Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Amidst his happiness, he had eye-contact with her. He instantly remembered what she said about him, about the marriage.

Although what she said was nothing but the truth, what she said and how she said it stirred something in him. She did not feel an ounce of anything for him except dislike and irritation.

He had never felt as unlikable as he did after meeting her. What was it about him for her to not feel anything? Everyone did. Even at that event, knowing that it was his wedding reception, some girls clearly hit on him. They were all the daughters of some of the most influential people in the state. If he wanted, he could have shown interest as well. But he was respecting the thing they had—even if it was just a contract.

She spoke to her friend about him like he meant nothing. He was nothing. For some valid reasons, it was annoying him.

‘If she does not want anything to do with me, why should I care?’ He tried to dismiss all the uneasy thoughts and celebrate his success. The thing that made him go with the pretend marriage at the first place.

He was not power-hungry or wanted to accumulate lots of wealth, but the moment he entered in the business world, although for a short time, he came to know that having some power did mean a lot—people not only respected you, your opinions also matter and are worthy.

It gave him a sense of self. He did it because of his grandfather, but he wanted to stay and continue because of himself.

He ignored everything else and made a toast with everyone and his grandpa who welcomed and congratulated him for the new phase of life.

Soon after, the event ended. He met his grandpa to say goodbye but he was not let off before he surprised him again.

“I want you two to go to your honeymoon. I have already made all the arrangements. You are leaving day after tomorrow.” He patted his back and left him with a bewildered expression.

He could not do anything though. He rarely went against his wishes but he really wanted to decline this one.

Reason: Now that he knew what she really thought about him, he could not push her more or push himself more to do something which was detested by someone. She clearly detested his guts.

He shook his head and went to Olivia who was busy talking to Sana and her mom.

“Thomas. Congratulations, child.” Amelia said with a smile as soon as he appeared before them. He could feel Olivia’s eyes on him but he ignored.

“Thank you. I hope you enjoyed yourself today.” He had such a soft spot for her that he could not explain. She was so compassionate and loving towards him. And it was funny how she was calling a big, buff guy ‘child’. He did not mind because he knew her intentions.

She is as caring as her daughter is heartless. He thought.

“I did. We have to go now. It’s already late.” She said. It was indeed late. She was unwell and she had been there the entire time. She heard Olivia tell her to go home and rest but she declined saying that she wanted to enjoy every moment of her daughter’s happiness.

He felt a tinge of guilt at her words. She did not know it was all a fake marriage.

“Take care, mom. Let me arrange a cab for you.” Olivia said and was about to leave when Thomas grabbed her arm making her stop on her tracks. She turned around to see why he had done that.

‘Now you notice that I exist?’ Her expressions said which he ignored. Again.

“I will drop them off.” He said making her eyes go wide with surprise. Did he really say that?

“You can either come with us or wait till I come back.” He said leaving her arm and also averting his eyes from her. He was still bitter about the things he heard earlier. But he could not leave her mom and friend be by themselves at such a late hour.

“Thank you, Thomas.” Sana said before anyone else could say anything, “Olivia, you can come with us. He will take you home once he drops us off.” She took the lead solving the problem. Olivia narrowed her eyes at her making her avoid eye-contact in return. She knew why she was doing that.

“Let’s go.” Thomas said walking ahead to them. They followed him outside. Almost everybody had already left. There were just them and a couple more guests who were also preparing to leave. It was such a long day. Olivia was feeling cramps in her legs.

Aunt Mary had left earlier as her son had come back to visit her. She reminded herself to visit him tomorrow. They were close as they always met, especially when they both were young. He had to leave for his studies but came twice a year. He was four years older than her, but it did not feel like that at all.

He drove his car in front of them. She sat beside him in the passenger seat and both ladies took their seats in the backseat.

The whole time, he only made small talks with her mom or Sana. He acted like she was not there. He did not even glance at her once while she had noted that he glanced at her side a lot.

‘Now you are noticing him, huh?’

She shook her head at the inner voice. She did not notice him, but some things were meant to be noticed if they were repeated and loud patterns. He never hid the fact that he stared at her a lot. She did not give it any other meaning since there was no meaning at all. It was, may be, a habit of his to stare a lot at people.

But he was not staring at her at all at that moment—not that she wanted him to. It was just that he was behaving unusually.

They dropped Amelia and Sana at their respective places. She helped her mom and took her to the apartment despite her telling her to go. Thomas waited for her as she dropped her outside the door. The nurse assisted her to bed and she only left when she kissed her mom goodbye.

She could feel her eyes moist as she came to take her seat in the car. It was so hard to leave her mom. She did not want to leave her a second out of her sight. The fate had played her ridiculously. Her mom was overjoyed that she was married, but that was not even real.

Nothing was spoken between them. Thomas had noticed her wiping her eyes as she came out of the building. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he did not do that. He did not want her to feel uneasy. She already looked unhappy while going along the contract. He did not want to press her more by making conversation which she would clearly not like.

They reached the condo. Olivia wanted to leave for her room and have a peaceful sleep, but something did not fit well with her. He had been acting so strange. She knew that he was moody, and she would never know when he would be in a good mood or why he would be suffering from a bad mood.

Thomas took a seat on the couch and was resting his head on the back of it when she approached him.

He looked at her and waited for her to say something without straitening or sitting in a proper position. She cleared her throat, “Is everything alright?” She asked the question that had been pestering her.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?” He counter-asked. He did not even know what things to say that would be regarded as normal by her. If he was not likable, his words were also not so.

“You tell me. Ever since Mr. James announced you as the heir, you have been acting strange.” She folded her arms and looked at him with an inquisitive look.

‘Yeah the same announcement that you congratulated me for.’ He thought bitterly as she had not even congratulated him when everyone else did.

“There is nothing wrong.” He said shortly and stood up.

She could clearly see that something was troubling him. He had never acted so coldly with her. And he was not telling her what was wrong. He did not know her. She could be so persistent at times. She would not let him go before she knew what was wrong.

As he was preparing to leave, she turned around fast and grabbed his hand in the process. It all happened so fast. One moment, she was trying to make him tell her what was wrong and another moment, he was lying on top of her.

Her eyes went wide as saucers seeing him press against her while she was lying on her back on the couch. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would burst out any moment.

His situation was no different.