His sharp voice sliced through the air, breaking the peace. He stomped over, his footsteps heavy and I could hear the anger and rage in each step that he took to close the distance between us.
"This is all your fault! You did this to me! You are the reason that I was fired!" He continued to shout, his voice shaking from the rage that was spreading inside of him like a wildfire he couldn't seem to control.
Just as he was about to reach me, Xavier quickly stepped out to stand in front of me, putting himself between Blake and I.
Xavier clenched his jaws tightly as he balled his fists beside him. "What do you want?" His deep voice boomed loudly as he narrowed his eyes to glare at him. "Stay away from her," he warned through gritted teeth, his voice heavy with a threat.
Blake let out a loud scoff, displease written all over his face. "Move," he demanded as he kept his gaze steady, his eyes still fixated on Xavier.
A low chuckle erupted from Xavier's throat as a slight smirk morphed itself onto his lips. "I'm not going anywhere."
Then everything else happened so quickly that I could barely register what was happening. Impulse took over Blake's emotions within a split second and I watched with wide eyes as he raised his arm, wanting to swing down on Xavier to punch him.
But in one swift motion, Xavier caught Blake's fist in his hand and with his already clenched fist, he swung back at him, his fist landing squarely on Blake's jaw.
A yelp escaped from Blake's parted lips as he stepped back in shock. Reaching up, he used his thumb to wipe the blood stain at the corner of his lips before his eyes flickered down to see the bright red blood on the tip of his finger. He scoffed again.
"Did you just punch me?" He questioned in disbelief, somehow he was shocked that Xavier would react that quickly and throw a punch at him before he could land one himself.
"You should count yourself lucky that it was only one punch," Xavier snarled with a disdainful scorn. "It was long overdue."
I couldn't help it as a soft laughter slipped through the gaps of my fingers. Blake's eyes immediately snapped to look at me, a mixture of anger and resentment was swimming in his eyes.
"What's so funny, huh?" He spat the words out of his mouth as he stepped towards me. "We have divorced and you still decided that you want to mess with my life and my future. Are you happy now that I am fired and I lost my job? Are you happy now that you crushed my dreams?!" He asked, his voice carrying a sharp edge to it and his words were dripping with accusation.
I stepped out from behind Xavier's back to face Blake and we locked eyes. "You did this to yourself, Blake," I reminded him crudely. "I told you that I just wanted to help but you didn't believe me and you lost your temper," I remarked as a slight smirk tugged at the corners of my lips.
"Oh, stop with that bullshit nonsense!" He snapped in frustration. "Did you really think I would believe that you would help me? I got fired because you appeared here. How do you explain that?!"
"She doesn't need to explain anything to you," Xavier chimed in this time. "She doesn't owe you anything."
He then turned to face me as he reached down to grab my hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."
We didn't get too far when I felt someone grab me. I whipped my head around to see that Blake had wrapped his fingers around me, holding me in a tight grasp.
"Who says you two can leave?" He sneered, hatred evident in his eyes as he tightened his grip around my wrist, his nails digging into my flesh.
"Let go of her!" Xavier demanded as he yanked my hand out of Blake's grip. His eyes darkened and his features hardened as he glared at him. His deep voice dropped to a hush whisper but it was heavy with a threat. Their faces were now dangerously close, merely a few inches apart. "I'm warning you. If you lay another finger on her, I won't go easy on you."
Tension brewed in the air between them as the two men stared at one another.
From a far distance, I could hear the sound of hurried footsteps coming towards us.
"Blake!" I heard the familiar high-pitched voice reach my ears and sure enough, when I turned to look, my eyes landed on Stella who was running over with a concerned look plastered across her face. She got to Blake's side and immediately saw the nasty bruise and blood at the corner of his lips. Her brows were knitted together as a small frown was etched onto her face. "Blake, what happened?" She asked, her voice filled with worry.
"It's nothing," Blake lied, but I knew he just didn't want to admit it out loud because it would hurt his fragile ego. "I'm okay, don't worry about me," he assured as his eyes softened and the corners of his lips curved upwards into a small smile.
Stella then turned to look at me. "I know what you did, Aurelia," she spat. "I heard everything from Blake. You are the reason that he is fired from this job that I worked so hard to get for him."
A cold chuckle escaped from my parted lips. "Then you should just work harder to get him a better job next time," I retorted coldly, a distant look etched onto my face as our eyes met.
As I turned to leave, she grabbed me by my arm again to stop me. "I know you probably find it hard to accept the fact that Blake is finally moving on and has the chance to work on his dream and passion. But Aurelia…you cannot do this out of spite. He didn't do anything wrong and he had always been providing for you and taking care of you in the past. You need to move on from the past, for the sake of the child in your stomach."
I kept my gaze steady on hers. "I didn't do anything, so take my name and my child out of your filthy mouth," I demanded through gritted teeth and I yanked my wrist out of her tight grip.
As soon as the words left the tip of my tongue, she stumbled backwards a couple of steps before she fell onto the ground dramatically. "Ahh!"
Blake's eyes widened and he immediately helped her back up to her feet. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asked in a sweet voice before he turned to stare at me, his eyes burning with a fiery blaze. "Aurelia! Look what you've done! Why did you push her?!" He accused, his tone carrying a sharp edge to it.
I knew for a fact that I didn't touch her and this was just one of her many ploys to get his sympathy and turn him against me. I am used to it by now and I could see through her tricks. I didn't bother trying to defend myself, instead my eyes danced with amusement as I awaited to hear what she had to say this time.
Stella turned to look up at him, her gaze softened and her voice appeared weak and soft. "Blake, don't blame her. I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose," she began and lowered her head. "I know it must have been hard for her seeing us get together and knowing that I was the one who helped you get this job. It's only natural if she is unhappy, it's not her fault," she continued, painting herself to be the good person like always.
I scoffed loudly and the both of them turned to look at me with a frown resting between their brows. "I didn't touch you and you knew that. Of course, I didn't do it, you did it yourself."
"Are you trying to say that I pretended to fall and tried to frame you for it?" She questioned, feigning innocence as usual as she batted her eyelashes at me.
"What else could it be?" I retorted.
"I know you resent me because Blake divorced you and he is now together with me. But Blake and I are truly in love and I understand him more than anyone else in this world could. I was the one who supported him in chasing his dreams and I was the one who was by his side."
Another humourless chuckle left my lips this time. Did he forget about all the times that I silently helped him with his filming and encouraged him through the tough times? Of course he did, otherwise he wouldn't be standing next to Stella and accusing me of trying to ruin his dreams.
"Why would I resent you? I couldn't be happier now and it's all thanks to you. You can have him all for yourself. I don't like recycling trash."