Chapter 22 Irony
"Do you want to eat more?" Ethan asked Moriah as he finished wiping the corner of his lips with a table napkin.
"Mm," she hummed her reply as she nodded her head affirmatively and added, "I'm going to have some of the salad."
Moriah was about to pick the salad servers, but Ethan beat her to it.
"Let me," he said, and put some salad on her plate.
Except for the pasta Moriah didn't eat any of the food Shaun ordered.
After she finished eating the salad Ethan gave her, excusing herself, Moriah went to the powder room. After she used the toilet and washed her hand, she came out of the powder room.
All of a sudden, Moriah's back felt the cold concrete wall as she was pressed against it. And hands were on either side, trapping her. Shaun's familiar scent invaded her nostrils, suffocating her.
"Shaun, what are you doing here?" Placing her puny hands on his chest, she pushed him but he was unmoved.
"I know you don't love him and you still love me. Moriah honey, come with me and let's begin again," Shaun leaned to claim her enticing lips.
Quickly, Moriah covered her face.
Offended, Shaun puts some distance between them which was a great relief for Moriah.
"You don't love him, divorce him," Shaun said, to persuade Moriah, he went on, "You've got strong evidence against him as he was keeping a lover. He bought her an apartment, I knew the agent, and has the copy of the receipt and contract. And I have many photos of him with that woman."
Moriah flinched hearing from Shaun's mouth that Ethan has an affair with another woman. She felt sorry for her pathetic life.
"You don't love him. It's me that you love, Moriah. Divorce him and come with me to the States and we'll start over again,' Shaun said tenderly, which almost undid Moriah.
Ethan stopped from his tracks when he overheard Shaun persuade Moriah to divorce him. He hid in the corner so he could hear the rest of their conversation.
Moriah took this opportunity to ask his reason why he left her. It was something she wanted to know since that day he left her.
"Why did you leave me at the altar, Shaun?" The tears she had been keeping at bay since she saw him again escaped and rolled down her cheeks.
"I wasn't sure if you truly love me, Moriah," Shaun's answer shocked her whole being that her body started to tremble. "How come you doubted my love for you. I never looked at another man and you're the only man who has my heart," Moriah said in a raspy voice, her throat was tight with emotion, and she struggled to get the words out.
The color in Ethan's face was drained when he heard his wife's confession turning his skin ashen. He wanted to punch the wall, but fought the urge to do so, wanting to hear the whole conversation. He wanted to know how to play his card.
"How can't I doubt you, you never allowed me to make love to you. You don't even want me to kiss you. You've always refused me whenever I asked you to sleep in my apartment," Shaun sighed, "The night before our wedding I went to your room so we could consummate our marriage in advance but you refused me."
"Is that how you define love, Shaun? I have kept myself pure for you, Shaun. I thought you understood me and you told me you're willing to wait for our wedding night?" Moriah said in a dry croak, for her throat constricted.
The truth is, Shaun didn't doubt her love, but doubted her ability in bed. He wanted to make love to her that night to check her performance in bed.
Two weeks before their wedding, his dad, who never knew about his relationship with Moriah and had no idea that he was getting married, introduced a woman to him. That woman was arranged by his father to be Shaun's wife.
He didn't like that his father had arranged a marriage for him, albeit he didn't voice out his protest. That woman seduced him and fell to her seduction.
While Moriah was busy as a bee for their wedding, Shaun was having a tryst with that woman. She was wild. Shaun was completely blown away by her performance in bed. And that made him reconsider his marriage with Moriah.
Nevertheless, as months went by, Shaun realized that he loved Moriah. And wanted her back in his life, particularly when he learned that Ethan took his place and married Moriah.
"I'm sorry, honey, I was confused at that time. Please come with me, let's start anew and build a life together," Shaun held her face.
""No, I can't leave my husband," Moriah removed his hands from her face. "I can't, I don't want a scandal, I don't want to be under public scrutiny," she shook her head incessantly.
"Only a few knew about your marriage, you can divorce him silently. You can file the divorce while your marriage isn't known by the public yet, that saves you from humiliation," Shaun said to convince her.
Moriah shook her head negatively, she thought of the irony. This man was talking of saving her from humiliation wherein he was the reason why she's in this predicament.
"Please, leave me alone, Shaun," Moriah said.
"I won't leave you, I love you Moriah," Shaun embraced her.
"Let her go," Ethan's voice reverberated through the dimly lit hallway.
Moriah squirmed to extricate herself from Shaun's embrace and scurried toward Ethan.
Shaun left, however, he had in mind to wait for another opportunity to get Moriah back from Ethan.
"Are you okay?" Ethan took her in his arms and hugged her tightly.
"Ethan, you're smothering me," Ethan released her and held her hand.
"Let's go," steering her toward the room by placing his hand at the small of her back.
As they entered the room, Cindy had already been drunk and blabbering.
"Cindy, I will take you home," she was about to help Cindy but Ethan spoke.
"Zachary, take Ms. Westland to her apartment," Ethan ordered like a king.
"No way man, I'm not driving home a drunk woman, particularly a woman like her," Zachary couldn't hide the exasperation in his tone.
"Alright, if you won't, forget about our collaboration," Zachary needed this collaboration with Ethan to secure his position as CEO of his family's company as some of his cousins were vying for the position. His grandfather told him that he would put him as the CEO if he could secure cooperation with Ethan's empire.
"Okay, okay, I was just joking a while ago. I'll drive her home," Zachary picked Cindy's bag and picked her in his arms as she could not walk anymore, being completely wasted.
"I sent you her address a while back," Ethan said, gaining an incredulous look from Moriah.
"How did you know her address?" Moriah could hold back and asked him.
"You stayed in the same apartment before we got married," he flicked her forehead.
"How did you know about it? Did you stalk me?" She asked her husband who was already leaving the room. She picked her bag and followed him.
Her curiosity to know why Ethan knew she lived with Cindy in that apartment was eclipsed by her worry for her friend and she totally forgot about it, instantaneously.
"Ethan, I will drive Cindy home," she wasn't comfortable that Zachary is driving Cindy home.
"She'll be fine, don't worry. She isn't Zachary's type so he won't be doing something to her. My chauffeur will drive her car and he will help Zachary with Cindy. Someone will be there so Zachary will never do anything to her," Ethan knew of Moriah's concern about her friend.
"You sure?" she asked as she watched Zachary deposit Cindy at the rear passenger seat.
"Yes," he nodded and opened the passenger seat for her and continued, "Get in the car."
With much hesitation, she got into the car. An inconvenient silence ruled the whole time they travelled. Moriah silently sighed in relief when the car halted in front of the mansion.
Ethan quickly unbuckled his seat belt and with the speed of lightning he caged Moriah placing his hands either side. Moriah's breathing halted as Ethan's scent assaulted her senses.
Ethan smelled her vanilla scent, it was intoxicating. He leaned to capture her lips, Ethan's lips landed on her neck instead of her lips as Moriah turned her face away.
Waves of electricity coursed through her body as his soft and warm lips grazed her neck. She bit her bottom lip to stifle the moans that were trying to escape her lips.
"Ethan, no," pushing him, she voiced out her protest after a few seconds.
He halted from grazing her neck and said, "Let me hold you for a while."
Sensing that she acquiesced to his request, he buried his face in her neck nook, inhaling her fragrance, while he wrapped his arms around her.
Her heart turned cold and her body went taut as a bow string when she remembered what Shaun told about her husband's affair and buying an apartment for his lover.