Page 411 of Now and Forever

Chapter 154

Reiss

Ileft the house without a peep from Ava. When I had come downstairs, ready to leave, she had still been in the same place I had left her almost an hour ago. She had simply given me a smile and told me to be safe and have a good time. It was great and all; however, her not showing any concern made me wonder if she cared much at all. The desired effect I had hoped to gain with this space from her seemed to have backfired, and I had no one to blame except myself.

After leaving the house, I headed straight to Hilary’s place in Fitzrovia. As expected, she didn’t spare any expense on her appearance. Before, I had been accustomed to having this sort of woman around me most of the time—a decade of women who had little to no depth at all—but after being with Ava for over two weeks, I felt like I had been under an illusion.

Although most were kind, good women, they didn’t engage in any conversations that were intriguing or comical. If not engaged in appearance, being famous and powerful, vacations, money, or any of the latest fashion trends, most of them would only nod and smile at will, yet would offer nothing in retort. I used to like being around that sort, but after being with Ava, I simply abhorred it. I supposed, sooner or later, men did have to grow up and, in a sense, grow some balls.

Half an hour after into the fundraiser benefitting cancer, I was managing to uphold fake smiles and interest in superficial conversations. All was going as per usual, until I found Charlotte Watson’s icy glare giving me the chill along with the ultimate blast from the past.

Without ado, I excused myself from the investment bankers and Hilary, who seemed to have bonded with one of the wives who had one of the top of the art facials that could make any woman shed ten years off without surgery. She was a pure example of the kind of superficiality this world had come to. Pathetic.

Striding towards the Ice Queen of Hell, I ground my jaws together as I composed myself, ready to see where this meet and greet could lead us. The second I reached her, my hand pressed against my chest as I gave her a small nod, as if she was of importance.

“Good evening, Charlotte. You look well, and truly lovely, as expected.” Lying through my teeth was an expertise I had acquired through years of practice. One had to learn the art of deception when they had to mingle amongst the high ranking, rotten lot; it was mandatory. Thou shall not offend thee ill-gotten society, or thou wouldst risk being shunned.

Charlotte gave me a scathing glance with a raised brow while she seemed to be appraising me from head to foot. “Well, once being a lowly gardener, you certainly know how to dress deceivingly. I don’t like you, and I doubt I will ever accept you as my daughter’s husband since you’re far off the mark when compared to a lovely man such as Ashton Westwood. But, being as my opinion isn’t highly valued by my daughter, it seems, I have no choice other than to stand behind my husband’s decision since she’s carrying your child.”

Her opinions mattered little to me.

When she cast her eyes towards Hilary’s direction, I knew there was more to come from her toxic tirade.

“Is this how you disrespect my child, by parading your mistress at social functions while you hide her away from the world? Charles begged of me to give you a second chance, but given the present situation, I doubt I will ever see you in a different light. I don’t tolerate dalliances when it’s my daughter’s life in question. Does she know about this woman; is that why she’s here out in the society while you two parade around like lovers while you keep my daughter in hiding until she gives birth to your heir?”

How could she even understand what the depth of my situation with Ava was, given that she had already made a very low opinion of me?

“Ava is in good hands. I will provide of her for as long as I am capable of doing so. She will want for nothing. And, if you’re so curious about what our relationship is built on, why don’t you go ahead and ask your daughter instead?” My quip wasn’t the sharpest, but she was bombarding me with all these things at the wrong time—at a very high-profiled fundraiser!

She reddened, looking like a volcano about to erupt as she tried to control herself. “I never thought the day would come when I wished you were the same boy who was in love with my daughter. I’d rather have you poor and in love with her than have you as a wealthy tycoon who cares little for my daughter’s heart.

“Pay heed, the moment she gives birth to my grandchild, I’ll do everything in my power to take you down. You don’t deserve her, nor do you deserve the child she’s going to bear you.” She immediately strutted into the crowd, feeling high and mighty with her belittling treatment of me.

I could’ve argued. I could’ve said a lot of things that would paint me in a much brighter light. However, she had a point. Having her point out that she’d rather have me poor while still in love with her daughter had given me a glimpse of her thawing ice queen personality. I wasn’t sure why, but I had a feeling she was looking forward to meeting her grandchild. As was I.

Joining the bankers and Hilary’s company once more, I tried to draw some interest in their conversation, but I somehow ended up wanting to scream like mad. Charlotte Watson’s voice kept hounding my mind. It was as if she had planted a seed that wouldn’t eject itself from my conscience. I felt like she had successfully triggered something I’d squashed ages ago. I was about to go mental.

I couldn’t take it any longer. I needed to breathe, to run and get the bloody hell out of here. I had to pull Hilary to the side and told her there was an emergency of sorts that I immediately had to handle. Then, I apologized for leaving her before the dinner had even been announced.

Dashing towards the nearest pub available, I hastily went inside and sat my troubled arse down on one of the red leather seats before asking for a double shot of the best brandy they had.

Five double shots down, I shut my eyes as I pressed the bridge of my nose while my mind recalled the night that had changed my life.

It had started very similar to this. I had been heated and about to go mental. Ava’s absolute rejection of my pitiful hand in marriage had forced me to seek out my friends. I had wanted to hear them tell me walking away from the woman I loved was the brightest and soundest decision I’d ever made, since I had fallen into the deep end of madness. Love was poison. I had felt its vile, acrid taste on my tongue as I had tried to keep myself together and not shred into pieces because of the only person that mattered to me repeatedly rejecting me in one day.

My self-confidence had been abysmal by the time I sat down to drink with my friends. My ego and pride were bloody non-existent at that point. Consequently, like the jolly old, brilliant friends they were to me, they had also drunk until we couldn’t coherently form a sentence.

At first, it had been rather hilarious. Tom and Benjamin would start singing a blasted song then, after a verse or two, they’d start putting their own words into it, making it all the merrier as we had kept on downing one drink after the other until the pub had closed and booted us out of there.

I wasn’t sure what truly occurred thereafter. Although, from my vague recollection, I had actually offered to drive. I was told I might end up driving them all to Ava’s house to take on her posh boyfriend; thus, someone else had taken the seat.

It had been in the wee hours of the morning, with the roads practically empty, so it was all good and well. However, halfway through, I felt ill from the thoughts of Ava and that posh boyfriend of hers divulging in sexual activities in one of the rooms in the manor. I had ultimately ended up wanting to chuck up everything, as if to dispel all of the bad things that had happened to me hours prior. Subsequently, the car stopped while I vomited on the side of the road, hugging my abdomen as I retched.

My friends rumbled on about the football match that we were all betting on—Manchester United and Arsenal. I had heard the car engine turn on as they all had continued to argue about the bloody idiotic match while they’d somehow overlooked that I wasn’t in the car, which had been rather absurd because the door had still hung wide open while Benjamin’s head had stuck out the opposing window to sing the Manchester United song.

The whole scene had been rather comical, and I had found myself laughing to my wits end until my laughing had turned to tears of horror just as I witnessed the crash of the car. They had hit the tree at such a speedy rate that the car had been immediately engulfed in flames, leaving me no choice other than to call for help.

However, before the ambulance had come to the scene, I had run towards the car despite the front being wildly engulfed by fire, which had left Tom and Rory with no hope of escape. Benjamin and Felix had been in the back with me, but when I tried to pull the car door open, it was jammed.

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