RACHEL:
Chloe's slap burned on my cheek but it was nothing compared to the sting of Austin's words.
"That's enough, Rachel!" He had barked. And it wasn't to Chloe but to me.
Me.
I was frozen on the spot as my heart hammered against my chest. Hearing Chloe whimpering like she had been wronged while she stood behind Austin only made me irritated. That irritation was mostly clouded by the pain I was feeling from Austin's action.
The worst part about it all was that he didn't push her away. Even as she gripped his arm possessively, he didn't turn her away. He instead patted her hand as if to console her.
"Austin?" My voice couldn't let me speak as coherent as I should but I managed to. "Are you really going to do this?"
His jaw tightened as his demeanour became even colder than it was before. "Am I going to do what? Watch as you pick on Chloe?"
Pick on Chloe? What is he talking about?
"She just slapped me and the only thing you can say is that I'm picking on her?" I asked, mostly surprised than hurt.
"If you hadn't provoked her, she wouldn't have done that. I would suggest that you leave it, Rachel. Walk away now," he said.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to lash out at him and demanded answers but what was the point? What answers do I want to get from a man who had chosen his side and it wasn't me?
I was still contemplating what to say next. My thoughts were mixing up with the murmurs from the crowd around as they focused on the center of attention which was us. How much I hated it.
Daniel suddenly appeared by my side, his presence bringing forth a sort of comfort I needed at that moment.
"Let's go," he murmured into my ear and placed a firm hand on my back.
I didn't protest as he began to guide me out of the hall. My body was numb as we did so and I had to force myself not to look back at Austin and his lover.
I didn't need to because one thing was certain — Austin wouldn't come after me.
_____________
The flight back to New York was awfully quiet. Daniel insisted on going back with me and so I had him sitting beside me on the plane.
I could hear his fingers drumming against the armrest occasionally. I knew he was waiting for me to speak but I didn't. I couldn't bring myself to as my thoughts were tangled. It was the same way I hardly said a word to him last night as well as he drove me to the hotel which I stayed in.
My head kept replaying every moment at the auction over and over again, mostly focusing on the one scene that had ruined my mood. How Austin had been so quick to defend Chloe even though I was still his wife.
How did we end up here? How did the man who once chased me relentlessly suddenly decided not to have any affection for me? Is that how the whole love thing works?
Nothing could make the hurt I felt any less. I couldn't even take the thought off my head and neither could I get answers to my questions.
I was going to head straight for a taxi when we landed until Daniel held me back by the arm. He turned me around to face him and I noticed the hint of hesitation on his expression.
"Stay with me tonight," he said, finally breaking the silence between the two of us.
My brows were instantly raised. "What? Why?"
His expression was unreadable. "It's just for tonight. I don't want you to be alone and it's going to eat me up so bad if I let you be all by yourself," he said, concern lacing in his tone.
I wasn't sure whether to say no or accept his offer as tempting as it was. I don't need to be taken care of but there was a part of me that actually wanted that treatment. A part that was exhausted and was barely holding itself together.
"Just for tonight," I said, reiterating his last statement as I agreed to his words.
As soon as I took a step forward to leave with him, my phone buzzed with a notification. I wanted to ignore it but then I found myself glancing at the screen of my phone.
It was a post from Chloe with Alexander sitting beside her. 'Finally some peace' was the caption and I felt a bile rising in my throat. It didn't shock me to see that Austin already liked the post.
I sighed, putting my phone back into my bag. I guess I was just practice to him.
