Chapter 4

*CORA* In the next couple of days,I took over the department store and I did my best to distract myself with work. Just as Jerome had said,my employees were indeed glad to have me back and I was having quite a great time working in my store. It was one of the biggest departmental store in the city.There were different section in it,ranging from the jewelry section,clothing section,bag and shoes collections,hair accessories and lots more. I wondered what ever made me give this all up to be with Tristan. It was quite a stupid decision. *************** I had just gotten off the escalator when I ran into someone. Celia Godoy.She was Tristan’s mother. I sighed heavily as I stared at her. She stared back at me and then around the store as if I was in a place where I wasn’t supposed to be. “Did you seriously come to shop here?”She began. I only continued staring at her,reeling in all what she had done to me for the past three years. “So this is what you do all day?Spend Tristan’s money lavishly?You have been ignoring my texts but you had the guts to come to this place to shop?” I knew why she was so upset seeing me here. My departmental store was considered as a store for the elites because the elites loves getting products in limited edition. Hence,most of the people who shop here were from the upper class.Celia had always seen me as a pauper and gold digger and that is why she feels that I’m not supposed to be here. I wondered how she’d react if she finds out that I own this place. I still wondered why she always saw me as I gold digger,I never lived an extravagant life with Tristan but no matter how much I tried to prove that I wasn’t in it for the money,Celia just hated me more. “I have so many dirty dishes and dirty clothes plus my house is dirty,when are you coming over for your monthly clean up?!”Celia asked,looking at me disdainfully. She had so many servants,she had washing machine and dish washers but somehow since I married Tristan against her wishes,she had turned me to her washing machine,her dish washer,her gardener,her servant. At first,I thought doing everything she wanted would make her like me.I thought that if she could like me,Tristan would too but no matter how hard I tried to please her,her dislike for me increased. Looking back now,I felt so mad at myself,I felt so angry at how low I had stooped to get a man’s attention. “You’re such a dirty being!”I shot at her. I watched as her jaw dropped. This was the first time I was talking back at her and even insulting her and it seemed to have stunned her beyond words. “How dare you..?!” “No!How dare you think you can treat me like trash?I may have been a pushover to you but not anymore!Do not ever in your fucking life see me as a slave!” “Do you realize who you’re speaking to?Are you high on something,Cora?One call from me and Tristan would file for a divorce immediately.” That made me laughed.”That threat doesn’t work on me anymore.” Celia eyed me.”You think I’m joking?I’m going to call him right now!” “To hell with you and Tristan.I just need one favor from you,get lost and do not ever bother me again!”With that,I walked off,I didn’t want to bother with her anymore. And seeing her now made me more determined not to waste anymore time. Tristan and I had only signed the papers,we still needed to get it stamped at court.So tomorrow,I would go see him so we can get over the divorce proceedings as soon as possible. I didn’t want to have anything to do with him or his family ever again. ********** *TRISTAN* The following morning as I got ready for work,I am a bit surprised to be informed that my mom had come to me house and she wanted to see me urgently. Sighing,I headed downstairs to meet her fuming. What now? “Good morning,mother.”I began. “Tristan,you won’t believe what happened yesterday.”She began. “What happened?”I asked,pretending to be interested. “I ran into your wife at CW Departmental store,I barely said anything to her when she started insulting me,she called me dirty and all sorts of names,she even said to hell with the both of us.”My mother lashed out.”I’ve always told you,Trist that she is a terrible woman.” I rubbed my temple.”Cora wouldn’t do that.” Even if her outburst the last time we saw was still shocking to me but I knew Cora wasn’t the type to verbally abuse anyone. “You don’t believe me?You honestly think I’m lying?Then get her here right now?She had better be truthful and say everything that happened yesterday.Where’s that bitch?Cora!Cora!Co…” “She’s not here.”I cut in,calmly. “Where did she go to?To continue squandering your money?” “She moved out.We’re getting a divorce.” I saw the shock in my mother’s eyes. She was clearly not expecting to hear that. Her voice was low as she asked.”Really?Are you being serious right now?” “Yes.We already signed the papers.” “What…what happened?For three years,I tried my best to convince you that she wasn’t right for you?Did she finally show her true colors,son?Was that why you divorced her?” “She kinda suggested we get divorced.”I drawled. My mother’s face contorted in a frown. “She suggested the daughter?What was the lowlife feeling like?Anyway,that’s not important.I’m glad that evil woman is finally out of your life.” I just sighed,not really in the mood for the conversation. “That means it was a good thing I did inviting Phoebe over this morning . I glanced at her.”Over to where?” “To your house.” “Why?” “She had called me on the phone and she said she got me nice presents from Spain so I told her to meet me here.” I sighed,heavily. This mother of mine. What if I was still married? It wouldn’t have been right for Phoebe to come to this house. I quickly shook my head. When did I ever care about my marital status? ********** *CORA* I honestly didn’t want to meet Tristan up at his house.But when I got to his company,his secretary had informed me that he was still home. I really needed to walk through this divorce proceeding with him so we can get this over with once and for all so I headed off to his house. I mentally prepared myself to face him and not to be affected by anything. I have to get over him no matter what. The guards opened the main gates for me without any questions,it seems he didn’t tell them we were divorced or anything. As I got to the front door,I was about to knock when I heard a woman’s laughter. It was Celia. Great! Does she have to be here right now? And then I heard another familiar voice. “Do you like the bag,Mrs Godoy.” “Oh,Phoebe,I love it.I had actually gone to CW departmental store yesterday to get it but it was already sold out,you know this bag is only ten in the world,I can’t believe you got me one,you’re such a darling.” Phoebe? Phoebe was here too? How long had she been here? Did Tristan call her over the moment I left? Had they been having sex in every part of his house? I felt a sharp pain on a chest and I was about to turn around to leave when the door suddenly opened. I swallowed seeing the housekeeper.She had trash bags in her hands. “Oh,her,Mrs Godoy.”She began,smiling sweetly at me. “It’s…Cora.Just call me Cora now.”I said in a shaky voice. Since she had already seen me,I couldn’t flee now. She was certainly go tell Tristan that I came by and he might think I was stalking him. Lifting my chin up,I decided to go in and focus on my reason of being here. “I’ll go in.”I said awkwardly to her and walked in. Walking into the living room,I saw Celia,Phoebe and Tristan all sitting down,laughing and chatting. They all seemed to be in a good mood. He didn’t even wait for us to complete the divorce proceedings before bringing her into the house. I really had no chance with him. It pained me so much that I wasted three years dreaming of what would never happen. “Oh look,it’s your ex-wife.”Celia drawled,mockingly. Tristan turned to stare at me.”What are you doing here?”He asked. He sounded so cold. He wasn’t happy to see me at all. Was it so easy for him? Was this divorce process so easy for him. It hadn’t been easy for me at all. Even if I had been trying to distract myself with work but at the end of the day when I lay down to sleep,all I think of was him. My thoughts of him never end,my thoughts about the life we could have together. But now,standing here,in the presence of his mother and his mistress,he was making me feel so small. I glanced at Phoebe and she was smirking at me. That video flashed through my head and my fingers clenched around the document I was holding.