They stayed in the same position for a while, Jane comforting Mia with encouraging words. Mia freed herself from Jane and wiped her eyes, sniffing.
"Do not let anything bring you down okay, you're my strong Mia and Asher shouldn't control you hmm?" Jane said, offering Mia a slight and pained smile.
"Hmm," Mia sniffed and replied.
"Good girl, " Jane said and patted Mia's shoulder.
"Now that that's settled, I have to deal with that Asher guy, how dare he?!" she said, anger evident on her face.
Mia's eyes widened, knowing that Jane never liked Asher and that she always meant whatever she said and she stood up as well. "No no, you can't do that. .. "
"What do you mean I can't do that, it was your first time and he made it a painful one. I'm not going to feel better until I punch his face." Jane declared, clenching her fists.
Mia knew Jane wouldn't listen so she pleaded further "Everything is good with me now, I swear, please don't do anything." She pleaded with her puppy eyes and Jane sighed, knowing that she couldn't protect herself from Mia's charm.
"Now go freshen up and wear something cool, I'll take you out," Jane said excitedly.
Mia sniffed and replied, "I'm not in the mood to go anywhere at the moment, let's just stay here at home." Mia said in a tired tone.
Jane stroked her chin with one of her hands, acting like she was pondering about something and her eyes lit up.
"Okay, how about we watch a movie together?" Jane asked Mia.
Mia tried to think about it but Jane was looking at her with puppy eyes so she agreed. "Okay... everything is your choice, choose the movie."
"Yay..." Jane said excitedly.
******
Alyssa was Asher's girlfriend, they had been dating before Mia and Asher got married almost a year ago but they continued their relationship even after they got married. Asher and Mia's marriage was an arranged one by their respective families, one which they couldn't turn down. Asher had always been cruel to Mia, he didn't give her a peaceful marriage but he didn't let her go either. They've known each other since they were small and he was never nice to her. There was one incident that Mia could never forget.
It was an official event, a book launching, and it turned out that Asher was there as well. They were married for a month then and the public didn't know about their marriage so they could act like they didn't know each other. They had arrived at different times and with their respective cars. Mia had brought Jane to the event as her plus one, everyone knew them as best friends.
Mia was always careful not to become the top discussion of the media due to a mistake or an accident whenever she went to an event. She had just come back from the restroom and she was walking toward where Jane was standing and talking to someone. She was a bit distracted as Asher was also not far from where she was and she didn't know when someone had put their leg in front of her which made her trip and fall. She was in front of Asher by then and she tried to hold him for support so she wouldn't fall but he only shifted to the side, giving her more space to fall on. She fell and got a cut on her forehead, Jane and other people rushed to help her but Asher only dusted his suit jacket and left the scene. Mia twisted her ankle so she was taken home and she got better soon. When Asher got home, he didn't act like she existed or like he cared. Mia was very surprised at how Asher had treated her and she felt very embarrassed. Even though they were not on good terms, she didn't expect it to be up to that extent but as time passed, Mia became kind of used to Asher's behavior.
***
Asher went to his girlfriend Alyssa's house immediately after he left work, he always got home late as he would first spend some time with Alyssa so it didn't matter and Mia was used to it.
Alyssa was lying with her head resting on Asher's chest, his hand caressing her hair. They were both on Alyssa's bed.
"Did you deal with that woman?" She asked him, her voice full of spite.
"I didn't let her go for doing what she did to you, you know I wouldn't," Asher replied, his hand still patting her head.
Alyssa smiled in satisfaction, happy that what she planned had worked " She shouldn't be let go easily for making me twist my ankle and hurt my head. She always acts like an innocent and powerful woman but with this, you can see that she is a very cunning and bad person." Alyssa continued talking bad things about Mia, with the hope that she would make the hate that Asher had for Mia greater than before.
"Hmmmn.." Asher replied and they both kept silent for a while before Alyssa talked again.
"What did you do to her?" She asked eagerly, her face full of anticipation.
Asher stared at her for a few seconds before replying "You don't need to know that, just know that I've dealt with her."
"But I really wanna know," she tried pouting and talking in a baby's voice but for some reason, this pissed Asher off.
"I already told you not to worry about what I did to her so you should behave." He warned.
Alyssa was becoming aware that she would not be able to handle it if Asher got angry at her, she giggled nervously and tried to reason with him.
"Hehe, it's okay. I feel glad to know that you've done something that's enough as a lesson." She replied and didn't say anything anymore, afraid of making him angry.
Asher decided to speak up after a while.
He sighed again and replied to her after a few seconds "I have to say that this is your fault." he said, his voice slightly raised.
Alyssa hurriedly raised her body from his lap and faced him, trying to defend herself.
"My fault?!. How is it my fault that your parents fixed your marriage with someone? and that your wife is someone you don't like...." she knew where this was going but she decided to act innocent.
"All of this is your fault, my dad asked me if I had any girl that I was dating a few months ago, that was before I got married to that girl. I implored you to meet my parents, but then you said you were too busy with work and you were not ready for marriage, you told me not to tell them about our relationship. Can you see what this has caused?!" he was really angry at her and his parents for deciding his future without his consent.
"I know I made a mistake that time but I had a big contract, I couldn't sacrifice it. I'm sorry..." Alyssa put on her cute and innocent mask which she knew that Asher always fell for.
Asher sighed "Okay..."
Asher left Alyssa's house not long after. Alyssa closed the door after seeing Asher off and she could see her best friend Emma walking down the stairs. Emma and Mia lived together but Emma stayed in her room while Asher was around.
You know Alyssa... If you continue like this, you're going to lose on both ends" Emma said, wrapping her hands around her. They both met each other halfway through the staircase.
"Oh come on Emma, I know how to handle Asher," she said as she ascended the stairs and went to her room, Emma trailed behind her.
"I've advised you to stop what you're doing so many times but it seems like you'll never listen."
"Hey!... I already told you to stop that. I know what I'm doing so leave me alone." Alyssa shouted at her friend, she knew Emma was going to start lecturing her about how she should stick with one man and the fact that Asher loved her.
" I'm not going to stop until you change before it's too late. You think you can fool those two men, you must be dreaming. When Asher proposed to you, you refused him out of greed. You're going to reap this sooner or later." Emma said as she followed Alyssa inside her room.
Alyssa stared at her for a while and acted like she didn't hear anything. She went to her bed and laid on it, Emma was standing at the door staring at her. She yawned and covered herself with the blanket "I need to get some sleep."
"I don't know what to do about you anymore," Emma sighed and closed the door as she left the room, angered by Alyssa's actions.
Alyssa was in a relationship with two men. She was dating both Asher and Jake, another rich man. The two men were from very powerful families but individually, Jake was fairly richer than Asher. This was because of the dirty business Jake was involved in, he smuggled hard drugs and engaged in human trafficking, and so on. Alyssa knew about all of this but she didn't mind since all she only cared about was money. She kept the two men wrapped up in her fingers so that if one left her, she would turn to the other. She refused Asher's proposal because she believed that she could get more money from Jake. Apart from dating the two men, she was a sex partner for many influential people, she charged a lot of money for one-night stands with different rich men. Asher fell in love with the cute, naughty, and hardworking Alyssa but these were her true colors.
*****
Asher got home around 9 pm and acted like she didn't exist like he always does. Mia greeted him but he didn't answer, he freshened up and directly went to his study. He was on a phone call, chatting with Alyssa when he heard the door knock. He knew it wasn't any of the maids as there was a separate house for them to spend the night. He ignored the knock and continued talking with Alyssa. Mia had already prepared herself for him to ignore her so she kept on knocking and Asher, getting irritated by the incessant knocks finally responded.
"Who is it?" He asked in an angered tone, even though he already knew who it is.
"It's Mia..." He could hear her muffled tone and Alyssa snickered.
"She's such a fly.." Alyssa said.
"Come in," he drawled and Mia came in and stood beside him, he was sitting on the chair, his phone in his hand.
He didn't acknowledge her for the first few minutes as he kept on talking to Alyssa but Mia didn't mind as she really wanted to discuss something with him.
Okay, goodnight.." Asher greeted Alyssa.
"Goodnight, I love you." Mia declared, wanting Asher to reply to her so Mia would feel hurt.
Asher didn't reply to Alyssa and he immediately hung up the phone even before Alyssa could finish talking. Mia felt hurt that another lady was declaring her love for her husband but what could she do?
Asher leaned in his chair and turned toward Mia, he rested his hand on the table and tapped the table repeatedly with his fingers as he talked.
"I thought I told you not to disturb me..." He said in a dangerously calm tone.
Mia swallowed and replied to him, stammering " I know you said that but I just really need to talk to you."