The Wife Of Damian Cross

The Wife Of Damian Cross
POV: Isla

College was the only place I almost felt normal. For once since my fake marriage to Damian Cross. The memory of this morning still clung to me—

Selene’s stupid little tactics to prove who Damian belongs to… his silence as he just let her have her way. It clawed at my chest, but I pushed it down, burying it under the noise around me.

I wouldn’t let that bitch’s poison mess with my head. Not today.

The cafe hummed with different voices of chatters and clinking cups, followed by the low grind of the coffee machine. “Stop saying that,” I gasped between laughs as Mia mimicked our cranky literature professor’s voice.

“If he hears you, you’ll fail the whole semester.” Coffee nearly spilled from the cup, and I pressed a hand to my mouth, the sound bubbling out of me before I could stop it.

“Please,” Mia said. “He’s too busy drooling over his Shakespeare first editions to notice me.”

We all broke into laughter again, the sound sending a relief of happiness in places that felt hollow inside me for too long. And for a moment, I could almost forget how terrible my life has been.

Here, I was just Isla. A college girl with her simple friends and caffeine.

“Well, well, look who we have here.” A familiar voice cut through the cafe, the laughter immediately seizing in my throat. Of course, I should have known that peace never lasted long. Not for me.

My body flinched before I even turned. Because I already knew that voice.

Jade.

My sworn arch-enemy in college.

She circled through the cafe like it was her runway, her friends trailing behind her like shadows as her heels clicked against the floor, echoing louder than they should have.

“Isla Cross,” she hissed, her smile stretching wider as she stopped right at our table. She dragged the last name out, rolling it on her tongue like it tasted rotten. “Tell me, darling,” Jade spoke.

It was loud enough for every table to hear, “What’s it like being the city’s most infamous gold digger?”

Gasps immediately rippled around us, filling every part of the cafe. She leaned closer, her eyes gleaming with wicked delight. “Did you spread your legs so fast the moment Damian flashed his bank account? Or did you let him take your virginity in exchange for marrying you?”

A few people laughed nervously, while the others seized theirs and just watched in silence. “Honestly, you’re an inspiration,” she continued.“Most girls have to work their entire life and don’t even get to marry a man like Damian Cross. But you?……”

“……..You just skipped straight to the ultimate shortcut— fucking the richest man in New York.”

Every one of her words hit like daggers, each one cutting deeper than the last. And she was enjoying it. I forced my voice steady. “Get the fuck away from me, Jade. The last thing anyone wants to hear is your stupid rumours.”

A ripple of whispers broke out across the room, everyone’s eyes flicking from me to Jade, unsure if they should interfere.

“Oh, come on.” She laughed, a sound sharp enough to cut through my skin.“Don’t act shy now. Everyone here knows that Damian Cross could’ve had anyone he wanted— and he picked you? Please.”

She stepped closer, closing every inch of space between us, and lowered her voice just enough to make her words sting even sharper. “You begged him, didn’t you? Spread your legs for him to see how tight your pussy is. You’d do anything to escape your poor life.”

“That’s not true and you know it!” I snapped, my voice smaller than I wanted. “Your jealousy would make you stoop so low to accuse me of anything just to feel better.”

The crowd was pretending not to stare at the drama that was unfolding but failing miserably. I could feel their judgment as their eyes pierced me like a weight. 

Jade smiled back. “Of course it’s true, Isla. Damian Cross would never love someone like you….everyone knows it….”

“You’re just a contract, Isla. Nothing more than his temporary tool for pleasure until he gets bored and tosses you like the trash you are. Then you’ll know that everything I said was always true.”

Her words pierced through me, shame and humiliation creeping their way into every part of my body. Mia shifted to me, “ignore her, she’s just jealous….”

“Tell me, Isla,” Jade’s voice cut Mia off before she could finish“Tell me, Isla. When you crawl into his bed at night, do you actually pretend he wants you? Or have you tried asking yourself what you really mean to him?”

The sharp sounds of laughter exploded from the crowd. I gripped my cup with trembling hands, I wanted to claw her ugly face until she bled. But I just stood there, desperate to put her in place.

I was done letting Jade humiliate me in front of everybody. I parted my lips—

“She. Is. My. Wife.”

The voice thundered over the cafe like lightning. Every head turned towards the door in an instant. My breath was unable to push through with the figure that was standing.

Damian stood there. Dressed in the dark suit he had worn this morning at the dining table, his broad shoulders filling the doorway as he made his way inside the cafe.

“Apologize.” The word slid out of him, cold and final. And no one dared to even move an inch.

What the hell was Damian Cross doing at my college? Did he come to add more humiliation to me?

He stepped closer, each step heavier and enough to rattle every bone in my body. He didn’t even look at me, nor acknowledged anyone.

His entire focus was on Jade, who was already shivering beneath the weight of him. Her eyes widened in shock, color draining from her perfect face.

“Apologize. To. My. Wife.”

“Or I’ll make you regret it.”