Julia’s lips moved and others thought she was whispering her grievances to me but it was only I who clearly heard each and every word leaving her mouth with a satisfied smile.

“That night in Paris was so hot but unexpectedly today was even more intense.

Xavier was so angry with you that he threw all caution to the wind and pulled me in your apartment this morning, right in your bed while you were gone to enjoy a very hot moment together.

Not only this, I modeled all hottest nighdresses he apparently brought for ‘you’ and you know what Xavier say? He said I looked much better in each one of them…sexier and it made him go wild. A plain woman like you can never compare. ”

My lips wobbled as I stumbled back in shock.

“W-What…” A whisper left my lips before it was covered under her scream.

“Ahhhh!” With tears in her eyes Julia looked at me covering her body tightly with her arms hiding her lingerie.

“Julia!” A concerned voice shouted loudly from the entrance, making me suck in a cold breath.

Xavier stood at the entrance, his face marred with rage.

“Good!

Aria Valarie I asked one thing of you and yet you messed it all up! I never realised how jealous and ugly your heart was till now! You just wait!”

And just like that with a glare filled with anger Xavier took Julia and left without glancing back at me whose entire palm was marred with blood and heart completely ripped by his betrayl.

Without waiting for a second Xavier rushed Julia to the hospital, his anger spiking as she cried softly in his arms.

“Miss Julia, I told you that this kind of stress is not good for you. You aren’t hurt now and it’s alright but what if you were seriously harmed…now you have two people to think of.”

The doctor said seriously, making Xavier frown.

“Two people? What do you mean by that?”

“Doctor p-please s-stop, I don’t want to burden Xavier.” Julia sniffled yet a gleam of joy reflected in her eyes as she subtly nodded once to the doctor.

“Mr. Stone, I believe you should take a look at these reports.” Somewhat taken aback by the doctors' concerned demeanor, Xavier quickly opened the file.

[PATIENT: JULIA LEST

MATERNITY TEST: POSITIVE]

“You…You are pregnant with my child.”

Xavier froze as he saw the report and suddenly he was reminded of a long time ago when he and I spent our first night together, my smiling face sweetly saying that one day we will have our own small family.

He realised that not only he had cheated with another woman but had also made her pregnant. A flash of guilt struck him hard.

“Mine?”

“Xavier..I-I am so sorry! I never wanted to come between your love. It is all my fault…I joked a little but your girlfriend took it seriously and she was angry that I seduced you!”

There was a slight edge to Julia’s voice even when she cried pitifully making Xavier’s heart feel wronged for her instantly as he was reminded how scared Julia was.

“Xavier…do you remember that day I asked you to marry me…I-I am your culprit. I became so selfish when the doctor told me that I was three months pregnant.

I hated to force you into a marriage you never even considered but could only think of bringing our little child into a world where they would be called a legitimate son or daughter.

But how can I come between you and your girlfriend at all? Today she was so angry at me that she spilled coffee over my head, I was lucky that it had ice or me and my child…..”

Julia cried heart wrenchingly as she barely spoke between her sobs, making Xavier’s fists clench against the injustice his ‘innocent’ Julia had to suffer because of me.

“If you want…I-I will abort this child and leave forever-”

“No!

You are the only woman by my side!

What girlfriend?! That woman is a fucking leech sticking to me since long, no matter how many times I try to reject her in a roundabout manner she keeps coming back to me like a fucking stray dog!

But this time I have had enough of her. How dare she bully my woman and child!!”

Julia displayed a slow smile as Xavier gently cupped her cheeks.

“We will have a grand wedding day after tomorrow just as I promised. You just have to wait a day more to become Mrs.Stone alright?

I see who the hell tries to bully you then!”

“I trust you Xavier.” Julia smiled gently, her voice revealing a sense of elation.

That night Xavier did not return home at all and I packed all my belongings before moving out of the home I have lived in for the past ten years.

There was a time Xavier loved me and I loved him too much to let him struggle to death. Thus I gave him all the money in my bank account to start Avalon yet when it wasn’t enough, I accepted working around the clock as a waitress to sustain our small household.

Today the same home of my dreams was stained with disgusting remnants of sex.

At my new apartment I sent my resignation to Manager Kim and my team without further delay and instantly multiple calls resonated from my closest friends and Manager Kim as they took me on a conference call.

“Aria, are we seeing it wrong? Is this your resignation?!”

“Aria, why are you resigning?! I am one of the oldest employees of Avalon and it's the ultimate truth that you have co-founded Avalon so how can you leave-”

“She is doing the right thing.” My childhood Mia’s words cut through the panicked voice of my other friends.

“What do you guys even know? My husband is a shareholder of Avalon and he has told me clearly.

Xavier, whom our Aria loved beyond the world, has secretly announced his wedding ceremony with Julia Lest on Aria's birthday.

With a smile that had unshed tears I laughed at those words.

“I want to tell you all something, my wedding too will be held on the same day, instead of going to Xavier Stone’s you should rather attend mine.”

It was sharp eight in the morning when my phone rang with Xavier’s friend group calling me strangely. As soon as I picked up, a strange mocking laughter filled the background.

“Shut up! She has picked up already!” I ignored the words as a hush fell in the background.

“Aria, well we called to apologise for that day, we realised that our joke went too far, you will not hold it against us will you?

Now that the misunderstandings have been cleared up, how about you hurry up to Hotel Marionette on the beachside, where we are hosting Xavier’s bachelorette party.”

They did not let me speak at all and just like that the phone was hung up.

An hour passed and here I was, standing in front of the Marionette Hotel’s room to end it all for good.

The waitress working at the front looked at me with a fake smile and. I instantly felt something was off.

“Miss Aria Valarie right? Ah, your friends said that they have planned a great surprise that you will never forget in your life, please go on the second floor..”

“Okay.” Walking upstairs as soon as I pushed the giant door a little, my heart completely froze in horror as I watched the scene through the small crack.

The entire hall was decorated with framed photos of babies with thousands of small toys and balloons of pink and blue colour.

It was a gender reveal party with Julia and Alexander standing in the middle surrounded by Xavier’s friends and as they were in the middle of cutting an exquisitely dressed cake.

I almost lost my balance as I heard the next words leaving Julia’s mouth.

“Thankyou so much for coming to my baby’s gender reveal party! Xavier and I are going to be parents soon.

But! Is it a baby girl or a boy?! Everyone take a guess.”

“Boy!”

“No, a baby girl would be good! I will absolutely adore my daughter.”

At that moment my fists clenched hard as I simply stared at my boyfriend of ten years celebrating the beginning of a new life as he left me behind giving me untreatable scars.

Once he had said the same words of wanting a daughter that would look like me and now her was ready to not only throw me away but also forget me like I was a nonexistent pest.

The cake was soon cut and a blueberry chocolate filling came out making the hooting louder yet I could see a small disappointment flash across Xavier’s face for a moment before it was gone.

“Xavier! You are going to be the father of a son! Congratulations man!” James congratulated the two before his eyes darted around looking at the guests to find me absent.

“Aria did not came. What would that witch take to leave Xavier.” He gritted his teeth to which another female interjected.

“She is like a fucking vampire trying to extract the last drop of value from Xavier. He got lucky to have Julia or she would have bled him dry. After Xavier is married tomorrow we will show that woman her proper place.”

So this was what it was all about.

With that in my mind I turned around with a small smile on my face.

Just like they have given me a great gift, how could I not want to repay them.

I called Xavier’s group chat with a false happy tone.

“Aria we organised a party for you but where are you-”

“You did? What a coincidence, I organised a party too.

I am on the first floor with Xavier’s top investors as my guests, they are almost here so hurry up with Xavier. You don’t want to make them unhappy do you?”

A deafening silence engulfed the group of friends as they looked at one another in horror as they realised the meaning of my words.

“Aria…you, we cannot, Xavier is so busy-” James who was a part of the call had a scared look on her face as I laughed heartily.

“Then do you want me to tell the investors the same thing? Bring him here. NOW.”

Xavier who was at the background heard the commotion and realised his friend’s had planned to bring me here to break it off to me that I and Xavier were done and his eyes glared daggers at them as if he could not wait to skin them alive.

“Tell Aria we are coming.” Xavier said his eyes glaring at all the people present while Julia clenched her fists hard.

Not only the gender reveal party was completely stopped for now but it would be almost deemed as spoiled.

And just like that, at the end she was still the hidden mistress.

Just as I had guessed it took Xavier twenty minutes to wrap up the party completely and come to the first floor as directed.

With Julia holding onto his arm he was followed by the entire group of friends with traces of anger on their faces.

Entering inside the lights were dimmed, casting a golden tint on the walls. And there was a display of our entire life on the walls.

Our photographs.

Dozens of them, framed and pinned and strung across the room. Candid shots I had taken of mine and Xavier over the years.

Photos of us. At the park, in winter snow, under fireworks. And amidst everything in the center stood something that Xavier once considered his most prized possession.

A small teddy bear with one crooked eye.

A small, almost unintended laugh left his mouth.

“Carnival” he whispered. “To think I once won this for her. Aria has kept it preserved for so many years.”

He barely touched it when more than fifty guests entered, many of them were close investors while others were shareholders and managers at Avalon Enterprises.

Xavier saw me standing right across from him and the atmosphere froze as he realized that I had publicly announced our relationship.

smile as the investors sat

Yet the next words made me stumble back in horror as I clutched my mouth hard.

“What the actual hell is this?” Xavier’s voice sliced through the atmosphere as he whisper yelled at me.

“Why are you here at all and to think you decorated my party with these stupid photos!”

‘Stupid’

“Why? You don't like it?” I said with a serene smile.

Xavier’s words stung me hard yet I maintained a composed face.

“Aria! You broke into a hotel room to throw a creepy nostalgia fest and you dare ask if I like it?”

“Xavier please” Julia stepped in, her voice trembling. “I…I was actually the one who invited Aria. Y-Yesterday it was because of me that there were so many misunderstandings between you two…”Julia came infront of me with a smile yet the deep chilling smile in her eyes could not be mistaken at all.

“I think Aria had set up the photos to surprise you.” Xavier’s anger spiked instantly as he glared at me pulling Julia to his side as if afraid that I would harm his innocent woman.

The gesture alone was enough to devastate me once yet now I only felt numb.

“Julia, have you forgotten that you were almost harmed yesterday?! Aria has been bullying you and you still try to make peace with her?” Xavier asked as his cold glare fell upon me.

“You are taking Julia’s side as if she is your girlfriend not me.”

I spoke with a volume which made the people pause and look at Xavier and me all of a sudden making Julia suppress her anger.

“No..how can you misunderstand everything Aria. Xavier please,the thing about Aria pouring coffee all over my head was an accident. Please? This party is important for us-”

Before Julia could complete her dramatic speech she was blocked by Alan Sanders, the young billionaire who invested heavily in top market companies.

“Mr. Stone, is it true that Miss Aria is your girlfriend? I had long thought to invest a billion dollars into your jewelry enterprise after seeing the previous masterpieces created by Miss Aria.

What stopped me previously was the fear that she would resign anytime and my funds would go to waste. If both of you are a couple then when Miss Aria marries you my investments can remain in safe hands, so is it true?”

Xavier couldn’t answer.

This moment felt bizarre, he was surely going to marry Julia tomorrow so why was he not able to tell proudly that his wife to be was Julia Lest and not me?

He felt strange when was he not able to tell me on my face that he wanted to break it off.

“We have the same question Mr.Stone.”

A glimmer of guilt of not marrying me even after a long relationship of ten years stomped on his heart as Xavier’s eyes locked with mine for a moment as they softened making Julia who was looking at everything watch our interaction with bloodshot eyes.

“Aria is a very important person-”

“My involvement with your investment with be difficult Mr. Sanders. Only a few people know that those jewelry worth millions of dollars were explicitly designed by me. I have no patent rights on those pieces and in future if I take their references or launch new pieces in their collection anyone can blame me for stealing from others.”

“I will give you the rights of the jewelry that you designed.” Xavier said suddenly feeling like he should at least compensate me this much, afterall I will be his employee even if he marries Julia.

With a call to the office he asked the manager to immediately transfer the patents to my name.

While he was in the middle of talking about the deal with Mr.Sanders, a sudden boom resonated throughout the atmosphere and the power supply was suddenly cut off completely with an electric spark.

“Xavier! The smoke..I-I cannot breathe.!” It was at that moment Xavier rushed to the side of a crying Julia who was standing next to my burning photos with Xavier.

“The photos-” I whispered only for Xavier to snap at me.

“Some weird old photographs and a torn teddy bear are not worth risking Julia’s health! Stop this party at this moment!”

My heart went numb as I watched the things I decorated go up in flames.

Within the chaos I saw Xavier embracing Julia in his arms tightly as he rushed out of the hall with her while leaving me behind with our memories burning to ashes.