Chapter 178 Danger Closing In
"I am sorry. I was just over-excited," Elorm apologised, smiling inwardly.
"This will be a perfect distraction," he thought.
"Please, don't do that again," Zora said sternly and looked around.
She was glad Martin and Bryce were nowhere in sight. She shifted her gaze back to Elorm.
"I am sure you only came here to confirm if you could work here," Zora said, and Elorm nodded with a smile. "Okay, I think you should leave then. I have some work to do," she added and walked away.
Elorm watched her walk away towards the elevator. She entered, and the elevator door closed. Elorm smiled and walked away from where he stood. He headed for the exit and was soon out of the company premises. He got into his car and pulled his phone out.
"Everything is in place. I will start work on Monday. I created a distraction. Martin is in love with Zora, and he saw me kissing Zora twice. On each occasion, he walked away quickly," Elorm said.
"The distraction would be for him to engage in a romance with Zora. That will make him pay less attention to things, but now you have freed him. He will commit to his work," the man said.
"He is hurt," Elorm said.
"That is the problem. He would commit himself to loads of work to keep himself from hurting. Now you have to be extra careful," the man said.
"Yes, boss," Elorm said.
Back at the company, Martin was with Bryce in his office, completing their first partnership deal after the rebranding.
"Thank you, gentlemen. This is your copy. We will start work officially on Monday. Do let me know if there is anything you need or if you have any questions once you go through the agreement again," Bryce said and stood up to shake hands with the clients.
The three men exited his office, and he was now left with Martin.
"Hurt by the scene that greeted you, I see," Bryce said.
"Yes, but I will be fine," Martin replied.
"Talk to her and find out what is happening. Sometimes things are not what they seem. What if the person forced-kissed her?" Bryce said.
Martin recalled the two scenes of Zora kissing that man, and it didn't look forced.
"I have a strong feeling it's her ex-boyfriend, boss," Martin said. "I was the one who told her to hear him out when he reached out to her. I guess she decided to go back to her ex," he added, sounding sad about it.
"I am sorry to hear that," Bryce said. "If you want to take some time off, feel free," he informed him. "Tomorrow is my wedding," he alerted him.
"Thank you, boss," Martin said and left the office.
The launch was successful, and it was all over the news. Bryce left for home after, with Zora leaving Britney and the rest to handle the rest of the programme.
At the apartment, Bryce was, as usual, greeted by Angela. Zora headed for her room after greeting Angela. Martin was not part of them.
"Where is Martin?" Angela asked.
"I gave him the rest of the day off. Tomorrow will be a busy day," Bryce said and left with Angela for their bedroom.
Zora headed for her bedroom. She checked on Martin and realised he was not at home. She went to her room, took a shower and changed into something comfortable, wondering what was happening with Martin. He was now distant from her, and she didn't understand why.
"Did he see Elorm and me?" Zora thought, but shook her head. "No, he didn't," she said out loud, recalling that on each occasion Martin was nowhere around.
The next day is Angela's wedding day. She needed to be ready. She lay down and tried to get some sleep with a mental note to speak with Martin later.
The morning finally came, and Zora helped Angela get ready for her day. Her belly was now bigger as her time was getting close. She wore a maxi dress to cover her baby bump. Zora helped her with her makeup. Bryce was ready, wearing a nice suit. He was with Martin. Martin returned to the apartment at dawn.
They soon found themselves at the court, and the ceremony took place. Britney, Evans and Ariana attended. They waited patiently for Bryce and Angela to finish with their signing. Once they came out, it was a celebration.
They headed for a restaurant Martin had booked in advance for the celebration. Bryce and Angela sat together, and drinks were served with food. They laughed, chatted and happily enjoyed the dishes. Angela just ate the food and drank water.
Zora tried to be happy, but she occasionally stared at Martin, who acted like she didn't exist. Bryce and Angela left later in the day for another bookstore to spend some time alone. Martin had to take Zora home.
On the way back home, Zora tried to engage Martin in a conversation.
"You seemed cold towards me lately. Is everything okay?" Zora asked, sitting next to Martin, who was behind the wheel.
"Everything is fine," Martin replied, focusing his gaze on the road.
"Martin, this is not you. What happened?" Zora asked.
"I said everything is fine. Please let me focus on the road. It's late," Martin half yelled at her, and Zora went silent.
The rest of the journey was done in silence. Once they arrived at the apartment, Martin just parked the car, got out and headed upstairs, not bothering about Zora.
Zora got down and hurried her steps after him. She managed to catch him in the hallway before he could enter his room.
"Martin, was I wrong to love you? Why are you hurting me? If I have wronged you, is this the best way to handle it? The silence is killing me. Please don't be like the guys who hurt me in the past," Zora said with a frown, but her voice was trembling, and evidence of the pain she was feeling was expressed in her voice.
"Zora, what do you want from me?" Martin said he was not ready to bring up what he saw.
"What do I want from you?" Zora questioned with a frown. "I am your girlfriend, Martin. We are dating, remember?" she said.
"Are we?" Martin asked angrily.
Zora wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stared at Martin with wet eyes, and pain registered on her face.
"Are we not dating? Or was your confession a sham?" Zora asked, and more tears flowed from her eyes. "Are you seeing someone else?" she asked, trying to understand what could make Martin act this way towards her, but Martin read a different meaning into her statement.
"So that is what all of this is about," Martin said, and Zora frowned, wondering what he was talking about.
He pulled her by her arms into his room and threw her onto his bed. Zora tried to adjust herself on the bed, wondering what was going on, but next, she saw Martin taking off his shirt.
"What are you doing?" Zora asked.
"I am giving you what you desperately want and the reason you are messing around," Martin said through gritted teeth.
He climbs onto the bed, trapping Zora beneath him. He held the front of her dress and tore it open, exposing her chest to his view.
"You want sex so bad. I will give it to you," Martin said and continued tearing her clothes.
"Martin, stop," Zora cried, fighting him to gain his freedom, but Martin overpowered her.
"Please," Zora begged, and her cries finally got to Martin.
He stopped and got down from the bed.
"Get out," Martin said, and Zora got down from the bed and ran out of his room with what was left of her clothes.
"Fvck! What did I just do?" Martin cursed as soon as Zora was out of his room and the door was closed. "How did I allow my anger to get the better of me?" he asked.
Back in Zora's room, she knelt in front of her bed and rested her head on it in tears.
Meanwhile, at a rooftop restaurant, Angela and Bryce were having a nice time enjoying the night view, unaware they were being watched.