Exhaustion cradled me to sleep, the weight of everything pressing down on me. When I finally fell asleep, it was a restless slumber.
When I opened my eyes, it was morning. The sunbeam streaming through my window shined into my eyes, and though it hurt, I wasn't eager to look away, or even get out of bed.
A knock sounded from my door. Sharp and insistent. I knew who it was and why she'd come. I couldn't bring myself to go through the tortuous breakfast, even if it meant I'd look disrespectful.
The knock got louder, but no one called after me. The banging sound was beginning to give me a headache.
Couldn't she take a hint.
When I could no longer take her persistent knocking, infuriated, I threw off the covers and marched to the door, my patience worn thin.
Last night, I had convinced myself that I was the fool for falling into Clara's trap. That I could have been smarter. That I could have avoided the situation with the paparazzi, and Christian.
This morning, my mind had changed. I didn't agree with my reasoning from last night. Someone was to blame for what happened, and it was Clara.
"Didn't you hear me knocking? I've been here for a long time." The sharpness of her tone hit me the second I opened the door. Her disrespect made me angrier and my palm itched to slap her.
"You set me up. Christian never asked you to take me anywhere."
She smirked, her hands crossing over her chest. She didn't even try to deny it.
In that moment, I lost control, my senses blinded by rage. My hand moved before I could stop it, the sharp sound of my palm meeting her cheek echoing through the hallway.
Clara's eyes widened in shock, and immediately hatred took its place. "How dare you?" She yelled, and the fear I'd felt a second ago when I realized I'd hit her transformed into more rage, and I slapped her again on her other cheek. This time she was too stunned to utter another word.
I was fuming. "'How dare me?' How dare me? Who the fuck do you think you are to talk to me like that. Who gave you the audacity?"
My hand ruffled through my hair. It was a mess from last night. The events of the night came crashing on me, and suddenly I found myself wanting to hit her again. But I held back.
"Why did you do it? What reason could you possibly have for doing that to me?"
I knew it was no use trying to make sense of her actions. She'd had it in for me from the first day I came into this house. And I'd had enough. With the disrespect, with the stupid plotting.
With her thinking Christian was hers and I'd taken him from her.
"You'll pay for this." She said, her glare filled with hatred.
I scoffed, almost laughing hysterically at the situation. She was the house manager and she was threatening me, the wife. It was almost comical.
Right then, I decided that she had to go. Maybe, she had a hold on Christian. Maybe, they really had an intimate relationship. But, she was delusional if she thought she had more power in this house than his wife.
Yes, I was his wife only on paper, but for the next five years, I was the wife of Christian Gulf and I had his power and money to do as I pleased.
I remembered his words from a few days ago, and I felt myself on a power trip.
I pointed at Clara, giving her the coldest stare I could, "I'm done with your games. Pack your bags. You're leaving."
The sound of her laughter brought me down from my high.
"Do you really think you can fire me?" Her eyes were daring, her tone mocking. I tried not to let her words shake me, but I was already losing confidence. She seemed so certain that I couldn't get rid of her. It made me wonder what kind of hold she had on Christian.
He'd smiled in that picture with her by his side.
That didn't mean anything. It couldn't mean anything. If he really liked Clara, he wouldn't have come all that way, did everything to get me to marry him when she was just within his grasp.
I consoled myself with those thoughts, and it reassured me.
"Don't kid yourself. You are dispensable. And I'll show you how little you matter in this house."
I slammed the door in her face. Before the door shut, I saw Clara's face morph into fear. It gave me a semblance of happiness.
I was satisfied with the effect my threat had caused, but now I was left with a big problem on my hands. How exactly was I supposed to convince Christian to let Clara go?
He already made it very clear that he didn't believe she'd set me up.
My phone lit up.
A news Alert.
I frowned, picking it up. The headline made my stomach drop.
Mrs. Gulf's secret affair?
Immediately, Clara took the back seat in my head.
A wave of fear first took over. I could feel my heart thumping, unable to control my emotions, I scrolled through the other headlines.
Mrs Gulf, and her new man?
I clicked on the article, my heart racing as I scanned the words.
"… while billionaire Christian Gulf is in Greece on business, his new wife is out on the town with her new man…" I read out loud, my voice growing thinner as the words registered in my brain.
The pictures. Oh God. The pictures!
My savior's arm on my shoulder.
The image they tagged 'lovebirds' was that moment I briefly looked up to see who was rescuing me.
My savior pulling my hand as we ran to safety.
Me jumping into the BMW.
They had twisted everything.
Scandalous. They'd said.
Just because I went out for a brief night of freedom, I'd been branded a cheat. The worst part was the comments. People talking about how they always knew I'd do something like this because I had seduced another person's fiancé.
They had so casually forgotten that he was mine first.
That didn't matter right now. No, I shouldn't even think it.
'Gold digger'. I read. 'Christian Gulf deserves better'. I couldn't stop myself even though I knew it was a bad idea to keep reading the comments.
"No. No. No. no. No. Shit. Fuck!" I yelled to no one in particular.
This was a bigger disaster than I had anticipated.
Oh my God! Christian. If he sees this… what am I saying, he probably already has. Shit.
…party B shall not engage in any actions, behaviors, or relationships that may be considered promiscuous or sexually inappropriate, whether in public or private, which could harm the reputation of party A…
As if I could see the entire contract in front of my face, my brain brought my full attention to the clause I'd just violated.
My breathing became unstable as panic surged through me. Who could I call to undo this? I always knew I was utterly alone. Right now, it dawned on me that if anything were to happen to me, there was no one in the world that could save me.
The realization pained me, far more than I could ever put in words.
Christian was calling. I braced myself for his anger. I couldn't bring myself to agree that it would be justified, and I also couldn't fault him for his imminent reaction.
This was my fault. If only I'd listened to him. My pride had caused this. If I'd called him to thank him for letting me go out with Clara, I'd have known that she'd lied.
"It's not true." I managed to get out the second I answered the call.
He wouldn't believe me, but I just had to say it.
"I'm coming home, Alora. I'll fix this. Don't worry about it. Just stay put. I won't let them hurt you." His tone was loud with concern. There was a hint of annoyance, but it wasn't directed at me. It made me wonder if he actually cared.
My vision blurred with tears and I sniffled over the phone. I didn't fight the tears. I didn't want to. Relief washed over me and I fell to the ground.
"You believe me?"
"Don't cry, Alora. It's nothing I can't fix."
"Do you believe me?" I reiterated. I was dying to hear the words. I needed to know.
I didn't care if the world called me promiscuous. They could say all the mean things they wanted about me. As long as Christian believed me, that was all that mattered to me.
"I know it's not true, Mrs Gulf. I'm already handling it. I believe you. See you in approximately twelve hours." His tone had lost its edge. It was light, playful, teasing.
"See you in twelve hours." I said even though the line was dead.
Relief hit me so hard I almost collapsed.
He believed me.