Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Andreus stiffened when he saw Monique's lips tighten in a rare display of temper.
Fuck.
He reached to stop her, but she had already marched away and headed straight to Hallie.
"I'm sorry for making this so awkward, but do you mind if you find another seat so I can sit next to my husband?"
Hallie was left speechless by Monique's gall. Everything she had read, seen, and heard about Monique had painted the other girl as some kind of saint, and that was, in fact, what had destroyed her the most.
To know that Andreus' wife would be someone she could never hate, and so the knowledge had made Hallie hate herself all the more. It was wrong to love a man who was already married, more so when he was married to someone who was innocent, and so why...
Why then was the Monique standing in front of her now acting like a bitch?
"I'm sorry." Hallie felt she had to apologize even without knowing why. "I—-"
"You don't have to apologize."
Hallie sucked her breath at the curtness of Andreus' tone. This was the first time he had spoken to her ever since...ever since that happened, and all she could do was stare at him. She didn't even know if she had the right to feel hurt, but pain was already swallowing her alive.
It hurts, God. It hurts so, so much.
He was making it so terribly clear that he would rather not have anything to do with her, and all she could do in return was to just hate herself more.
Why can't I stop loving him, God?
Andreus could feel his face whitening when he realized he had inadvertently hurt Hallie. But before he could apologize or explain, Monique was suddenly crying, and Andreus' fists clenched against his sides.
"Am I asking for something unreasonable?" Monique turned to look at her husband and then at Hallie, making sure that her lip would noticeably tremble as she did. "I'm sorry if it seemed that way. I didn't mean to offend you, I just thought it made sense—-"
"I wish I could give up my seat for you," Hallie said jerkily, "but I can't." She had no chance to explain why, with Andreus' wife obviously drawing her own conclusion as an expression of loathing crossed Monique's features.
"You bitch—-"
Yuri stiffened at hearing another woman address his sister in such a way, and only Kalli's restraining hand on his arm had him holding on to his control...as well as the way Andreus had appeared similarly stunned and consequently furious at his wife's outburst.
"Enough, Monique."
Andreus didn't have to raise his voice at all. The coldness of his tone was enough to make grown men sweat, and Monique was no different at all. She realized all at once that she had let her mask slip, and she was at a loss on what to say next.
"Every seat in this boardroom table is fingerprint-coded to allow board members to cast their votes anonymously."
The explanation, especially since it had come from Helios Andreadis, caused Monique's cheeks to turn red in humiliation.
"It's why, even if Hallie wanted to, she can't give up her seat for you."
Shit, shit, shit.
Everyone knew Helios to be a man of few words, and thus the kind to dislike interfering in other people's business. The fact that he had been forced to do such because of her was something she knew Andreus' friend would never forget, and Monique knew she had to do something drastic to keep the situation from getting worse.
"I'm so sorry." Monique forced herself to say the words even if having to apologize to the bitch nearly made her gag. "I was completely out of line, and I'm afraid it's just something that happens often...ever since we married. The press, the online trolls...they've just been so terribly cruel to my husband, and I end up feeling so protective towards him."
Andreus didn't miss the way his closest friends turned their gazes to him while Monique was speaking. She had made him sound like a fucking wimp in not so many words, and the unspoken message in their gazes was just as clear.
What the hell are you doing with a woman like her?
Chapter Five
Hallie was just counting the minutes until she could be free of the hell she had voluntarily entered...but would never do so again.
11:17.
Forty-three minutes to go before they could finally take a break.
Forty-three minutes until she was free to run away, cry, and throw up all at the same time.
But until then...
It would be forty-three minutes of having to bear the smoldering heat of Andreus' presence right next to her, all the while knowing that everything of him was another woman's property.
My husband.
Monique's words kept popping in her head, and Hallie couldn't seem to make herself think of anything else.
My husband.
She wished it was enough to make her finally hate Andreus for good, but all those words did was make her heart shatter over and over again.