Chapter 16: Sixteen

BETTY

I keep trying to distract myself from what had happened earlier, when good things happen, bad things begin to surface too, it’s just the way life works, I told myself, trying to be stoic, for all I knew this could be some prank, maybe it’s just Adam testing me trying to see if I would believe a random stranger over him.

So I posted the engagement photos of us from tonight.

Yeah, maybe he read my mind and realized our relationship has been so… boring, and by boring, I meant, drama-free, the kind of relationship that was so good to be true.

Still, no matter how hard I tried to push her words out of my head, they kept coming back to me, again and again and again.

‘Be careful around men like Adam, damn they can be so sweet and convincing but deep down when you get to know them, you find out that they are monsters.’

Could she be right? No! This has to be a mistake. He was quite known, almost like a known public figure; he’d once told me a lot of people envied him, for all I knew she could just be a crazy ex who couldn’t let go.

Yes, that’s what it was, I told myself as I leaned my back against the limousine seat. Adam sat right in front of me. At first, I thought this felt cute; romantic, but now I felt so unsure about everything. This proposal, the talk of living together and doing life with someone I’d barely known for more than a month, was all too fast for me.

But the way she looked at me, it wasn’t out of jealousy, but with pity. She seemed genuine as if she truly meant well, as if she was trying to look out for me, or… was I simply falling straight into her snare of deception?

He leaned in close, brushing a soft kiss against my lips before I got out of the limousine. He'd dropped me right in front of my apartment. The moment I got in I hurled my purse onto the couch, slipped off my three-inch heels, and sank to the floor with my laptop. Without wasting time, I searched his name on the browser search bar.

Adam Lewandowski

He only had one account on FaceGram, the one I was friends with, it was clean, too clean, it was freshly made about two months ago, with just two posts all within the space of a month. He tagged no one, no old friends, no history, just a carefully hand-picked headshot of him in a suit, a smile on his face, or him on his balcony. The sunsets were so beautiful that for a second it looked like Photoshop.

But something felt off. Who opens a social media account just two months ago? That was almost around the time we met. Was this a mistake or a mere coincidence?

I began scrolling through his friend list. Maybe I would be able to spot a familiar face, anything, anyone that could give me a lead.

I keep scrolling till my fingers stop on a name.

Anika Grey Lewandowski.

My heart skipped a beat, as I clicked on her profile, her display picture was a picture of her in a poll wearing a floral bikini, she looked younger here, yeah, it was posted five years ago. But she was the same woman I met at the restaurant today.

I kept on scrolling, at first I didn’t see anything relevant other than architectural designs and random photos of her and her children, until I stumbled on a picture, she was wearing a white dress. A wedding dress, her hair wavy, and right next to her was Adam, he was smiling into her eyes almost like he did tonight. He was in a black and white tux with his hands on her waist. That's when I spotted the ring.

Damn! She was right.

These are wedding photos.

And there were plenty of them.

I scrolled back to the photos and my eye caught the children, they weren’t random, the two little boys were replicas of Adam. I hadn’t noticed at first because I was so fixated on finding anything that looked like a wedding photo. They looked like twins both had Adam’s eyes, and her hair.

My stomach churned so hard I thought I might pass out.

I bit on my lower lip staring at my phone screen which was on the couch next to me now, I grabbed it with my thumb hovering over Adam’s number. I wanted so badly to call him right now, maybe demand answers, yell at him if I had to. But I took a deep breath instead and stared at Anika’s wedding photo. Her wide smile reminded me of myself, so I dialed her number instead.

If I am going to confront him, I need every detail, which means solid proof.

“Hello, Anika.”

“Hi, Betty,” she said, her voice calm. “ I wondered when you’d give me a call.”

“Let’s cut the bullshit, I’m ready to meet you, and it better not be some sort of prank.”

“I take it you’ve done your research, well done, we can discuss at my place, it’s private and calm.” She replied, her tone laced with smugness, like she had been waiting for this day all along.

~

I booked a ride to her place, and it wasn’t just spacious; it was lavish. A real definition of a villa, with a very large open space, it wasn’t trekkable at all, you needed a vehicle to go around it had tall windows, a grand foyer welcomed me inside, and the hallway? It was elegant and screamed luxury.

I was ushered in by the butler.

Outside, sleek cars were lined at the parking lot each one could pay my rent for a decade, inside she greeted me at the stairs dressed in a red silk nightwear her blonde hair straightened With an oversized glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, the sight made me remember my thrifted gown and I shrunk in shame, not visibly, I still tried to keep a stern confident look on.

“Hi Betty, welcome, shall I give you a tour of the house?”

“No,” I snorted. “Let’s just get straight to why I am here!”

She nods with a faint smile as she leads me into the furnished living room with white couches I was almost afraid to sit on. “The kids are asleep now,” she said softly like she was glad they were and we both sat.

“Do you want anything?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

I swallowed hard and didn't know what else to say.

“Yeah, it’s fine,”

“It has been five months since he left. One morning he woke up and left, leaving me with the kids. At first, it was unbearable, I could barely breathe or function properly without him, I was still newly postpartum, and my youngest just clocked three months.”

I was speechless, this wasn’t what I had expected, not at all. Adam, my perfect man couldn’t have done all this.

“He hates how I look now,” she paused while drinking from her wine glass. “Postpartum body doesn’t fit his… fantasy I guess. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Her jaw tightened and her voice dropped. “ I found out he’s been making huge amounts from my father's company for years into an offshore account, he has been sleeping with his students, taking advantage of gullible lecturers who think they can benefit from him or even learn from him, after all, he is the perfect Adam Lewandowski.” She grinned.

“Wow, that’s… a lot.”

“You think I’m making this all up, don’t you?”

“No… I just…”

“I see the charm hasn’t worn off,” she straightened, cutting me off slowly. “But it’s fine, if you truly didn’t think I was telling the truth, you wouldn’t be sitting here.”

That hit me. Maybe I had been in denial all along, maybe she was right, maybe he was a monster.

~

The next day I headed straight to Adam’s office, my hands were already shaky and my heart was throbbing painfully in my chest. I didn’t knock, I was too impatient to, I just burst in.

He was at his desk, his eyes glued to the system, and he looked up at me with surprise written all over his face. “Hey, B, you didn’t tell me you were coming?” he said almost whispering.

I smirked as I shoved my phone right in front of his face, showing him the wedding photos on the screen. “Why did you propose to me when you were already married?”

He clenched his jaw, “It's complicated, babe.”

“Complicated?” I scoffed. “ So I’ve been fucking a married man this whole time?”

“I tried to leave her, she’s toxic, B. She won’t agree to sign the divorce papers.” He said gritting his teeth together.

“Was this after stealing from her mother’s… father’s company?”

He began to brood, falling quiet for a second, “ Is that what she told you?”

“It doesn’t matter, why would you hide something so important from me?”

He got up, his eyes pleading, “ Because it wasn’t important, I was going to leave her anyway.”

“You were going to leave a postpartum mom? You know what? You are the worst!”

Slowly I pulled the ring off my finger and placed it on his mahogany.

“I’m not doing this with you,” I snarled.

“Cool,” he said, cool? That was all he could say, he didn’t even chase me or get up, he just watched me slinking out of his office.

That was almost ten years ago.

Now I’m standing in front of my lecture room still staring at the email I received from the principal.

Dear Betty Graham,

I hope this finds you well, I’m pleased to inform you that Dr Adam Lewandowski has been appointed head of the department of literature and assistant professor, we are confident that this is for the greater good.

Signed by management

From Principal Charles.

The sound of my students jolts me back to reality. Of course, he always gets what he wants.

I cleared my throat, scanning the room for Michael. He is usually seated in the front row but he was nowhere to be found and the class had begun fifteen minutes ago.

Immediately, the door swings open and Michael walks in, his eyes locking onto mine, and right behind him is Adam.

And now standing before me were two men I couldn’t escape.