, anger still welling up inside her.

'I…I… have a plan' I stammered and got my words out quickly before she left angrily.

Thankfully enough, she stopped dead in her tracks immediately. She whirled around and walked towards me. A devilish brow was tilted on one side of her face.

Her countenance was no longer anger, it was wreathed with seriousness. 'And why should I trust you? Do you intend for me to trust you after everything you put my son and I through?'

'I understand how you feel. I'm so sorry. But just this once, please. All I am asking for is an opportunity to make it up to you. Please'

I felt embarrassed as she walked away without even caring to respond. Then, she stopped at the doorway tilted one side of her face towards me.

'Whatever you have in mind must be carefully planned. Will ring you up later so we can meet and talk it over' she banged the door while leaving.

I sighed and sank back into the chaise lounge.
……………………………

It was 3 am and I still couldn’t fall asleep. I couldn't hide it any longer. I was obsessing over Mark. Well, it started off. I was obsessing over everything.

My thoughts became more tumultuous than ever after I'd gone to bed; the fragmentary sketches of this dreadful day were now rising before me, the clearest was of Mark's hand being slung across Lizzy's waist. And one conviction, following that picture, became definite in my mind.

“This is ridiculous.” I tossed the covers aside and slipped out of my bed. I staggered my way out of the room, through the hallway, through the living room, and into the kitchen.

Dropping a missive in the wastebasket, I turned towards the passageway again and strolled down to the study to borrow a copy of Mario Puzo's 'godfather'.

Having secured one, I returned to the bedroom to refresh my memory of the work —but I received nothing that enabled me to think straight. My thoughts were either on Mark or the bitch he'd brought with him.

I hardly resist the urge to smash the empty glass.

Pouring myself a glass of water I headed back to the bedroom, thinking. I stopped dead in my tracks while gripping the glass, my eyes staring straight ahead.

Derrick was just the perfect man for this job. I just wondered if he would go mad hearing that I wanted to hurt his ex a second time.

'What if he betrays me to save her ex? What if' I didn't want to think in that direction, one always had to be optimistic when this kind of situation reared up its head.

I stared down at him, wondering if he was ever going to agree and take part in the deal. Or was he going to … I tried again not to think in that direction.

I lay back in the bed, hoping that prospect would paint pretty pictures.

Author's note:
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