Chapter 5

#Bruised_ego

_Vicky_

The walk of shame is shorter when you find out you were never invited.

Here I am, standing by the door with shock written all over my face. Michael Kane is engaged? I am not the type to stay consistent on social media or look out for celebrity gossip. Michael Kane is not a celebrity; he is a socialite, and socialites are bigger than celebrities, just that their private lives are sometimes more protected than those of celebrities.

No one told me Michael Kane was engaged, not even Connie. Well, I don’t blame her. She knew how much I hated Michael, so she never brought him up when we talked.

Now here I am in front of this same man I just fucked, with his woman standing in front of me.

The shame was making me feel like crying. I had never felt so humiliated in my life. I cursed it all. I’m always a careful person, but how I was able to bend to Michael Kane, someone I detest so much, I don’t know.

“Michael. Explain.”

My voice was cold. I looked at him, then at the lady standing between us. Baby Gracie was still on the couch, drinking her milk without a care in the world.

“Victoria, this is Selena. Selena, Victoria.”

Michael introduced us.

The lady looked me up and down.

“I know who she is. What I don’t know is why the two of you are staying together, locked up in the same house alone. I waited for you last night, but you didn’t come. I had to find out from your secretary that you’re moving in with some lady.”

Selena rasped.

She seemed sharp-tongued, just like me. She didn’t seem to be afraid of Michael.

“And who said you could barge in here without asking me first?”

Michael asked. His voice was softer than when he usually spoke. Unlike how he spoke to me, he seems to respect this Selena a bit, or maybe he dotes on her.

After all, she is his fiancée and I am his arch-enemy. I’m someone he hates. But why did he sleep with me? He is engaged to someone else. So why?

Did he think so lowly of me? He probably sees me as someone cheap, someone he can sleep with then marry his posh girlfriend.

I felt livid.

“It’s mandatory for us to stay together for a month or we will lose the baby. We don’t want that, now do we?”

He asked Selena, who scoffed.

“Well then. I’m moving in. We all can be one happy family, all four of us!”

Selena stated, shooting me a dirty glance.

I looked at Michael. He can’t possibly agree to that, now can he? This is my best friend’s house. She left it to me and baby Gracie, so why the fuck are we getting swamped by Michael and now his unwelcome fiancée?

“Suit yourself.”

Michael told Selena and turned away. He began to walk towards the stairs.

“Now hold on there, mister. What do you mean by ‘suit yourself’? You’re not implying that she can move in now, are you?”

I snapped. Is this man freaking kidding me?

He paused and turned to look at me with a cold gaze.

“I’m already having a hard time tolerating you. Why do you have to bring in your posh little wife? You know what? Why don’t you both go to your massive mansion and stay there? Leave Gracie and I alone. We can fend for ourselves. I’ll cook up some excuse when the supervisor comes or give you a call or something.”

I said.

The last thing I want is for this woman to come here and give me a hard time.

“That is not happening, lady. I’m his woman, and wherever he goes, I follow. And you should be ashamed of yourself, staying alone with some man in the same house.”

Selena sneered.

I felt the insult loud and clear. Tears gathered in my eyes, but I didn’t let them show.

“Wait for me in the car, Selena. I’ll get dressed and meet you there.”

Michael said, dismissing both of us as if he didn’t just hear what we were saying.

Selena eyed me from head to toe.

“I’ll be back. I just need to get my things. Let’s see who survives between you and I.”

She muttered, only loud enough for me to hear before storming out of the house. She shoved me again before exiting.

And I was left standing like a sack of potatoes.

Michael didn’t spare me a glance. He turned around and walked up the stairs, totally ignoring my existence.

As soon as his figure disappeared at the end of the stairs, I let the tears fall. They fell freely and they wet my face. I didn’t hold back. After all, Michael couldn’t see me. There was no one around to laugh at me.

I walked towards the couch and picked Gracie up. She had already finished her milk.

I rushed up the stairs and to our room. I found my phone. It was on the bed.

I needed to get out of this house as soon as I can. If I stay here for much longer, both Michael and his fiancée will drive me insane.

I don’t know what the consequences might be, but I cannot stand the both of them. I’ll call the lawyer when I am out of here, try and figure something out. The will didn’t say this woman should stay with us. I don’t like the woman, so if Michael isn’t going to get rid of her and put up with me for a month, he should be rest assured I won’t let her come into my life and push me around either. I’ll push her out before she gets a chance to do that to me.

I don’t care how it sounds. I’m not jealous of her relationship with Michael. She should marry him for all I care. All I need is my privacy. I don’t need her disrupting my life and making me feel horrible. After all, her man slept with me. If he loved her so much, why cheat on her with me?

I’m not saying I’m a saint either, but at least I’m better than these two.

I scrolled through my phone and found Cole’s number. I had previously blocked him, so I quickly unblocked him and dialed his line at once. It didn’t take long for him to pick up the call. I didn’t allow him to speak.

“Come get me. I’ll text you the address.”

I said, then ended the call abruptly.

I needed to use him as an escape route. I don’t have anyone to drive me around at the moment, and he is the only one I can think of.

I quickly texted him the address and dropped the phone and Gracie on the bed.

I pulled out a bag and picked a few things for Gracie.

As I was zipping the bag up, the door flung open and an angry Michael stood by the door, watching me with anger in his eyes.

“Just what do you think you are doing, Miss? Are you tired of breathing? Do you want me to send you after your best friend?”

He asked.

He was angry. Not just angry — he was boiling with rage.

I only spared him a few seconds of a glance before going back to zipping the bag.

I finished up and took the bag from the ground, ready to pick Gracie up and leave the room, but he beat me to it. He rushed forward and grabbed the bag, throwing it on the floor, far away from me.

“I’m leaving. And I’m taking Gracie with me. You and your princess can have the house to yourselves. I don’t care.”

I snapped, allowing my rage to surface. He could see it. I wasn’t afraid of him. I wasn’t bending to his will.

“Selena will not cause you any harm, I’ll make sure of it. You can’t leave. The baby will be at stake here, so stop being selfish and stubborn for once.”

Michael rasped, rubbing his hands through his hair in frustration.

“I don’t fucking care. If the baby is so important to you, then you’ll make sure she doesn’t return to this house. This is our house, Gracie and I. It belongs to us, and we already have the likes of you to put up with. I don’t need another unfortunate addition to the household.”

I snapped. I wanted him to know I was serious, that I was not going to let him toy with me.

“Are you seriously threatening me? You want me to choose between you and Selena? Just who the actual fuck do you think you are, Victoria Smith?”

He asked with a mocking laugh.

I slapped him, very hard across the face — so hard that even my own hand hurt. My eyes were red and my blood was boiling.

“Look here, mister. Just like you said, I am Victoria Smith and I don’t give a flying fuck about you or your fiancée. The only person I care about is Gracie, and now I want you to choose between her and your fiancée. You can either chain your little bitch and ask her to wait patiently in your big mansion for a month, or move your ass out of our house. And if you don’t agree to either, I’ll take the baby and leave. And if somehow we both end up losing Gracie, just know it was because of your stupidity.”

I scolded him.

Michael looked flabbergasted. He did not see that slap coming, and I know he didn’t expect me to stand up to him in such a way, but here we are.

For a minute he didn’t react. He didn’t say anything and just stared at me in shock. No one said anything. Only the sound of my breath as my chest went up and down could be heard in the cold and quiet room.

Then he smirked. It was a menacing smirk. As if he wanted to punish me for slapping him and trying to defy him.

“You’ve got some real guts, Victoria.”

He muttered as he backed out of the room.

He removed the keys, and before I could comprehend what was going on, he slammed the door shut and locked it from outside.

“Michael, open this door and let me out. Have you gone nuts?”

I screamed as I banged on the already closed door. I felt helpless.

“Be a good girl and wait for me. Don’t be too stubborn.”

He said. And then all I could hear was his retreating footsteps. I collapsed on the ground with a loud sigh. I was exhausted from everything that had happened recently. I desperately needed a break.