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Chapter Nine

Aurora's POV

It has been almost three months since I started my career as a model, and it was all going smoothly. I hadn't felt as at peace as I am right now. I started dating Nathan a month ago, and it has been amazing. Sometimes he acts like a saint, a lovey dovey, and the perfect boyfriend anyone could ever ask for, and the next he acts like a devil. I could still remember vividly the day I left for work from home without informing him just because I was late. When I met Nathan in the office, he shouted and almost slapped me right in front of people.

I hated the fact that sometimes he doesn't respect me in front of people, but I was grateful because, for once, I had never seen him cheating on me or anything, and the fact that I loved him so much made me overlook his annoying character.

I picked out a blue long maxi gown and my favourite pairs of heels. It has pearls embroidered all around it, making it look classy and ravishing. It was a gift from Nathan to congratulate me on my first ever shoot, and it still remains my favourite till now.

I slipped in my gown and did a little light make-up. I didn't want to do much or wear much to the gala night, so I decided to keep everything simple and natural. A loud horn of a car made me flinch from my room in fright. I was sure it was Nathan's car, and he would give me a piece of his mind if I kept him waiting. I quickly slipped on my heels, sprayed my perfume, and headed downstairs, trying as much as possible not to fall with the way I was walking.

I met him outside, right beside his car. His tuxedo fit his skin tone perfectly, his blond hair was curled in a way that it covered one of his eyes, and he put on a stud earring, giving him the bad boy vibes, something I really loved. My heart leapt with joy as I stared at him with so much love and affection, feeling proud that my man looks so good, but the whole good moment stopped abruptly with his next line of statement.

"Would you rather stand there drooling like a lost fowl or enter the car? I have told you several times to stop spending hours just because you want to dress up," he said angrily, making all the butterflies that were forming in my stomach die down. I knew I was late, but he shouldn't have talked to me in this manner, and by the way, I wasn't even that late.

"I'm sorry. I promise it won't happen again." I quickly apologised, dodging his angry nature. He looked at me with a frown, but his frown slowly faded away, replaced by a smirk as his eyes traced me from my neck to the little of my cleavage that was opened.

"You don't know the naughty things I plan on doing with you tonight, " he said, tracing his hand to my exposed cleavage. My breath quickened as I felt his hands on me, his eyes burning out lustful fires.

"But I guess that I can wait to get to the gala, he said. He opened his car door and entered without opening the car door for me. I entered the car, and we zoomed off. Nathan stopped at a boutique and brought a new set of clothes for me after continuous nagging and ranting about what I was putting on. At first, I wanted to complain since I wanted to be in something comfy and that didn't scream luxury, so as to avoid being the centre of attention, but with Nathan around me, I knew it was impossible.

My heart palpitated fast as we got closer to the venue. This was my first time attending a gala event since the time I started my modelling career, so I was kind of nervous.

The driveway swarmed with limousines and shiny cars filled in a single line, pressing bumper to bumper, unloading quests one by one. I leaned in close to the tinted window to examine the spectacle unfolding in front of the entrance. A red carpet trailed from the driveway all up to the front steps, with red velvet ropes running along the sides of the path, barricading the crowd of eager photographers and reporters, recording the entire scene from any possible angle.

My heart palpitated more as Nathan pulled the car into a stop. I drank water, trying to suppress my nervousness, and it worked a bit.

"Do you have to behave like a scaredy cat at every chance you get? I can't believe you are being nervous because of a party," Nathan said with a scoff. He stepped down and opened the car door for me.

"So much for a gentleman.

I took his hand in mine, and I gently stepped out of the car. Whatever nervousness the water you drank earlier had calmed down came rushing back in folds. My chest suddenly felt heavy, and I wished I could just go back home at this point. I had never commanded the stares of so many people, not until now, and the dress Nathan chose for me wasn't helping matters one bit.

The dress was a work of art; the elegant neckline, embroidery with diamonds, and bright purple colour accentuated the natural hourglass shape of my body. The slit on the side ran up to my left leg and stopped below my mid-thighs. At each step, the gown screamed elegance.

At this point, I would gladly switch my dress with anybody, but I knew that was not possible with my darling boyfriend right beside me.

Before we got to the entrance, we were bombarded by a camera frenzy. The reporters were all throwing questions at us and some complimenting my dress. The photographers were all in a frenzy, calling me to look in different places. Questions swirled around me. Several mouths moved, making me lose control of whom to answer first. I answered the questions I heard clearly and left Nathan to answer the rest.

"You should smile in front of the camera," Nathan's husky voice sounded in my ear, coming in the form of a whisper. I tried so hard to smile; it was just so hard to do it with this whole group of people staring. I forced out a smile, which looked so genuine and charming.

This was my job; I wanted to be a model and a celebrity, so I should be ready to face the circumstances that come along with it.

We navigated through the maze of tables. I glanced around the antique, and the chandelier dazzled above our heads, brightening up the whole place. The entire room was packed with at least three hundred men and women, all standing around with cocktail glasses in their hands.

.......

The main part of the party was over; the merry side remained, and I was feeling tired already. All I wanted was to go home. I searched around for Nathan, but he was nowhere to be found. It's been close to an hour since I noticed his absence, but I thought maybe he went out to attend to business matters.

I checked again, and when I still couldn't find him, I started feeling at ease. My mind was restless, so I tried his number; it rang the first and second times, but sometimes it stopped ringing; it wasn't reachable. I became even more worried and searched around him in the hall. I wouldn't forgive myself if anything bad happened to him. I have come to love him so much that I feel incomplete without him. I made my way to the stairs, searching the rooms there one by one, who knows if he was taking a nap.

The sounds of moans coming out of a particular room made me halt. I really wanted to leave the place, but my instinct kept drawing me back there. I tiptoed to the room in order to satisfy my curiosity, peeping into the room from the peephole, but couldn't see who it was clearly.

A voice made me stop abruptly in whatever I was doing, and I felt my heart beat a thousand miles.

"Yes, give it to me."

"I love that."

"Ouch! Yes, Nathan, right there, fuck me harder.

"Nathan? It can't be Nathan, right?" I muttered to myself, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. I tried reassuring myself that it couldn't be Nathan, my own boyfriend. But my mind kept saying the opposite. I pushed the door open, and surprisingly, it was him, the man I had learned to love, the man I was ready to do anything for. My own boyfriend was in bed with another woman, not just a random woman, my supposed best friend, Camilla. What was she doing here? I thought she was in Mexico.

"N-a-t-h-a-n," I called with a shaky voice, tears threatening to fall from my eyes as I watched my two most precious people on the bed together, shattering my heart. My whole life flashed in front of me as I felt a sharp pain cut through my heart.

"C-a-m-i-l-l-a," I stuttered, this time around the tears I was holding streamed down freely without any hinderance.

"HOW COULD YOU, NATHAN, HOW DARE YOU?" I yelled angrily, shooting them a dead glare. My head was banging repeatedly, and my eyes were so red with anger.

"I loved and cherish you; I ignored your stupid attitude and emotional blackmail just because I loved you; I allow you to treat me the way you want because I fucking love you, Nathan! So why did you have to do this to me? Tell me: WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE WITH MY FRIEND, MY BEST FRIEND NATHAN? Why?" I yelled furiously, my heart beating heavily and my hand banging barely; this was just so much to take in.

"It is not what you think, Aurora...

"Camilla tried explaining, but I shunned her up with a deadly glare.

"I don't want to ever see you two in my life again," I said, storming out of the room tearfully. Nathan ran behind me, trying to keep up with my pace, and when he finally did, I held my arm, but I yanked it off annoyingly. Everything he does irritates me.

"Don't, I repeat, don't you use your filthy hand to touch me, ever in your life, and let this be the first and last time you touch me," I spat out angrily before leaving the venue.

All my life, I had allowed Nathan to treat me the way he liked. I had endured his crazy behaviours because I was scared that if I spoke up, he would unlove me and I would not have someone to call mine, but now all the love I had for him has suddenly washed off. I felt so angry and pained right now that I allowed my tears to stream down without any obstruction.

"I flabbed down a cab and asked him to drive me down to the nearest bar house. My heart was feeling so heavy and it ached a lot. I was ready to drink out all my sorrows. I wanted something to relieve me from the pain.

The driver pulled the car into a halt at the front of a good-looking bar house.

"I'm sure they sell what would help you better here," the driver muttered. I smiled lightly and bowed, thanking him, before dragging my already weakened leg into the bar.

I ordered a bottle of tequila and gulped it down furiously. I was so drunk, but I wasn't ready to stop drinking. Tears kept streaming down my eyes as I remembered what had happened earlier.

"Why do I always have to be? So unfortunate with my life, what have I ever done wrong to warrant such betrayal? I loved Camilla like my family; I see her as more than a friend; she was always supportive of my every mood; and when Nathan started showing attitude, she was strongly against him and had advised me to leave him on several occasions; so how could she have done something so painful to me?

"I hate you. I hate all this. I screamed as I gulped down another heavy amount of alcohol.

"You should keep your voice down if you are ranting," a man beside me said. I gazed up, wanting to rant at him, but his dazzling blue eyes made whatever I was about to spit out stay in me.

He stood in close proximity to me; rage was written all over his face. It was obvious he was doing some critical thinking, and me ranting loudly over my heartbreak wasn't giving him the space he needed, but who cares? I was also hurting, and this was the only way I felt I could calm my burning heart.

"What, How does it affect you?" I said drunkly, but with annoyance, it was not as if the bar was for him, so why snoop his nose into someone else's business?

"You should shut your blabbering mouth and stop splintering about how your boyfriend cheated on you with your best friend; nobody cares, and if you hadn't been this stupid, I'm sure he would have dumbed your sorry ass," he replied sassily, obviously frustrated at my complaint. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Maybe he was right after all.

I was stupid, stupid not to know about whatever Camilla and Nathan were having, stupid for allowing Nathan to act anyhow towards me, stupid for falling deeply in love with him, stupid for trusting the both of them with my life, stupid for not noticing all this. I was indeed stupid.

"Yes, I'm stupid," I muttered loudly, crying out all my pain. I needed the pain out of my heart, but it was hard, like so hard.

After I was done drinking the whole bottle, I ordered another one and continued drinking. I was close to passing out but still didn't stop drinking.

"You need to go home; you are misbehaving," the handsome man's cute voice said. But his face was cecily strong.

"Homeeeee!"

"No, I don't want to go home; I want to stay here," I responded drunkenly.

"It's not your decision to make; you are going home now. I don't know why I feel concerned for you, but I guess I have no choice but to take you home, so it better you comply or I leave you here, to the exposure of the night," he said sternly, eyeing me with anger. He had this irritated look on his face; maybe that was because I had just ranted out a very stupid incident to him, but I was less concerned because the fact that he cares for me triggered something unexplainable in me.

I looked at him for a while before letting out a silly smile.

"Since you care so much about me, why don't you help me calm down or better still take me to your house since you are worried? I don't want to go home; I don't want to see those disloyal and betrayals," I said drunkly, my smiling face turning hard as I remembered Camilla and Nathan.

He gave me a naughty smirk, but quickly replaced it with a smile, his cold face never wearing off throughout. Something about his perfect cold face made my stomach tingle. I was so happy I could make him smile even in my drunken stage.

"If that is what you want," he said cockily.

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