Betrayed by him, I finally decided to leave

Just as I had guessed it took Xavier twenty minutes to wrap up the party completely and come to the first floor as directed.

With Julia holding onto his arm he was followed by the entire group of friends with traces of anger on their faces.

Entering inside the lights were dimmed, casting a golden tint on the walls. And there was a display of our entire life on the walls.

Our photographs.

Dozens of them, framed and pinned and strung across the room. Candid shots I had taken of mine and Xavier over the years.

Photos of us. At the park, in winter snow, under fireworks. And amidst everything in the center stood something that Xavier once considered his most prized possession.

A small teddy bear with one crooked eye.

A small, almost unintended laugh left his mouth.

“Carnival” he whispered. “To think I once won this for her. Aria has kept it preserved for so many years.”

He barely touched it when more than fifty guests entered, many of them were close investors while others were shareholders and managers at Avalon Enterprises.

Xavier saw me standing right across from him and the atmosphere froze as he realized that I had publicly announced our relationship.

smile as the investors sat

Yet the next words made me stumble back in horror as I clutched my mouth hard.

“What the actual hell is this?” Xavier’s voice sliced through the atmosphere as he whisper yelled at me.

“Why are you here at all and to think you decorated my party with these stupid photos!”

‘Stupid’

“Why? You don't like it?” I said with a serene smile.

Xavier’s words stung me hard yet I maintained a composed face.

“Aria! You broke into a hotel room to throw a creepy nostalgia fest and you dare ask if I like it?”

“Xavier please” Julia stepped in, her voice trembling. “I…I was actually the one who invited Aria. Y-Yesterday it was because of me that there were so many misunderstandings between you two…”Julia came infront of me with a smile yet the deep chilling smile in her eyes could not be mistaken at all.

“I think Aria had set up the photos to surprise you.” Xavier’s anger spiked instantly as he glared at me pulling Julia to his side as if afraid that I would harm his innocent woman.

The gesture alone was enough to devastate me once yet now I only felt numb.

“Julia, have you forgotten that you were almost harmed yesterday?! Aria has been bullying you and you still try to make peace with her?” Xavier asked as his cold glare fell upon me.

“You are taking Julia’s side as if she is your girlfriend not me.”

I spoke with a volume which made the people pause and look at Xavier and me all of a sudden making Julia suppress her anger.

“No..how can you misunderstand everything Aria. Xavier please,the thing about Aria pouring coffee all over my head was an accident. Please? This party is important for us-”

Before Julia could complete her dramatic speech she was blocked by Alan Sanders, the young billionaire who invested heavily in top market companies.

“Mr. Stone, is it true that Miss Aria is your girlfriend? I had long thought to invest a billion dollars into your jewelry enterprise after seeing the previous masterpieces created by Miss Aria.

What stopped me previously was the fear that she would resign anytime and my funds would go to waste. If both of you are a couple then when Miss Aria marries you my investments can remain in safe hands, so is it true?”

Xavier couldn’t answer.

This moment felt bizarre, he was surely going to marry Julia tomorrow so why was he not able to tell proudly that his wife to be was Julia Lest and not me?

He felt strange when was he not able to tell me on my face that he wanted to break it off.

“We have the same question Mr.Stone.”

A glimmer of guilt of not marrying me even after a long relationship of ten years stomped on his heart as Xavier’s eyes locked with mine for a moment as they softened making Julia who was looking at everything watch our interaction with bloodshot eyes.

“Aria is a very important person-”

“My involvement with your investment with be difficult Mr. Sanders. Only a few people know that those jewelry worth millions of dollars were explicitly designed by me. I have no patent rights on those pieces and in future if I take their references or launch new pieces in their collection anyone can blame me for stealing from others.”

“I will give you the rights of the jewelry that you designed.” Xavier said suddenly feeling like he should at least compensate me this much, afterall I will be his employee even if he marries Julia.

With a call to the office he asked the manager to immediately transfer the patents to my name.

While he was in the middle of talking about the deal with Mr.Sanders, a sudden boom resonated throughout the atmosphere and the power supply was suddenly cut off completely with an electric spark.

“Xavier! The smoke..I-I cannot breathe.!” It was at that moment Xavier rushed to the side of a crying Julia who was standing next to my burning photos with Xavier.

“The photos-” I whispered only for Xavier to snap at me.

“Some weird old photographs and a torn teddy bear are not worth risking Julia’s health! Stop this party at this moment!”

My heart went numb as I watched the things I decorated go up in flames.

Within the chaos I saw Xavier embracing Julia in his arms tightly as he rushed out of the hall with her while leaving me behind with our memories burning to ashes.