CHAPTER ONE.
I stood looking around the large ominous room, taking in the faces of the middle-aged men and their wives, girlfriends or partners, and boredom flowed through me like a river. It was another work function for my husband, Max Peters, and another chance for him to show off and increase his already-overblown ego. My lips were permanently pasted into a smile and my cheeks were beginning to feel the burn from it. Here we go again.
“Raine, meet Mr. and Mrs. Roberts,” came the deep, loud tone of my husband’s voice from behind me.
Momentarily scrunching my eyes tightly shut, I increased my fake smile and elegantly turned myself around. “How wonderful to meet you both,” I said, holding out my hand for Mr. Roberts to kiss the back of. I offered a polite nod in Mrs. Roberts’ direction.
I felt Max’s warm palm on the small of my bare back and he kissed my cheek in a familiar public display of affection. “Be a good girl and keep Mrs. Roberts occupied, I have important business to discuss with her husband,” he whispered in my ear.
I let out an unintentional sigh and instantly froze when the pressure of his hand against my back increased. “Do not show me up, Raine.” I caught the warning in his tone causing me to straighten my posture and step away from him.
“Shall we?” I asked Mrs. Roberts. I slid my arm through hers and gently moved her away from our husbands mind-numbing talk of business, towards the direction of the bar. I glanced back over my shoulder to see my husband of two years smiling and laughing like the asshole he was, as the two of them shared some private joke.
Max is twenty years my senior and when I met him, he literally swept me off my feet. He was every girl’s dream; well-off, sophisticated, intelligent, and powerful. He walked with an air of arrogance, he was articulate; you could never win an argument with him, being a lawyer he always had to have the final word, and he dressed impeccably. He held command when he entered a room, he could manipulate people with ease, bend the rules to his liking, and he lavished me with so much affection, that I fell for him and everything he stood for quickly.
“So, tell me, how did you two meet?” Mrs. Roberts asked me, as she waved her hand back and forth in front of my face, jolting me from my reverie and holding a glass of red wine in my direction.
Quickly I declined, “Sorry, I don’t drink,” I mumbled with an apologetic smile, instead I reached for a mineral water. Can’t show up dear old Max now, can I?
“Well, Mrs. Roberts —”
“Oh please, call me Savannah.” Her hand automatically clamped down on my arm in a friendly manner and her glossy pink lips parted in a smile.
Giving her a small smile in return, I nodded my head. “Well Savannah, I was in my last year of college studying journalism. For my last assignment, I had to attend a court hearing and write a paper on it giving my own personal take, and what I would have done differently. I attended the Solman vs Stains case and ran into Max during that case, literally.”
I brought my hand to my mouth to stifle my laughter at the memory. Max, a tall man at six foot one, had been steam-rocketing his way out of the elevator as I had pushed my way in, unfortunately the Starbucks latte I held in my hand ended up on his crisp blue shirt. Immediately I panicked, and dropped everything in my hands to the floor. I frantically searched for a napkin in my purse to clean him up, whilst he ranted at my bowed head. When I finally raised my chin and my tear-filled eyes locked onto his angry blue ones, his whole face softened and he apologized, insisting it was nothing to get upset over. Within an hour of meeting him, we had exchanged numbers and made plans for dinner that night.
“We had a whirlwind romance and we were married within a year of that first meeting,” I finished with a shrug.
“And your journalism? I take it you attempted to pursue a career in it?” She asked.
I sighed deeply and felt my shoulders slump, as my poised body caved in, “No. When I became Max’s wife, I gave up my dream to be the wife he wanted.” I watched her intently while I waited for her response. Her bleached blonde hair was pulled tightly into a chignon, pinching the skin taut around her face, and her caramel-colored eyes grew slightly wider as they slowly blinked in my direction.
She leant over towards me and patted my hand condescendingly. “Well, I’m sure you want for nothing with that hunk of a man for your husband,” she whispered, with a wink.
“No, you’re right, I mean why would I need a career of my own and the freedom of independence when I am married to the great Max Peters, right?” I snapped sarcastically. I knocked back my mineral water imagining it a delicious triple vodka with a slice of lime.
“You are the envy of every woman in this room, Raine. You have the freedom to financially have everything you want when you want it. What are you twenty, twenty-one?” she asked in a seemingly annoyed tone that had me running my fingers across the back of my neck uncomfortably.
“I’m twenty-two, actually.” I replied hoping the extra year she had been out on would go in my favor.
“See, you’re still young. You can have a career later down the line. Take me, I had a career in nursing until I met Ray, now I relish in all the comforts his career as a lawyer brings. You should count your blessings,” she replied, wagging her forefinger in my face as though she was scolding a child.
I grabbed her finger and pulled it away from my face and rose to my feet. “I can assure you, Savannah, I count my blessings every day, and I am aware of how lucky I am and how all the women in this room ogle over my husband, but none of that stops me from dreaming of a career of my own, following my own path in life, with the support of my so-called loving husband!”
Suddenly realizing I had potentially gone too far as I deflected my pent-up anger in Savannah’s direction and silently acknowledging the fact that in Max’s eyes, I had showed him up, I automatically sighed an apology as my cheeks burned with embarrassment and I fled towards the powder room.
I fought back against the bitter sting of tears nagging at the back of my eyeballs while I made my way towards the door, just when I thought I was home free and able to shed my tears away from prying eyes, a large palm gripped my waist. I knew instantly it was Max.
“Raine? Are you okay?” His deep, yet harsh tone sounded laced with concern.
Swallowing hard, I painted back on my fake smile and turned to face him. His natural blonde hair was still in its sleek parting and his blue eyes pierced through me as his eyebrows inclined and frown lines creased across his forehead. “Of course, darling. I just needed five minutes to gather myself.”
“Be quick. We are leaving, my business here is done, and quite frankly, I’ve had enough of schmoozing,” he said lowly. His eyes glanced over my left shoulder and I noticed a darkness across his face.
I gently nodded my head
and began to wonder why he was so intent on leaving after only two hours. Normally these types of functions require our presence for most of the night, regardless of whether I wanted to leave or not. “I will come and find you,” I said turning away from him.
“I’ll wait right here for you. You have five minutes,” he said sternly. His eyes were still fixed on a place behind me I couldn’t see.
I went to glance over my shoulder to see what was holding his attention the way it was, but before I’d even managed a quarter turn, my head was snapped back to face him. “I love you,” he implored, his finger and thumb gripping my chin.
“I love you too,” I whispered as I leant towards him and kissed his cheek then turned towards the door, but not before my eyes managed to swivel in the direction he had been staring in. She wore an elegant emerald green dress adorned with sequins along the bustier, and they sparkled like diamonds under the bright lights of the room. Her hair was long, wavy, and golden brown, falling brilliantly over her left shoulder. Her face was milky white, with defined cheek bones and large dazzling chocolate brown eyes. She was stunningly gorgeous, like a painting of a goddess brought to life. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention and fear twisted in my gut.
Is he having an affair?
I casted my eyes fleetingly towards the floor and as I slowly raised them again, her brown lips smiled sweetly in our, or should I say my husband’s direction, and she winked.
Am I seeing things?
With a feeling of trepidation coursing through my veins, I spun around to catch him quickly divert his eyes towards me and his smile fade. “Who is she?” I snapped, a little too loudly for his liking.
His eyes instantly narrowed towards me and he took a step closer, “Who, Raine?” He gruffed.
“That woman you were just eye-fucking across the room!” I knew the volume of my voice had attracted the attention of people standing close by, but at this moment in time, I didn’t care, I’d face the consequences for showing him up later.
Forcefully grabbing under my bare arm, he dug his fingers into my skin, but I refused to wince. I refused to shed the tears that wanted to break free, I refused to give him any satisfaction as I continued to hold his stern gaze. “I think you are tired, darling. You have misinterpreted my friendly smile as something more. Now let’s leave!”
I felt my heeled feet sweep across the carpet as he pulled me from the room, smiling and shouting goodbyes to people as we made our exit. He grabbed my faux fur coat from reception and held it out for me to slip on, and reaching down, I gathered the hem of my evening dress in one hand and held my head high as I followed behind Max from the venue.
As we waited for the car, he paced up and down along the gravel driveway in front of me, rubbing his jaw before stopping in front of me, “What was that all about, Raine?”
“Are you sleeping with her?” I bravely asked. I could see the annoyance on his face and in his stance. He stood in front of me with his hands on his hips, his head tilted to the side and his chest jolted as he laughed, loudly.
He shook his head. “I don’t even know who you are talking about!” He snapped with his hands swooping into the air in exasperation.
“The bitch in the green dress, the bitch you seemingly couldn’t take your eyes off of.”
I heard it before I felt it. The crack of his palm echoing around the night sky as it contacted my cheek. I instantly shrieked. My hand flew up and pushed against my cheek to try and alleviate the pulsing sting left in its wake.
“Why are you so intent on showing me up, Raine? I give you everything you want, money at your disposal, fancy holidays, fine dining, all the things lots of women would kill for, yet despite all that, you go out of your way to show me up!”