Chapter 26

“Yes, Samaira, we didn’t do it,” Rae replied in an unsure tone as she looked over at her boyfriend who nodded in agreement.

“Right, after you made that threat?” The brunette narrowed her eyes on Hendro who opened his mouth to talk. “Listen, let's not fight about it. Have a good night you two,” She sighed and walked away, and headed to the car. She sat down in the passenger seat and noticed just how quiet it was and Azrael hadn’t even started riding. She could hear the tires of Hendro’s car over the gravel as they rode away. Samaira finally decided to speak up.

“I’m sorry-” She wanted to apologize.

“No you hush,” He turned to her and shook his head.

“Excuse me?” Samaira raised a brow at him.

“You knew all of this, and you never told me?” He asked, his brow raised up and Samaira opened her mouth for a moment, but nothing came out. She cleared her throat.

“I was protecting us,” She decided, knowing that was her reason for what she did. She didn’t feel good about doing it but if she had to do it again she would’ve done it the exact same way.

“What do you mean?” The man rolled his eyes.

“They said if I told you or anyone they’d expose our contract,” Samaira sighed. She was avoiding talking about this because she knew it would make him feel a certain way towards Rae and Hendro and Samaira didn’t want that. She understood where the two were coming from, even when it was so fucked up. Azrael however didn’t understand it and rolled his eyes.

“Well shit, which means nothing to me. I wanted you to be honest with me, instead, you do this,” He complained, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

“Azrael, I had to pick between that or us and I chose us,” She frowned, did he not understand what she just said?

“Bullshit, Samaira, you were supposed to tell me things like these,” Azrael started driving a little slower as he focused more on the conversation. “We wanted an unproblematic relationship but all you’re doing is making it the most problematic,” He accused, his voice raised up slightly. This was the first time she had ever seen him so angry and quite honestly he was being too mean. Samaira didn’t appreciate that.

“I kept it a secret so this wouldn’t blow up in our faces. I know how much the company meant to you and the exposing of the contract would blow this up for you,” She replied back, crossing her arms and looking upfront.

“I am to believe you only did that for me?” He laughed and shook his head, clearly believing in something different.

“Yes Azrael, for you, us,” She replied in a ‘stating-the-obvious’ tone.

“Or did you do it for the money you’d get in the end? Hm?” He asked, they both knew how things would end- but that was according to the old contract.

“Oh so now I’m some sort of gold-digging bitch?” Samaira was beyond surprised. Never had she ever expected him to talk to her this way.

“Who knows?” He shrugged. Samaira looked at him for a moment, wondering if he was kidding but he seemed dead serious.

“You fucking asshole,” She cursed, reaching for her purse. “Stop the damn car,” She ordered.

“What?” He frowned, looking at her. What did she mean?

“Stop the fucking car, now, Azrael,” She ordered again. He pulled up to the side and turned to her, talking a bit softer now, “Samaira.”

“No. Screw you. It hurt me not being able to tell you, but I didn’t want to contract to be exposed for us. It would ruin both our reputation and not to forget your chance to become the official CEO,” The brunette said as she stepped out of the car and glared at him, “I thought I was protecting us but clearly you seem to think differently.”

She hated being accused of using him for his money. It was enough that the media already thought so about her, now him too? If anything he was using her to get his seat at the table! She didn’t need his money, even if she’d be in debt for most of her life.

Samaira’s POV:

I slammed the door of the car and took a deep breath, looking at my surroundings for a moment. I oriented where I currently was and took a step back before I’d get run down by a car. I felt my hands shaking immensely, so much anger rushing through my veins. The words of Azrael kept repeating in my head, over and over again but I couldn’t officially comprehend it. How dare he! The sound of a loud honk caused me to snap out of my thoughts. The car that honked at me asked “Need a lift, sexy?” I was too angry at the moment and flipped the man off and started walking away, not bothering to pull up google maps on my phone, I just walked off as if I knew where I was going.

The cold air calmed me down as it pushed my hair out of the way. I closed my eyes for a moment and could hear some muffled music and realized I was in front of a club. Oh fuck. I tried walking past it quickly, but someone still managed to catch my attention. Of course, when I’m having a shitty day he’d be here right now. His blonde hair was a lot shorter now, his stubble finally grew but it wasn’t the best. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt. I tried walking away, but he caught my hand and pulled me towards him, the scent of his perfume filled my nose, and I made a disgusted face. Fuck he still used that cheap perfume?

“Eric, let me go,” I glared at him, tugging at my hand but he had it wrapped around my wrist. Eric’s hand around me loosened and he cleared his throat, running his fingers through his hair and tried acting cute with me.

“Samaira, how have you been?” He asked ever so sweetly. His lips curled into a smile, showing off the dimple he had on one cheek.

“Perfect,” I lied and crossed my arms as I looked at him, barely able to make out what he said as we were close to the club. I turned around and walked off again, or at least tried to.

“Wait, I missed you,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me back to him. I laughed and turned around, amused by his words.

“Missed me?” I asked then laughed again, I couldn’t keep it in. This was hilarious, just what I needed.

“Yes, I messed up, but I deserve a chance don’t I? I did so much for you,” Of course, here we go again. He feels entitled once again not to forget when he cheated he had blamed me for letting him. Thank God it happened when it did, I couldn’t imagine being with him much longer just to be disappointed.

“No you didn’t, you didn’t do anything for me. All you did was fucking cheat, now stay out of my way, Eric,” I poked his chest I spoke and let out air through my nose.

“Samaira-” Eric scratched the back of his head.

I ignored what he said and walked off, not even 15 minutes later I arrived at my apartment; feet sore as hell. These sandals were quite good but terrible to walk in. I knew I’d regret walking in these in the morning, but this was my only option. I threw the sandals on the rack, too angry to care where I put them, it was at that moment everything hit me. A wave of sadness went through me, my eyes grew watery- fuck. I allowed my body to fall down onto the couch as tears welled in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I could feel the warm droplet rolling down my lips and could taste it on my lips. I buried my face in one of the cushions and cried my eyes out.

None of this was ever meant to happen! I knew Azrael wouldn’t like me keeping this from him, but I thought he’d understand why I did it, how I thought our relationship was much more important, clearly, that had backfired, and I was wrong. But for him to call me a ‘gold-digging bitch’ is out of line. Is that how he thought of me all this time? Every time I tried to pay for my things he’d step in and would force me to let him pay.

Third person POV:

Akira got home late. Today surely wasn’t her day too, she thought she’d be the only one home but when she stepped into the apartment she noticed Samaira was laying down on the couch. She walked closer and saw the pillow she laid her face on was a little wet. It didn’t take long for her to realize something must have happened; Samaira was supposed to spend the night at Azrael’s after all. Akira pulled a blanket over her body and turned off the lights then tiptoed to her room.

The next morning…

Azrael stood in the living room of his childhood home, yes his mother called him over once again. This time he didn’t bother taking a seat, something told him he’d be out of this place faster than he came through the door. When he woke up today he didn’t expect to be dragged into the media as he was. To his surprise, most articles were about Samaira and her ex, Eric. The media exposed a lot of photos of the two standing rather close together and laughing, his hand was around hers, and damn he didn’t recognize Eric at first but then he remembered one of the photos he found hidden in her room. The only reason she kept the photo was that it was the only one she had where she received an award for one of the swimming competitions. What helped was that Akira and Emma were also in that picture… Azrael was sure his parents saw the articles too. “Is the Azrael Bright cheated on?” “Is there trouble in paradise?” “Looks like Azrael’s girlfriend has a side piece- or is Bright the side piece?” It went on and got worse honestly.

He pulled the sleeve of the jacket up a little and checked the time out again then sighed and tucked his hands in his pockets and waited for at least another two minutes when he finally heard the clicking of heels coming down the stairs. He looked over at the staircase and saw his father and mother coming down, his father’s look wasn’t too pleasing. It was in fact worse than his mother’s. He already had his suspicions it was fake, yet he was convinced it was all real, they made a fool out of him, everyone.

“Good, you came,” Ashley said, stopping right in front of her son and had her husband by her side.

“I’ve never been more disappointed in you,” Vincent finally spoke. This is the first time they made contact since yesterday. “You faked a contract with some stranger just to become CEO? Have you considered what could’ve happened if she exposed the contract to the public,” He asked? Though his tone was calm you could sense the disappointment behind it. It’s why he always preferred his father’s lectures over his mother’s.

“She didn't, did she?” Azrael shrugged. It would’ve been mutual destruction if she had exposed it to the world. “Besides in some way, this is your fault. You refuse to give me what is rightfully mine and keep trying to come up with reasons why I’m not good enough,” He sighed, looking at his father.

“I’ve only ever wanted what was best for you,” Vincent muttered, his face stoic as usual.

“I wish I could believe that,” Azrael replied, uncrossing his arms.

“And I wish I could pass the company to you,” His father replied. Azrael knew this was coming yet it still hurt him, it still made him feel saddened deep down. He worked so hard for all of this just for it to slip through his fingers.

“Vince-” Ashley wanted to bargain but Vincent was up for it.

“Ashley, I was and still am being serious about what we spoke about,” He stood his ground and Ashley nodded, “I see.”

“Well Azrael, there’s one last thing we can do,” His mother spoke as she handed him a brown folder.

“I’m listening,” He sighed and opened up the folder to see a contract inside.

“Break up with Samaira and also have her sign a new contract, one where she will be given a billion dollars and she’s not to talk to anyone about any of the contracts you made her sign,” She proposed. “Do that and you will become CEO instead of Deacon,” She rested her hands on her hips, watching as her son inspected the contract then handed it back to her.

“If I don’t do this, Deacon gets the company?” He raised a brow at them.

“Yes, son,” She nodded, hoping her son would take this deal.

“No thanks,” He mumbled and broke their eye contact.

“Azrael- just think about it, please?” Ashley held the papers out to him, and he took them, “I will… I have to go now,” Azrael cleared his throat and walked to his car. He took a deep breath and looked through the new contract his parents made. He placed it on the seat in the back and finally drove away. He looked at the backseat again and realized he left his laptop bag at home and needed to drive there swiftly before heading to work.

When Samaira woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was the warmth around her body paired with the pain in her neck. Samaira groaned and rubbed her neck; this is why she hated sleeping on the couch. She then realized someone must’ve placed the blanket on her. What a sweetheart.

“Morning, sunshine,” Akira said, leaning against the door frame with a cup of coffee in her hand. Samaira was startled by her present, “Jeez, Akira.”

“Here,” Akira chuckled and walked over to her with a cup of peppermint tea.

“Oh thank you,” Samaira smiled and took the cup, blew it on it gently before sipping from it.

“Is everything alright?” Her friend then asked, taking a seat in front of her and crossed her legs together.

“No...” The brunette admitted.

“I can tell,” Akira commented and took a sip of her coffee. “You know before we talk, check your feed first,” She suggested.

“Why?” Samaira frowned and looked around for her phone.

“Check it,” Akira slid her phone over the table.

Samaira picked up her phone and did as she was told only to see what had been saying about her, based on a photo taken at the worst time ever.

“Akira, I swear-” She began to talk, wanting to explain herself.

“I know, you would never, Samaira,” She smiled and patted her back. “But I am curious to know what he’s doing here and what he wanted from you,” Akira admitted, placing the cup on the coffee table.

“He misses me and feels entitled to another chance,” She answered, snorting at the thought of it.

“Bitch, did he really say that?” Akira couldn’t believe her ears.

“He did! That’s why I laughed, and the photographer captured just that moment. It appears they didn’t see me flipping him off or pushing him away from me or even storming away from him. Nope, they captured the part where I’m laughing with another man because it is illegal to do so when you’re dating someone,” Samaira began to rant, unable to keep everything contained.

“Okay, calm down, babes,” She rubbed her back gently, trying to calm her friend down as she knew she needed it.

“Pfttt, sorry,” Samaira sighed and leaned back into the couch.

Samaira then began to tell Akira everything that had happened, not knowing Akira had called Azrael. Samaira was stressed out, she needed to get her laptop at Azrael’s, and she hadn’t backed the information up to the cloud, so she depended on her laptop. She also saw no messages or missed calls from Azrael, but she was 100% sure he saw the photos of her, and Eric and he knew it was her ex, she showed him, Eric, once.

Samaira got ready, trying her best to look as pretty as possible. She didn’t want Azrael to know she had cried herself to sleep last night. Samaira put on a navy pencil skirt paired with a white almost sheer long-sleeved shirt she had tucked in. She planned on wearing her black pumps, she fixed her hair in a quick ponytail and applied her signature red lipstick and was finally ready to leave. It felt weird to drive the car he got her, she was already called a gold digger so who even cared at this point, she deserves her car.

When she arrived at the house she parked her car upfront and rushed inside through the front door. It wasn’t until she was through the front door she realized Azrael was home and not at work. Not yet at least. His eyes fell on the woman that just entered the house and watched as she awkwardly walked to the table for her bag.

“Forgot my laptop,” she said stupidly, putting her laptop in her laptop bag and zipped it close.

“I can see that,” He replied, crossing his arms as he stood tall and honestly quite intimidating.

Samaira finished gathering what she needed and walked over to him. “Here,” She handed him her pair of keys to his house.

“What are you giving me these for?” He frowned, looking at the keys, and took them still.

“This gold-digging bitch doesn’t want your house keys,” Samaira rolled her eyes and was walking away when she heard his question, “Is that all?”

“Do you want your car, clothes, and jewelry back too?” She whipped around to look at him. Her eyes glaring at him as all she could feel was anger. “I can arrange for it to happen,” She offered.

Azrael almost let his anger get the best of him, but he just took a deep breath. “No Samaira, I don’t want that,” he said calmly.

“Then I’ll be going now,” Samaira muttered and walked to the front door, her hand was on the handle, ready to head out when Azrael asked, “Have you seen the news articles? Eric huh?”

Though things were currently rocky she still didn’t want him to think she had cheated on him. “Azrael, that was not what you think it is,” She sighed and looked at the man as he walked to her slowly.

“It’s not, but you already think so lowly of me so think as you please,” Samaira then added and shrugged.

“I know nothing happened,” Azrael replied, looking down at the brunette.

“What assures you of that?” She wondered; he had disappointed her yesterday so as of right now she wasn’t expecting much of him.

“I spoke to Akira. She found you passed out on the couch and apparently she knew something must’ve happened and called me,” He informed her, letting out a loud sigh. He may or may not have been threatened last night by Akira. Samaira might not have any siblings but Akira sure is that protective big sister.

“Hope you enjoyed the earful,” She mumbled, knowing Akira would’ve warned him or something. It explains why she handled everything so calmly, she already knew.

“Everyone seems to like lecturing me these days,” Azrael mumbled under his breath. He saw Samaira walking away and reached for her hand gently, “Don’t go.”

“Why not? I’ll be running late for work if I leave any later,” Samaira said coldly, taking her hand away from his.

“Samaira, I’m sorry,” He began to apologize at last. “I mean it,” He took both her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “I got angry, and I took that out on you,” He admitted truthfully but the damage was done and still hurt.

“No Azrael, it’s more than that,” She sighed and pulled her hands from his. “You didn’t even try to understand where I was coming from and on top of that you called me hurtful things,” She put her bag to the side.

“I know. I- I’ve been doing some thinking and perhaps if the roles were reversed I’d have done the same. We’re more important and I appreciate you trying to protect the contract and us,” He admitted, resting his hands on his hips as he spoke.

“A little late for that,” Samaira muttered.

“Better late than never,” Azrael tried to humor her but failed to do so this time.

“Sure buddy,” She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she looked at the man. She wanted to forgive him and be over with it but part of her wanted to remain pissed a little longer, a bit unsatisfied with his apology.

“Come on, please tell me how I can make it up to you,” He pleaded, unsure what he could do for her. Gifts wouldn’t work, he knew that.

“Honestly Azri, I have no idea. It’s bad enough being accused of being a gold digger by strangers now you too?” By the tone she spoke in, Azrael could tell how hurt she was, and it was because of him.

“But you’re not, I was just- I messed up ok,” He began to talk, cupping her face gently. “You deserved better than that and I know,” He sighed then finally gave a proper apology she deserved, “Samaira, I’m sorry for calling you such a hurtful name. You’re not a gold digger.”

Samaira just nodded and didn’t say anything else. Her eyes fell on the document on the table and frowned. She picked it up and asked, “What is this?”

“Oh uhm,” He stuttered at first then sighed and said, “A proposition given by my parents.”

“Hmhm,” She hummed and read the first few lines of the contract.

“I have to break up with you and make you sign a contract to inherit the company,” Azrael told her truthfully, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

“Oh, I see,” She mumbled, a wave of sadness filled her. Would this really be over? She knew he wanted the company more than ever, so she was left with no choice. She sighed and picked up the pen.

“What are you doing?” Azrael frowned when he saw her reaching over to sign the papers.

“You wanted nothing more, but the CEO positioned for years now, I understand,” Samaira replied, half a smile on her lips, at least he’d get what he wanted and had worked for for years now.

“Clearly you don’t, I choose you, Samaira,” He chuckled and walked closer to her, cupping her face.

“I don’t understand,” She muttered. Why wouldn’t he choose the company? It’s what he wanted; it’s why their first contract was made after all.

“It doesn’t matter what you make me choose between, if you’re an option I’ll always pick you, it’s always going to be you, sweetheart,” His fingers gently caressed the smooth skin of her face then pulled her closer and placed his lips on her forehead. He never knew he’d ever say that, but it happened, and he couldn’t imagine life without her, it’s possible of course but he didn’t want that. She brought him certain happiness only she was able to.