I watched as everyone whipped their heads around in an instant. Their faces fell almost immediately when they realised the very person they were gossiping about was standing right before their eyes.
Shock flashed past their eyes as they stared at me, blinking with a blank look etched onto their faces.
"Aurelia…!" They exclaimed in surprise. "We… we didn't see you there…" one of the women stammered as she spoke, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
The corners of my lips slowly twitched upwards into a slight smile that was stretched across my face. "Of course, you didn't," I taunted. "If you did, I probably wouldn't hear the things you have been accusing me of," I said, my voice carrying a sharp edge to it as I stepped forward towards them while they instinctively stepped back.
"We are sorry, we didn't mean to… we were just joking around."
"Yeah, we didn't mean any harm!" Another chimed in.
They laughed. It was one of those awkward laughters, the kind of laughter that slipped through your lips when you are too embarrassed or guilty to say anything else.
I looked at them right in their eyes and pretended to ponder out loud. "Hmmm… well…" They looked at me with a mixture of anticipation and fear swirling in their eyes. "Count yourself lucky that I'm in a good mood today. Apology accepted… for now," I said with a smile plastered across my face before I spun on my heels, turning around to leave.
I only took a couple more steps before I stopped and turned around to face them. They simply stared at me blankly, the colours from their faces were drained with each passing second. I let a smile fall on my face.
"Oh, and for the record, I didn't seduce or sleep with Xavier," I began as the words left the tip of my tongue. "And just a word of advice, try not to gossip openly in the office. I'm not sure how my husband would react if he hears this," I warned, my voice laced with a hint of threat as the smile on my face grew even wider than before.
I didn't stay around to listen to what else they had to say to defend themselves as I walked away and the sound of my heels clicking against the polished floor echoed in their ears.
I headed straight for the front door, ready to head out of the office when I found myself bumping into someone standing by the door.
"Hey, watch where you are going!" The familiar high-pitched voice sneered at me with disdain. "You almost made me drop my food."
"Sorry," I apologised quickly on instinct but the smile that was once on my face quickly faded when I looked up and my eyes met Stella's.
"It's you," she snarled as soon as we locked eyes.
"I work here," I retorted sharply. "Why are you here? Here to spy on Blake?" I questioned as my gaze swept across her and a small frown rested between my brows.
A scoff left her lips then a smirk tugged at the corners of her lips as she looked at me with a smug look that was etched onto her face.
"I'm just here to deliver lunch to Blake. I spent hours making it just for him," she announced proudly. "Bet you never did that for him. Poor Blake, probably never had a good home cooked meal."
I looked at her and silence stretched between us for a brief moment before I burst out laughing much to her confusion. She watched me with her eyebrows furrowed together, a puzzled look masked her features.
"What's so funny?" She asked with a tiny frown that was etched onto her face, clearly irritated by my nonchalance.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just funny knowing that you spent hours preparing a meal for a man like him. Were you milking the cow and digging up the potatoes and vegetables from the backyard or something?" I mocked, my voice thick with sarcasm as we locked eyes.
"You! You are just a bitter woman! I bet you –"
"Outsiders are not allowed in the office, by the way," I said firmly, cutting her off mid-sentence.
"Stella? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice came from behind me, reaching my ears. I turned around to come face to face with Blake who happened to be walking towards us.
I watched in real-time as her demeanour shifted entirely within a split second, faster than a blink of an eye. Her eyes lit up upon seeing him and the corners of her lips twitched upwards into a meek smile as she waved at him cheerfully.
"Blake!" She exclaimed his name excitedly as she ran up to his side and clung her arm around his. "I was just talking and saying hi to Aurelia. Was going to shoot you a text after this. I made lunch for you as a surprise," she announced, holding up the lunch big with a wide smile that stretched across her face.
He glanced over at me for a brief moment.
"Oh, thanks," he simply mumbled under his breath, his expression seeming distant but he still forced his lips to curve upwards into a small smile of gratitude. "It smells good," he commented casually, his compliment putting an even bigger smile on Stella's smug face.
"Really? I hope you enjoy it," she said happily, leaning in to place her head on his shoulder with a deceivingly innocent smile.
Watching their interaction made me feel absolutely disgusted. It wasn't because I wasn't over him, but rather seeing how fake she could be and how my ex-husband cluelessly pandering to her each and every time kills me a little.
A soft chuckle escaped from my parted lips. I turned around to leave, not wanting to see anymore of this when I felt someone grab me by my upper arm, stopping me from taking another step forward. Instantly, I looked up to find myself staring into none other than Xavier's dark eyes for a while before he averted his gaze.
"What's going on here? Seems like a little reunion situation. Why wasn't I invited?" Xavier taunted the couple, the words that left the tip of his tongue were coated with a thick layer of poison as a deep chuckle emerged from his throat.
"It's none of your business," Blake sneered with disdain, clearly unhappy as he still believed that Xavier is the father of the baby in my stomach. "I think you should leave."
Xavier's eyes went wide ever so slightly as he glared right into his eyes with a raised brow. "Is this how you speak to your boss?" He questioned, his voice laced with a slight hint of threat as he stepped forward to close the small gap between them.
"Blake was just messing around, he didn't actually mean any harm," Stella quickly said in his defence as her fingers remained curled around his arm before Blake could even open his mouth to utter a single word. "He's just in a bad mood, don't take it to heart," she made up an excuse.
"Blake is a grown man. He doesn't need you to make excuses for his shitty attitude," I retorted. "He can speak for himself." I watched as he rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"My attitude is shitty?" He repeated in anger, his cheeks were now flushed red. "You are the cheater who is pregnant with another man's child!" He raised his voice, it came out louder than he had expected as some people turned to stare.
Stella whipped her head around to meet my eyes, shock evident on her face. "You are pregnant?" She asked as disbelief laced her tone.
"Yes," I said definitively, my voice remained unwavering as I spoke. "Can you believe it? I'm pregnant with Blake's child."