ALESSIA’S POV
My fingers grazed at the beautiful gown sent to me by Nathaniel.
It was almost time for him to pick me up, but I feel like I’m cheating on Cassius, for some goddamn reason.
His words came fresh into my head.
‘ Only I can see you looking so pretty. You should never let any other man other than me see your cleavages.’
But now, another man, In Fact, a lot of people would be seeing that tonight.
” Are you ready, Alessia? It’s almost time!” CeCe shouted from downstairs, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I cleared my throat and took down the dress from the hanger.
I slowly took off my clothes and put on the dress, checking myself out in the dressing mirror.
The dress fitted perfectly, as if Nathaniel knew my size.
” It’s beautiful.” I forced a smile, wore the shoes and did some light make-up to cover my dark circles and sad features.
Without the makeup, I would look nothing short of a ghost.
A virgin ghost, yo be precise.
I haven’t had a good sleep for a while now, and dark circles rent below my eyes, and my whole skin is pale.
Once I was done, I grabbed my phone and the purse, heading downstairs to meet CeCe who was already dressed.
” Wow, you look so beautiful.” She complimented and I flashed her a smile.
” You have to do something for me, Alessia.” CeCe said as she stood up to meet me below the stairs.
” What is that?” I raised a brow.
” Enjoy yourself tonight. Lay your worries aside and have fun with Nathaniel. Who knows? Maybe it would be the best way to get over Cassius.”
I know CeCe was indeed worried about me, but how do I bring myself to tell her than even in a million years, I don’t think I can get over Cassius.
No matter how handsome, or wealthy another man seems to be, Cassius already took my heart with him.
The bastard took my heart and left me with nothing, but an empty hole.
An empty hole that can never love another man other than him.
” Okay.” I nodded slowly, flashing her a smile which of course, didn’t reach my eyes. ” I will do that.”
” Thank you for being a strong woman.” CeCe pulled me into a hug.
Once I perceived her perfume, I felt a rush of something inside of me.
I wanted to throw up immediately.
” CeCe..” I called with struggle as I broke the hug. ” I need to throw up!”
CeCe frowned, her eyes twitched with worry as she watched rush to the bathroom to throw up.
” Are you okay?” She shouted, but I kept throwing up repeatedly to even answer her question.
My heart hammered in my chest, as different thoughts flew from all corners into my mind.
I just hope that whatever this is, it shouldn’t be what I’m thinking.
It wasn’t the right time for me to throw up.
My life is a mess, and a pregnancy would add to my messed up life.
After throwing up to my heart content, I washed my mouth and looked myself in the mirror.
For the first time in a while, I noticed that I have added some flesh in my neck and my face was a little puffy.
” No, I can’t be pregnant. My face is only puffy due to tears.” I shook my head, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t pregnant. I can’t be pregnant.
” You will be fine, Alessia. Just give it some time.” I inhaled and exhaled before walking out of the bathroom, only to meet CeCe by the door with a worried expression on.
Soon, she will have wrinkles due to constant worrying.
” Are you okay?” She narrowed her eyes, trying to get me to speak up.
” Yes, I’m fine. I just feel a little nervous so I threw up.” I lied.
I wasn’t the best liar out there, but, I think I did a pretty great job at lying to CeCe.
I know she didn’t believe me, and I’m grateful she didn’t press the matter further.
My phone rang almost immediately and the tension cleared between us.
” Hello,” I picked up the call. ” You’re here already?”
” Yes.” Nathaniel’s voice could be heard from the other end of the call.
I hung up and looked at CeCe, ” he is here to pick us up.”
I walked past her, trying to avoid whatever question she has been meaning to ask.
” Alessia, are you pregnant?” The question took me aback and I halted on my track immediately.
I didn’t have the guts to turn around and lie to her face once again.
CeCe knows me like her back of her palm and as such, she knew I was lying.
” Why did you ask?” I laughed in a nervous voice. ” I can never be pregnant.”
” But I think you are. Stop lying to yourself.” She pressed on. ” You’re a doctor, aren’t you? You should know when you’re pregnant or not.”
” CeCe,” I called and turned around to face her. ‘ can we not talk about this? Like you said, we should enjoy ourselves tonight and forget about any other thing.”
” Okay, fine. You’ve got me.” She groaned and I smiled.
We both walked out of my apartment and got into Nathaniel’s car, driving off to the Art gala.
Throughout the drive, my mind kept wandering to what CeCe said earlier.
Could I be really pregnant?
Can I really keep the child without a father?
I knew how that affected me. Living without a parent was nothing to be proud of.
I can’t let my child be born into a single family without a father, that’s if I was really pregnant.
” Are you okay, Alessia.” Nathaniel glanced at me, before returning his gaze back on the road.
” Yeah. I am fine.” I forced a smile and took a deep breath.
…….
Soon, we got to the art gala, and the door was opened by Nathaniel.
He was acting like a gentleman, and I felt so uneasy about it.
As we stepped into the grand art room, I was immediately enveloped into a world of opulence.
The art gala was in full swing, with a sea of elegantly dressed guests mingling and admiring the stunning artwork on display.
While I was checking out some art together with Nathaniel and CeCe, my eyes caught something no, someone.
Cassius fucking Riven.
He was looking so fucking gorgeous like the king of hell. Dressed in a suit and bow tie, he looks nothing short of perfection.
Slowly, I saw a hand with coloured nails around his arm, and I felt a fist-sized lump lodged at my throat.
Tracing the hand slowly, it belonged to a beautiful woman, who was smiling brightly.
My heart instantly dropped to the pit of my stomach and I felt sweat clouded my forehead and my vision blurry.
CeCe also saw him and immediately glanced at me.
She reached out to grab my hand in a soothing way, but at that moment, I wasn’t soothed.
It feels as if the whole world crashed down on my shoulders.
As if on cue, Cassius eyes fell on mine.
Everything around us became distant, leaving only the both of us, in a world where we could only hear the rhythm of our heartbeats.
” Are you okay, Cassius?” The female beside him whispered into his ears, and my heart rippled at the sight.
Nathaniel noticed that I was staring at Cassius, so he tapped me slowly with a smile.
” Do you know him? He is my best friend who followed me to our college meet up some months ago.”
I couldn’t reply, I could only flash him a smile.
Without asking for my permission, Nathaniel held me by the waist, pulling me closer to him, as he led me towards Cassius and the female beside him, whom I guess was his wife-to-be.
I could feel Cassius’s gaze burning on Nathaniel’s hand around my waist.
The angry and dangerous look in his eyes, only meant one thing.
He wanted to destroy Nathaniel and every other men who looked at me at the Art gala.