My mother questioned, pulling out her phone from her pocket to flash me the news report from yesterday where Evelyn was taken away and arrested by the cops.
"So what?" I retorted fiercely, a cold look plastered across my face. "She was just getting what she deserved for framing me!"
"Have you lost your mind, Aurelia Holt?!" She screamed, her voice trembling with anger, cracking towards the end of the sentence. "How could you do that Evelyn? She's just a kid, she doesn't know what she is doing!" She yelled, defending her, as usual. I wasn't even surprised to be honest.
"A kid?" I repeated, an incredulous look etched onto my face as I looked at my mother. "She's 25! She's only 2 years younger than I am!" I reminded her curtly, not holding back on my words.
"She's still young and here you are trying to ruin her future with your nonsense! Are you happy now?" She questioned, her voice carrying a slight edge to it as anger pulsed through every single veins inside her body. "This will forever taint her records and make her life difficult!"
"Why do you care?! Huh? Why are you so concerned about her future?" I questioned fiercely. "Do you not care about mine? What about me? I'm your daughter! And Evelyn was the one who tried to put the blame on me, accusing me of framing her for bribery. Did you forget that?" I asked, the words leaving a sour taste in my mouth as Xavier put his arm around me, giving me a light squeeze on my shoulder to comfort me and calm me down.
There was a short pause as silence enveloped us. The air continued to crackle with unspoken tension as we stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity.
"I…I was just…" she stuttered, as if there was a lump stuck in her throat and she couldn't get the words out. "I was just afraid of what this could mean for me. Do you know how awkward it would be with me with the Lloyd family now? What if they fired me? I would have lost my job because of how impulsive you are! And you know you can never win these people right? So why did you start this?" She quickly said, but they all just sounded like excuses to me as she tried to avert my questions by changing the subject.
I let out a loud scoff as I rolled my eyes. "Me, me, me. Everything is about you! Do you even care about me? I don't think you do, actually. You seem to care more about Evelyn for whatever reason."
She sucked in a deep breath.
"How could you say that I don't care about you, Aurelia Holt? I'm your mother, of course I care about you, you better take back your words," she warned, her voice heavy with a threat as she glared at me, her eyes swirling with rage and anger.
"No, why should I?" I said, my voice remained unwavering as my features hardene. "You always say you care but why don't I ever feel that you do care about me? Maybe you should start reflecting on yourself."
"Oh, so I'm just a horrible mother, aren't I? I can never do anything right."
"Yeah, you are a horrible mother. I would rather be alone than to have a mother like you!"
"You! Aurelia Grace Holt!" She yelled my name, anger evident in her voice as I spun on my heels to walk away from her. "Get back here right this second or you can take it as I'm dead and never come find me ever again!"
But I barely spared her another glance as I continued walking ahead.
***
Whispers and murmurs filled the air as they looked at us, pointing and talking among themselves as soon as we stepped foot into the office. There's no doubt that they have been watching the news and catching up with all the details of our private lives out on display for everyone to see.
Xavier cleared his throat loudly and his dark eyes swept across the area as his lips were pressed into a thin line.
"Anyone have something to say?" His voice boomed loudly, startling almost every single person in the office space.
"No sir," everyone mumbled under their breath in fear and quickly turned back to keep their eyes fixated on the computer screen as they began to type away furiously.
"I will see you later," he murmured next to my ear before giving me a kiss on my lips and walking off.
I had only just settled down when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
The door swung open and I looked up to find myself staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes. It was Blake who was standing before me with a concerned expression.
"Aurelia, are you okay? Is everything okay?" He asked in a flustered tone as he started walking towards me, closing the distance between us. "I saw the news. You must have been stressed and upset."
A look of surprise flashed past my face in an instant.
"Blake? What are you doing here?" I questioned with a raised brow and my gaze flickered down to see he was holding a huge paper bag in his hand but I didn't bother asking him. "I thought you quit."
"Quit? I decided not to quit anymore," he announced casually. "I want to be close to you, to take care of you during your pregnancy," he said, letting his lips curl upwards into a smile as he approached the desk and set the huge paper bag down on the table in front of me.
"I don't need you to take care of me," I said with a cold expression etched onto my face, ignoring the bag on the table. "I can take care of myself." I leaned back into my chair as I crossed my arms over my chest and we locked eyes.
"Oh come on, Aurelia," he urged, a hint of desperation evident in his voice as he spoke. "Who are you kidding?" He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"If this isn't work-related or important, please leave my office," I demanded through gritted teeth.
"This is important," he insisted. "How are you going to take care of yourself when you are pregnant? You need me."
There was a brief moment of silence that stretched between us as tension continued to brew in the air, hanging between us like a thick blanket.
"No, I don't need you, Blake. You are not as important as you think you are. I have my husband now, he will be taking care of me and the baby."
"You mean Xavier?" He questioned as he let a loud scoff emerge from his throat. "The man who said he was still in love with his ex-girlfriend? Why would you want to stay with a man like him? I thought you knew your worth!" He sneered with a disdainful scorn.
I didn't bother explaining to him that it was all just part of the plan to get Evelyn to confess on live television, instead I only stared at him before I let the next few words roll off the tip of my tongue.
"I know my worth. Which is why I divorced you," I retorted and watched as anger began to crept onto his face and he clenched his jaw tightly.
"Aurelia, you –!" He stopped himself and inhaled deeply instead to calm himself down. "I'm not going to argue with you this time. I'm the father of the baby in your stomach, you cannot just push me away and deny me from seeing my own child," he spat the words out like they were poison in his mouth.
"You are right, maybe I can't do that. But you are not my husband anymore, and I don't want you near me, I don't want to see you. I think that's fair right?"
A wave of impulse and anger washed over him in an instant and he slammed his clenched fist against the desk separating the two of us. He looked at me, emotions running wild in his eyes.
"I'm going to win you back. And you will realise just how much you are missing out on."
"Is that so?" I asked as a soft chuckle escaped my parted lips. "I would love to see you try."
A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "I'm not giving up."
And it seemed that he had been taking it very seriously.
Over the next few days, he sent me a bouquet of my favourite flowers, some of my favourite food and more things for the baby.
While I couldn't deny that there was this sense of satisfaction that overcame me every time I saw him go out of his way to try and win me back, this cannot go on for any longer. I need him to quit one way or another. I need him to lose hope and give up so that my plan can work.
That was how I found myself back at our old apartment, standing by the front door, holding everything that he had been giving me over the past week. My hand reached up to ring the doorbell, hearing it echo inside the house.
It didn't take too long before the door flew wide open.
"Aurelia? What the hell are you doing here?"