Chapter 2

Nicholas sat in the conference room along with two of his legal advisers, and they waited for his ex-wife to show up. He had explicitly asked her because he wanted to see how well she was doing now without him. Part of him felt guilty for how he didn’t give her a chance to explain herself. Instead, he tossed her out just like everyone in her life had. He was hurt too; for the first time he let someone into his heart, she ruined it for him. He hasn’t had a decent relationship since then. He hated how she made him vulnerable in a way that no other person had made him feel. It was like she allowed him to love her before she shattered him into tiny bits that would forever haunt him. His love life was a mess after their divorce, and he would not be able to look at another woman the same way he looked at her. He has given a few relationships trials and she needs to ruin them for him without her having to try at all. He once moaned her name during sex and his then partner got annoyed that he was still hung over the same ex who cheated on him and broke his heart. If there was one thing he regretted from the whole relationship, it was the fact that he let himself break without closure. He threw her out without asking her the vital questions she should have asked him. The door opened shortly, and the familiar lavender smell he had spent most of the years of their marriage sniffing attacked his nose, and he knew she was here. The hairs on his nape stood at attention as she turned to her assistant, who was asking how her vacation was. She smiled, and his heart constricted painfully; she used to smile at him like that; it was one of the things that drew him to her, the way her entire face lit up at the spread of her lips.When she turned, he stopped. The woman before him looked nothing like his ex-wife, but the body confirmed it was her. The whole face had undergone a significant change, and her face was perfect. Her lips were fuller now, and she looked like she was made for the runway rather than a law firm. That was when the whole thing clicked. She had done the facial surgery out of shame that she cheated on him. She didn’t want the entire world to recognize her again, and she would find another man to deceive again with her innocent face. The nerve of the bitch His blood boiled at the sight, and it only confirmed his worst fears. She had moved on, and he was nothing but a thing of the past to her now. Here he was beating himself up for the past five years, resisting the urge to go after her, only to find out she didn’t even care to begin with. He doubled the alimony because he felt she needed to survive, but the bitch used his money on cosmetic surgery. "I’m so sorry for the delay; apparently, my brain doesn’t remember that vacation is over. So let’s get to business now. Tiannah, could you please get me a cup of latte? Thank you. " She said this before walking briskly to her seat opposite Nicholas and his advisers. Nicholas couldn’t take his eyes off of the way her body moved as she walked. The soft sway of her hips—he could swear those thighs had gotten way thicker than he could remember. Her breasts looked fuller from the way her shirt constricted against them tightly. as if they were begging to be let out. He would give her orgasms just by playing with her breasts in the good old days. He wondered if they were still as sensitive as they used to be. Excuse me, Mr. Michaelson? Is there a problem? " Her voice snapped him away from his thoughts, and Nicholas replaced the neutral look on his face with a scowl. She rolled her eyes subtly, but he still saw it. the same way she rolled her eyes whenever he suggested a movie she didn’t like. She hasn’t changed a lot. Nicholas’s trousers constricted painfully as she ran her tongue over her lips while she flipped through the documents. He couldn’t believe he was getting turned on by the sight of her licking her lips. "I don’t remember mentioning any," he replied coldly, and she muttered something under her breath. She continued with her skimming through the pages of the files, and she looked unaffected by his coldness. This wasn’t the reunion he was expecting; he hoped for the same old Astra who didn’t like getting on his wrong side. This one has already grown wings. You want to sue Thompson's Conglomerate? That’s huge, and if I may ask why? " She asked before closing the file in front of her and leaning back into her chair. Her gaze was fixed on them, and Nicholas was disturbed by her stares, as if she could see right through them.When she didn’t say anything, that was when he realized she asked a question, and there was no way he would ask her to repeat herself; his pride wouldn’t let him. They stared at each other for like five minutes, and she didn’t repeat herself. "Mr. Michaelson, I don’t have the luxury of waiting here in a starting competition. I have way better things to do with my time. Why not just reschedule this meeting? If you’re not ready to have me on the case, please contact Mr. Woltman and ask him for a lawyer change. Do have a nice day, sir. " She stood before shaking the two legal advisers' hands, then sat back in her chair, flipping through another set of new files, their completely abandoned. "A leopard would never change its spots. A whore would always remain a whore, "he spat bitterly, and Astra raised her head, realizing the two legal advisers had left them. She smiled before looking at him dead in the eyes. Nicholas hated that she seemed unfazed by his words; he wanted her to feel the pain he felt. Her smile seemed sinister, and he hated that she was getting to him. The look on her face looked nothing like the woman he had fallen in love with; instead, she looked like the mastermind of a deadly game and the players found out they had been played. She looked like she was enjoying this showdown between them, and he hated it. He wanted to scratch the snug look on her face away and maybe make her feel worse than him. A coward never gets tired of running from the truth. Look at you, Nicholas, all broken and hurt. Do you still punch your mirror when the thought of me crosses your mind, or do you still drink yourself to death? No matter what you say to make me feel bad, you will always be the one on the losing end. Allow me to burst your bubble; my husband doesn’t appreciate people talking down on his wife. Unlike you, he will go miles to defend me, "She replied with a smirk, and he wanted to wipe the sick smile off her face. His heartbeat picked up at the mention of her husband, but his private investigator said she hadn’t been in a relationship. She can’t be serious about being married. Did she move on that fast? She stood up before stopping in front of him. "Requesting for my presence on a case your company could have handled on their own says a lot about how you’re still hurt over this ‘whore’. I bet you think I’d come running between your legs? Admit it, Nick. You lost. " She whispered, making sure to lean in and keep her body rested against his. She walked away, making sure to add extra sway to her hips, and he watched with clenched fingers. She was correct; he’s still the one broken and living in the past. She has already moved on. Nicholas walked away from the boardroom and walked into the waiting car. One thing he would never get out of his head was the fact that maybe half of the men in the elite circle had fucked his wife. The day he received those pictures was still vivid in his head. The way those men in the picture had their wives in different positions was enough to make even the strongest men run mad. He hated to imagine that the same body he would spend hours worshipping in bed was the same body those men treated like dirt. It was the same body that those men groped aggressively and tied in a way that suited their fetish. He knew she had a daddy kink, but when they had that discussion, she told him it was mild. He was confident that he could handle it at any time.If only she had opened up to him about the whole thing, maybe he would have tried his best to satisfy her. Rather than inform him about having another round table discussion with him, she resolved to fuck everything in her pants. The thoughts of those pictures still made his heart constrict painfully. The anonymous mailer sent twenty printed pictures and continued through them one after the other, breaking his heart over and over again. He kept going, flipping through everything to the point where he wanted to run around in circles.He couldn’t bring himself to imagine it was Astra, but the proof was right there in front of his eyes. He couldn’t throw the pictures too far away either, because he felt another person finding them might use them to blackmail her. He shouldn’t have cared about anyone blackmailing her or not, but he still did. He never believed Astra would ruin him that way; she knew how much he loved her. He felt his whole world falling apart, and he had no idea what to do anymore. He couldn’t call anyone, and finding her looking all innocent in their shared house made him lose it. That night in the rain, he sent her out, and he never looked back. He tried to focus on himself, but the more he remembered those pictures at the bottom of his drawer, the more he became hurt. He hated to say it, but the mere sight of those pictures reminded him that the beautiful body used to be his to love and worship until she made a pact to punish him, maybe even make him suffer for it. Even after she signed the divorce papers, he waited for her to come clean with him and apologize. He wanted to give her a second chance. Maybe mistakes do happen, but it seemed like she didn’t regret it because the next thing she did was jump on the next available flight out of the state. He watched her up to the point she left, and then he knew he had lost her. Maybe they still had a shot at this future thing. But she never did; he didn’t know she was back in town until he discovered that she was working in a law firm close to him now. He couldn’t stop himself from going over to see her; he wanted to know how she was faring without him. He wanted to know if she was still trying to forget him like he was trying to put her in the past, but he was failing terribly at it. He was right, even after five years. She didn’t give a fuck about him and she never would. According to her, he had lost, and he hated to admit it, but it was the truth. He had failed terribly at it, and she had the upper hand in a game he had no idea they were playing. As pathetic as it may sound, she was absolutely correct.