I felt everyone’s eyes fall on me. None of them recognized me because I never accompanied Jordyn to any events. As such, I’d been completely out of the public eye during our marriage. I’d never really been identified as his wife.
Ellie’s eyes narrowed and looked at me, a malicious expression on her face.
“Oh, I…um…beg your pardon,” the woman said, withdrawing her hand from Ellie.
I saw the looks of confusion pass through them. If I was his wife, then why had he entered with Ellie on his arm?
“I wouldn’t really call myself his wife,” I smiled politely. “Not anymore. We’re in the midst of a divorce.” I shot Jordyn a look that said ‘how dare you do that to me?’
Everyone nodded, relieved that the mistaken identity had been a minor mishap. Jordyn, however, was angry.
“Why are you here, Cassandra?” he asked, his eyes fixed on me.
I balked.
Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to make a scene in front of all these people? The group of people uncomfortably averted their eyes.
“Why, for the appetizers, of course,” I smiled brightly. “Isn’t that why we’re all here?” I winked at the group. When they realized I was telling a joke, they all began laughing, grateful that Jordyn and I weren’t about to have a go at it after all.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” I said to the group. “I work for a fashion design company called Hot House Flower. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”
“Oh yes,” one of the women gushed.
I was being modest, of course. Hot House Flower was very popular and I knew it.
“Are you the CEO?” someone asked.
“Afraid not,” I said, reaching into my purse for some business cards. “But I work directly for one of the founders, Stella LeBlanc.”
“Really?” a man asked, stepping forward.
I passed him a business card. Stella and I had discussed this beforehand. We were both co-founders of Hot House Flower, but only her information was public. I’d kept my information and identity private, on account of my marriage to Jordyn. I didn’t feel like tonight was the right time to reveal that I was a co-founder, and Stella respected my opinion.
“I’ll take a card,” one of the women said. “I LOVE Hot House Flower designs. So creative.”
“I’ll take one, too,” someone else said.
Before I knew it, I had an even larger group gathered. Word had spread that a representative from Hot House Flower was here, and now people were asking for my business card.
I was tickled pink by how popular I was!
Jordyn, on the other hand, was green with envy.
He was never one to share the spotlight. Especially not with me, his soon to be -ex-wife.
“Cassandra,” Jordyn called out, angrily, as I became absorbed by the crowd. But before he could say anything else, Ellie exclaimed:
“It’s Mr. Cameron Stoneworth!”
A few gasps and all heads turned to the door. Sure enough, Cameron had just entered, looking dapper as usual.
I was surprised to see him, but come to think of it, I shouldn’t have been. Of course he was here. He had a very high position in our family company, almost the CEO, actually. Although he’d been waiting for me to take over our family company. So that he could concentrate fully on his overseas business.
Jordyn’s expression changed instantly when he heard that Mr. Stoneworth had arrived. From where we were standing, we couldn’t see him clearly.
“I’ll talk to YOU later,” he said, pointing at me. Then he scurried off in the direction of Cameron.
I smiled bemusingly. Mr. Stoneworth was, of cousre, my brother Cameron.
Jordyn didn’t know that, though. I’d hidden the truth about my family and our family. I even fabricated a fake last name until I took Jordyn’s when we got married.
So imagine my surprise when, two months into our marriage, I learned that Jordyn was OBSESSED with MY family’s business. He basically stocked them through articles in the newspaper. He told me time and time again how much he wanted to make a deal with Cameron. But Cameron (agreeing to keep the fact that he was my brother a secret from Jordyn) rejected Jordyn’s business offers.
Cameron didn’t like Jordyn. He never had. But the main reason was that our family company didn’t need to work with Jordyn’s company for now.
So no projects from Jordyn had ever moved forward.
Cameron saw me and moved towards me. He greeted me warmly, reaching out for a hug. But I stopped him.
“Please, don’t tell people you’re my brother,” I whispered into his ear. He stopped, and with a puzzled look, said:
“Okay.”
I looked over and saw Jordyn glaring at me.
“Have you seen the CEO of Finch Fox Holdings?” I asked Cameron, as we sauntered over the appetizer table. “Or his son?”
Cameron popped an appetizer into his mouth and shook his head.
Strange. I was pretty sure he was here somewhere. But I hadn’t bumped into him yet. “I’m going to go freshen up,” I told Cameron.
“Yeah, you should do something about that lipstick,” he teased. I nudged him in the ribs and told him to stop it. Always a joker, that one. Then I weaved my way through the crowd to the Ladies Room.
I was applying my lipstick when I saw Jordyn behind me in the mirror.
“Seriously?” I asked. “You followed me in here?”
I was getting tired of this. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?
“Expecting someone?” he asked, staring at me in the mirror. “Like maybe your sugar daddy out there?”
“My what?” I asked, turning around to face him. “You mean….Cameron?”
“That’s exactly who I mean,” Jordyn said, narrowing his eyes. “I saw you two together out there. Flaunting your relationship.”
This made me chuckle. Jordyn thought I was having an affair with my brother, even though he didn’t know Cam was my brother.
“What are you laughing at?” I noticed that his expression had turned dark, his eyes, dangerous.
I wanted to leave. There was something about the way he was looking at me that I didn’t like.
I tried to brush past him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about?”
But he stopped me as I tried to pass. He grabbed my shoulders, holding me in place.“Don’t I?” he asked, his face only inches from mine. “Because from where I stand, it looks like I know exactly what I’m talking about. MY wife is cheating on me with another man.”
“Stop it,” I said, trying to get away. But he was too strong. His breath was hot on my face.
I let out a holler for help.
But he leaned in and silenced me…
By pressing his lips onto mine for a forceful kiss.
