Chapter 6

Alexander ~•~ I left Olivia alone at the table to welcome my friends and some of the other guests. I was gone for a while but I knew she was good when I looked over and saw she had company. Her best friend and sister were seated with her. I spent a few more minutes and when I finally decided to go back to meet her, I saw her walking out of the hall with Sandra. Olivia looked so upset and I couldn’t help but wonder what the reason was. I tried holding her back but she ignored me. I let her go outside because I didn’t want to cause a scene. Confused, I walked over to the table, and luckily enough her sister, Amanda, was still there. “What’s going on with Olivia?” I asked Amanda but she remained silent. “Is she okay?” I added. “I don’t think so,” Amanda responded and I narrowed my eyes. “What’s the problem?” I asked curiously. Olivia had agreed to act like everything was okay at the party and she seemed fine when we first came in. “She found out your ex-girlfriend is in town.” “What?” I asked with a puzzled expression on my face. “My ex-girlfriend is in town? Tricia?” Now I understood why she was so upset. She was probably thinking I gave her the divorce papers because Tricia was back in town. I honestly had no idea she was in town and she didn’t even reach out to me. “Thank you,” I said to Amanda and walked over to a quiet place outside the hall. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and called Olivia several times but she didn’t respond. I also left her multiple texts asking her to come back to the party. Even if she wanted to leave, she could have waited until after the couple's dance. People were going to start asking questions because of her absence. Frustrated, I put back my phone in my pocket and walked back inside like everything was okay. It was time for the dance and I pleaded with my sister, Caroline, to fill in for Olivia. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mrs Olivia Burke had something urgent to attend to, so Caroline Burke is going to be representing her.” The MC announced as I had instructed him to. I had to come up with a quick excuse or the media were going to blow the story out of proportion. The hall went silent and the music started. Caroline and I danced together as we received cheerful praises from the guests. “Why did she leave?” Caroline asked in the middle of our dance. Caroline was a few years younger than me but she was like my best friend. She was my only sibling and I always talked to her about my problems. I sighed heavily, my voice barely audible over the music. “I gave her divorce papers yesterday,” I said as I spun her around. Caroline had a confused look on her face when she turned back to me. “Why did you give her divorce papers?” “Just like I’ve told you severally, I don’t think she loves me,” I responded. Olivia always accused me of being in love with Tricia, no matter how hard I tried to reassure her that I wasn’t. “Did something happen recently that triggered it?” Caroline asked, raising a brow at me. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but when she didn’t say anything about our anniversary a few days back, I realized I couldn’t stay with her anymore.” Caroline nodded. “So you are a single man now?” She asked and I shook my head. “She was about to sign the papers but I asked her to hold on until after the party,” I responded. “She didn’t even fight against signing the papers after everything we have been through.” I wouldn’t lie. I was hurt about the fact that she didn’t even put much effort into trying to protest against my decision. It was like she had wanted it all along. I wasn’t happy about divorcing her but we felt like strangers even though we lived under the same roof. Caroline’s expression turned playful. “So you’re mad she agreed to sign the divorce papers you gave to her?” She asked, giving me a nudge on my shoulder. “Yes.” I nodded. “If she actually loved me or cared about me, she wouldn’t have agreed so easily.” “Wait, but if she agreed to wait until after the party, why did she suddenly walk out in the middle of the party?” Caroline asked and I explained the whole Tricia situation to her. Caroline was about to say something else when the music stopped. The dance was finally over and everyone started cheering for us. We both waved at them and made our way back to the table. Amanda was still seated there. She exchanged pleasantries with Caroline. Even though Olivia and I didn’t have the best relationship, our families still treated each other with respect. “Can you call your sister?” I asked Amanda and she agreed. She was definitely going to pick up her sister's call even if she was ignoring mine. Unfortunately enough, the call went straight to voicemail. I needed to explain to Olivia that I had no idea Tricia was in town. Since she wasn’t responding, I had no choice but to enjoy the party and act like everything was okay before people started getting suspicious. “Are you good?” My close friend, Arthur, asked when I left the girls to mingle with some other guests. He must’ve noticed how worried I looked. I had already told him about the whole divorce situation when I visited him earlier, so I just filled him in on the Tricia part. “Have you tried calling Sandra?” Arthur suggested and I facepalmed myself because I hadn’t thought about it earlier. I pulled out my phone and called Sandra. It rang multiple times but she didn’t respond. Olivia must’ve told her to ignore me. I sent Olivia another text, telling her how disappointed I was. After that, I went back to enjoy the party. I was going to deal with Olivia later in the morning.