Chapter 43 Chapter Forty Three
SYDNEY’S POV
I slammed my laptop shut and some of the attendees raised a brow. I smiled. back at the person and turned back to the speaker for the day.
The day had been hectic since I arrived in the morning. It was one work after an- other, one meeting after another.
We had just finished the first session of the seminar on jewelry design that was hosted in our company. Thankfully there was a short break before the sec- ond session again.
I traipsed to my office, dumped my laptop on my desk and walked out of the building complex, exhausted.
I just wanted to be alone while getting some fresh air after being stuck in that
conference room for hours!
I walked to the cafe next to the office building for a cup of coffee. The cafe
was a perfect place I could hide and none of the other employees would spot
me and start trying to engage me in a conversation I wasn’t interested in.
After ordering my coffee, I got a seat on the far end of the cafe, just beside the cafe’s glass walls. At first, I found myself musing about the seminar that just ended. I almost called one of the waiters to get me a pen and a notepad but I stopped and reprimanded myself, “You came here because you are exhausted, Sydney. You came here to relax a bit so stop that,” I said audibly, “And stop think-
ing about work again!”
And I did stop. It’s Just that it’s hard because Jewelry design doesn’t even feel
like work most of the time for me.
I gazed through the cafe’s glass walls and allowed myself to get immersed in the world outside the cafe and I got entranced by it. People bustled by, the traf-
fic hummed and the towering buildings lined the streets. Among the crowd, a lit-
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tle girl caught my eye or rather, the little girl’s n*ecklace caught my eye. She wore a large n*ecklace around her n*eck, one of her hands traced its intricate de- sign while her other hand clung tightly to a woman’s hand; she skipped after the woman as she briskly walked past the cafe.
When they were out of sight, I began to drag my gaze away when it fell on a fa- miliar figure. I squinted at the person and raised my eyebrows at who she was. What was she doing around here? She was the last person I expected to see here. On the corridor next to the building was Bella, there was a man before her
and he seemed to be trapping her to the wall.
I frowned and squinted at the man. That man looked nothing like Mark. I
looked around the area; I looked in the store opposite the street, my eyes looked up and down the street but Mark was nowhere to be seen. Where was he when there’s a man harassing his woman? And not just his woman but his
pregnant woman.
My senses suddenly grew alert and I felt my muscles bunch as I watched the man press her closer into the wall. But I forced myself to drag my gaze away
from them.
I shook my head and returned my focus to my coffee. This has nothing to do
with me, it wasn’t my business, I told myself.
But a few seconds later, I found my eyes traveling there on their own accord.
The man’s hands was clenched and there was a heavy frown on his face. Even
crazy a
though Mark is my ex–husband – one that I was never – and Bella is
my sister and the third party that actively ruined my marriage, I couldn’t bring my- self to sit back. Even if I was able to keep my gaze away from them, the knowl-
edge that a defenseless pregnant woman was being harassed Andi could have done something to help would rid me with guilt. It just wasn’t me.
I sighed, frustrated at myself. I grabbed my phone from the desk and picked up
my coffee. First, I walked to the other far end where the two of them were, just outside the wall. I dropped–my coffee and pocketed my phone.
As I tried to devise a plan before I intervened, I almost flinched as the man’s
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rude and hard voice reached me through the glass walls.
“You are carrying my child, I am this child’s father and you know it!”
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Bella, who I had thought helpless, sneered coldly, “So what? And why the heck. are you raising your voice so loud?”
“I am raising my voice because I have every right to do so. I won’t allow you to marry another man while carrying my child!“.
“That’s all you do, you know,” Bella scowled, “Big talk. You talk like you’d move heaven and earth yet you have no means to care for this child you claim is yours.
My brows shot up the air and my eyes widened. Wow, what’s going on here? Wasn’t Bella supposed to be pregnant with Mark ‘s child? Could it be that Bella had made Mark a cuckold? I covered my m*uth and laughed lightly.
They continued arguing, their voice, I’m sure was carrying to half of the passers–by and guests of the cafe.
I didn’t want to listen any longer because I knew that knowing more about Bella was always sure to bring endless troubles, that and nothing else.
I went back to where I had been sitting and prepared to leave the café. As I
turned to leave, I realized that Bella and the man somehow had moved closer to
the exit. They still continued to argue, immersed in the words they were throw- ing at each other but I was sure if I passed, Bella would see me.
I sighed, exasperated, how shameless could they be? Does everyone in the cafe and the whole area have to know that they have issues?
Helplessly, I turned around and covered my face with one of the café’s flyers. then I started to walk in the other direction where there was the café’s second
exit but their heated voices reached me even as I walked away.
Bella retorted angrily, “If it weren’t for you seducing me to elope with your wretched and selfish self, Lwouldn’t be here right now.”
I abruptly halted in my steps and froze, garnering the attention of some of the
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people in the cafe. I couldn’t help it, I turned and squinted my eyes at the man. Is that the man she eloped with?
She continued, “I would have become the wife of a billionaire by now! You’ve al- ready ruined my life, now that I’m trying to patch things together, if you dare to do it again, I swear I’ll kill you.”
The man angrily shot back, his jaw hardened and his fist clenched, “Seduce
you?” He let out a bitter laugh, “You were willing enough to ditch the acclaimed
love of your life that I didn’t even need to do anything.”
“Shut your trap, you asshole!” Bella shot back, her fists equally clenched too.
I shook my head, now I understood the identity of the man. Isaac. More than
three years ago, Bella had eloped with Isaac, which was why my cruel parents
made me marry Mark in her stead.
I didn’t have much contact with them, so I only usually hear Bella crying and
complaining to her parents over the phone that Isaac wasn’t treating her well.
Now I really looked at the man, he looked gaunt and was donned in tattered
clothes. To be honest, he looked like a homeless man or some drug addict.
They were still exchanging words, Isaac looked like he would punch Bella any
minute while Bella looked like she would easily bring down his big physique in
a matter of minutes.
Bella sneered and she furiously pulled out a wad of cash from her wallet, and
threw it at Isaac. Isaac caught it instantly, “Stop pretending,” she said mocking-
ly, “You’re saying all this just for money, right? You could have just said you need- ed money, dummy. Now, take this money and shut your m*uth, otherwise…”
Isaac smirked as he slapped the bunch of notes on his palm, “Alright, alright, I
get it. You just don’t want that Mark dude to know this child is mine, right? Don’t worry, I won’t tell him. Don’t be mad, take care of the child in your belly.”
Bella’s shoulders sagged as Isaac sauntered away. Then she started to walk to- ward that direction too. After a while, I no longer heard their voices and I still
couldn’t see Bella were she had been so I assumed they had left. I closed my
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