MARRIED ACCIDENTALLY

CHAPTER 54

Ann’s POV

A tear slips down my eyes, and I wipe it away.

I am just a convenience. Anything else isn't real.

Not his confession of liking him or my assumptions about him wanting me romantically.

Vince is far from that.

This is all for his convenience.

When another tear threatens to spill, I lean my head down between my thighs, unable to control my emotions anymore.

An annulment is what I want, yet I can't help but feel bad about the hurt on his face.

I can't help but think about all the help he had rendered. I can't help but think of everything he has done for me without asking.

Vince is a good man.

I can't deny the fact that seeing him with Isabel in his arms made me sober, angry, and jealous.

He avoided me. She refused to pick up my calls, only to attend a party with her.

She is the chosen one, so I shouldn't be surprised. If he needs to be married in reality, he should be married to her.

She was trained for that, and I am sure she wouldn't mind him not loving her.

But for me, that is what I need. That is what I live for.

Tessa’s hand settles on my back, making me stiff at realizing I am not alone.

“Do you think this is a good idea?”
I sit upright and stare at her. “What else do you want me to do?”

She sighs. “I think you are being irrational. This isn't something you were supposed to throw at him out here. I expected you to go home with him and sort things out.”

“What is there to sort out? The fact that he has been avoiding me for days only to bump into him in a club out of place with a woman his mother wanted him to marry? Tell me how you would feel if you saw another woman in Fernando’s arms then?”

Anger is brimming inside me, taking over my sense of thinking, but I don't care now.

Tessa remains silent for a while.

“I would be mad, but I will hear him out, not…”

“Shut up!” I snap at her, facepalming myself.

I know I am stupid. I can be silly with decisions at times, but this is right.

Vicente and I are not meant to be. If I don’t leave, he will never let me go.

“I won't shut up, and you know that. Men are egoistic in nature. If you think he was avoiding you because he wanted to, then I think you are just being sentimental. He avoided you because he was embarrassed you rejected him, and he was here tonight to…”

“To do what?!” I retort back sharply, wondering why she keeps taking his side. “To apologize for avoiding me? How do you explain what we saw then? Are you my friend or his?”

“Of course, I'm just trying to make you see the reality before you. If he wanted her in the first place, he wouldn't have asked you to remain married to him, would he?”

That hit a nerve.

He married me so he wouldn't be with her.

Yet I can't think of a good reason why he is here with her. Perhaps that is to spite me.

“I don't care.”

“Of course you do.”

“I don't.”

“Why were you crying then?”

“I wasn't.”

“You were.”

“Tes, are you my friend or Vince’s?”

She remains quiet, her expression serious. After a while, she opens her arms for me to come in. Without hesitation, I hug her.

She pats my back and mutters. “Sometimes, when people face emotions they have never felt, they don’t know what to do. Vicente likes you truly, Annette.”

Does this mean I am his first? Is this what she is saying?

I want to ask her, but I choose the comfort and silence I am deriving from being in her arms.

I am tired of thinking. I'm tired of arguing. I'm tired of feeling this emotion of anger and jealousy.

I want to sleep it off.

“What if this is just to get rid of her?” A familiar voice reaches my ear, making me open my closed eyes and move away from Tessa’s embrace. “I'm a man, too, and I know our ways.”

The driver.

Our eyes meet in the rare mirror, which I find familiar.

“What do you mean?” Tessa questions with curiosity.

“Well, I remember how I got rid of my ex-girlfriend. Instead of telling her I was done, I avoided her. Whenever she called, I wouldn't pick up. I patiently waited for the day she would realize I was done with her, and she eventually did after a month.”

A cold sensation runs down my spine, filling my lungs with more skepticism and anger.

“What? Why would you do that?!” Tessa snorts, obviously upset. “What did she do to you? If you were no longer in love with her, telling her would have been pretty easy, wouldn't it?”

“No.” He replies sharply. This is when I realize he has a mask covering his nose, leaving only his eyes. “It wouldn't.”

I can sense the smile in his tone.

“Well, I disagree with that. You made her hope for something that wasn't real…”

“Does it matter? I was done with her, and what I did made everything easy.

I would never tell a woman I was done with her. I avoid her till she gets the clue and leaves on her own. It makes the world easy.”

“No, it doesn't.” Tessa objects with a loud voice. “You are just being a jerk.”

I touch Tessa's hand. Apprehension slithers into my chest.

There is something strikingly familiar about this man, yet I can't place where I know him from.

“I think we should drop here,” I say to Tessa, avoiding the fear crawling into my veins.

“Stop the car. We are getting down here!” Tessa is still mad at him.

When the car halts, I heave a deep sigh of relief until my hand touches the door handle, only to realize it isn't budging.

I share a look with Tessa, and her eyes bulge open. She tries to open it too all to no avail.

“Hey, open this door right now!”

My hands find my phone, but before I can search for a number to dial, even though no one is coming to my head except Vince, the guy steps down and peeps in from the car window.

Before I can do anything, a wave of dizziness hits, and I slump further into the seat, slightly disoriented.

I see Tessa’s mouth moving, but I can't place what she is saying until the white dusk disperses towards her, and she falls unconscious to my thighs.

My hands become numb as my phone drops to the floor.

I turn to the man, and he takes off his mask. Before I lose consciousness, I recognize him.

Mark.