Chapter 33 Happily Married
JAMES’ POV
“The two of you being here together is actually quite shocking,” Anna said.
Her voice hadn’t changed much, still that same familiar tone I remembered from years ago but there was something different buried beneath it. Something sharp. Something cold enough to cut through glass. It was filled with a level of hate that almost felt practiced, like she had been waiting for this exact moment just to release it.
“Why would it be shocking?” I asked, keeping my expression blank even though the bitterness in her tone pressed against my nerves.
“Well, firstly, I thought by now she would have probably backstabbed you and cheated on you or something, or you would have gotten a new lady and thrown her outside. You know, like you did to me.” She said it without blinking, without looking away, like she was stating a fact written in stone.
I swallowed hard and shifted my weight where I stood. She hadn’t seen me in five years — five whole years and yet somehow she spoke as if she knew exactly what kind of man I had become. As if she could still read me like an open book no matter how much time had passed. Did she truly think I was that predictable? Or had she been carrying that grudge inside her heart all this time, waiting for the day we’d cross paths again so she could throw it in my face?
Melissa gave me a look, her brows raised slightly. I could tell she was shocked too — shocked that Anna dared to describe our life in such a casual, cutting way. For someone who was nothing more than a ghost from the past, Anna seemed to think she had the right to narrate our marriage to our faces.
I didn’t show any emotion to what she said. I refused to. Instead, I plastered a smirk on my face, the kind that always came in handy when I didn’t want anyone to see what I was really thinking.
“Well, as you can see, you’re absolutely wrong,” I said. “We’re still together, happily married, and nothing’s going to break us apart.” I tightened my hold on Melissa’s hand, making sure Anna saw that.
“Don’t mind her, darling,” Melissa said quickly, flicking her wrist the way she always did. “It’s clearly obvious that she’s jealous and probably trying to break us apart because she doesn’t have a man like you in her life.”
I nodded with a smile. Melissa actually said something that made sense for once. And she said it with confidence, too.
“She’s a gold digger,” I added, letting my voice drop lower. “And probably a whore. No man would want to spend the rest of their life with someone like you — who's poor and doesn’t have anything to offer, part of the reason why I dumped you.”
“Dear, it’s not just about her being poor and stealing people’s money,” Melissa said. “She has a bastard child too. Which man would want that?”
Then it clicked. Of course. Five years ago, when we last saw each other, she wouldn’t stop going on and on about being pregnant and claiming I was the father. Obviously a lie. I saw through her act that day. She knew that once I proposed to Melissa, she had no way of being in my life anymore, so when I pushed her away, she used the last thing she could think of — trying to pin that bastard child on me.
“Yeah,” I said, my smirk widening. “The bastard child you tried to pin on me all those years ago. You didn’t bring him along tonight? You don’t want people to know you’re a whore and you’ve been one for years, right?”
And as the words left my mouth, I finally saw it, a shift in the cold stare she’d been giving us since the moment we walked over. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Her jaw tightened. Her fist clenched just a bit at her side. And her brows pulled together in anger, the first real emotion she had shown since the conversation started.
“What’s wrong? Did I touch a nerve?” I asked mockingly as I took a slow, deliberate step closer.
“Shouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself?” Melissa said, her voice dripping with disgust. “Of what you’re doing? I mean, does your child even know the real reason you came to this event? To sleep with men?”
“That’s enough from the both of you.” Anna’s voice cut through Melissa’s insult as she finally spoke again. Except now, her voice sounded different. No longer cold and quiet, but sharper. More authoritative. Like she was done entertaining the insults we threw at her.
I raised a brow, shocked not just at her tone, but at the audacity she suddenly had. To speak like that while standing here as what? Nothing more than a whore? Or so I assumed.
“I think you should really watch the way you talk to my husband,” Melissa said. “Remember, you’re nothing more than a waiter here.”
“Hold up,” I said, catching onto the word immediately. I blinked in surprise, then let out a laugh. “She came here as a waiter? She’s working here?”
The laugh grew louder as the realization sank in. A waiter. After everything she had ever said, this was what her life amounted to?
“So even after all these years, you’re still struggling to feed yourself,” I said, still laughing. “Coming here as a whore would have been even better. At least there might be some men who would pay you extra for a good time. But a waiter?” I shook my head, laughing even harder. “That’s just pathetic.”
It looked like she was about to talk again, maybe to defend herself or to throw another cold line our way. But before she could say anything, a lady stepped up onto the stage at the front of the hall. She tapped the microphone lightly, trying to get everyone’s attention. Conversations around the room began to die down slowly.
“Hello everyone,” the lady on stage said. “I’m sure you’re having a pleasant evening. The founder of Quinn’s Enterprise, Mr Quinn himself, would like to come up here and make an important announcement.”
Good. Mr. Quinn was finally here. This was my opportunity to speak to him directly, to secure what I came for tonight. Everything else, including Anna standing here with that arrogant expression, was nothing more than a distraction.
“I’ll do you a favor,” I said, turning back to her with confidence. “I’ll talk with Mr. Quinn to maybe consider hiring you as a gardener. At least that should help you stop this low-earning job and feed your bastard son.”
I folded my arms with a smirk, fully expecting her reaction. I expected her to fall to her knees and thank me, to grab my hand and show how grateful she was. Show some respect. Show that she understood what I was offering her.
But she didn’t. Not even close.
All she did was turn around and walk away arrogantly. As if she was too good for the help I was offering. As if she had any pride left to hold on to.
“Is this how you treat people who are trying to make your life better?” Melissa said, shaking her head.
You know what? I changed my mind. If she wanted to die with this job, then she could.
For all I cared.