Chapter 3 ALEXANDER VIRELLI

Two days before the fashion show, I arrived home from work, heavily exhausted from work. As usual, Daphne was there, seated on the living room couch.

"So, you're just going to ignore me forever?" she asked, her voice full with frustration.

I didn't say a word, I refused to engage with her.

"Vee, I'm so sorry," she continued, her tone was softer.

Her words made me pause, but I was still mad at her. Just looking at her made me angry.

"How long have you been sleeping with him?" I demanded; keeping my voice sharp.

Judging by the way her face paled, I knew I had caught her off guard. She looked away, avoiding looking at me.

"That's not important," she muttered.

"Tell me," I insisted, I was getting impatient.

She hesitated a bit before finally admitting, "About a year."

A whole Year

Her words reopened wounds. The month I had spent avoiding them, trying to heal, suddenly felt useless. The hurt was just as the day I found out. If not worse than that.

"I really am sorry," she murmured.

I didn't want to hear her apologies, it wasn't going to make me forgive them.

I didn't respond. Instead, I turned and walked straight to my room, shutting the door behind me. In that moment, I wished I could leave but I had already paid the rent, and I had nowhere else to go. I couldn't afford to go anywhere.

I stayed in my room crying, till the next day.

The documents were set to be signed the following day, marking the end of Mr. Mason Virelli's Era. As I stepped into Virelli Headquarters, I knew it would be the last time I walked through those doors with Mason Virelli as my boss. For the last time, I prepared his coffee black, with one cube of sugar. The seriousness of the moment made me emotional.

I remembered the day I first met him, I had just gotten a job at the company, I learnt about his reputation as a cold, thorough businessman. I was so scared I could barely keep conversation. I smiled fondly as I remembered his first words to me.

"why can't you hear the pterodactyl go to the bathroom?" he asked with a straight face,

"huh" I said as my eyes darted around the room before looking back at him he repeated the question.

"I- I don't know" I replied

"Because the p is silent" he said before letting out the loudest laugh I had ever heard. He apparently found it to be the funniest thing in the world, I didn't find it funny but it helped me relax as I joined in laughing.

As I walked into his office, I found him discussing with a man whose back was turned to me.

"Veronica," Mr. Virelli said, motioning for me to come forward. "Meet my son, Alexander Virelli."

He turned and suddenly, I understood why his name carried such intrigue. His photos had not done any justice to him. With dark hair, piercing deep blue eyes, and a sharp jawline, he was the physical embodiment of perfection. If I had ever imagined Mr. Virelli in his younger years, Alexander was his spitting image.

He rose to his feet, his presence carried confidence that drew attention easily.

"Veronica, I've heard so much about you," he said, his voice smooth.

Was that a slight accent I heard?

I wondered how someone be completely captivating just by the way they spoke? Somehow, it almost had me in a trance.

"Nice to meet you too," I responded, hoping that I didn't show what I was thinking in any way.

"So, do I call you Mr. Virelli Junior?" I asked

"Alexander is fine" he chuckled

"Finally!" Mr. Virelli exclaimed. "Shall we?" He gestured forward, and we made our way to the boardroom.

Alexander formally introduced himself, his was clearly very excited as he expressed to the board how thrilled he was to finally be there. I did my best not to stare, but I couldn't help but admire how effortlessly he had conversations with the shareholders.

By the end of the meeting, Mr. Mason Virelli was officially no longer the CEO of Virelli Corporations.

As we stepped out of the room, I turned to him. "So, what's next for you, Mr. Virelli?"

He smiled. "I think I'll take a vacation."

"I wish you all the best. I'm going to miss you, we all will." I swallowed fighting the tears. He gently pulled me to a hug, I was teary.

" How are we supposed to manage without you?" I said, sniffling

"I'll miss you all too," Mr. Virelli replied. "I'm sure he'll surpass me. Just have a little faith in him."

I nodded in understanding, leaving him with his son and heading over to Jillian, who was sorting through the designs after the dress rehearsals.

"Hey, Jilly," I greeted. "All set?"

"Yes, finally," she sighed.

"They look stunning," I remarked.

"Thank you, darling," she replied, offering a tired yet satisfied smile.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Perfect," she said, carefully placing the design into its bag. "How about you?"

I shrugged.

"So, Mason's finally retired, huh?" she said with a small smile.

"Why, will you miss me?" Mason's voice came from behind me, catching me off guard.

"Of course not, that was excitement in my tone," she quipped, adjusting her glasses.

"Denial. You know I can always tell when you're lying," he said, smiling.

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously not, because then you'd know I'm genuinely happy you're leaving."

She was lying. we all knew it. A smile tugged at my lips as she hugged him. I had never seen that before; they were usually at each other's throats.

"I knew it," Mason said.

"Shut up," she shot back quickly.

I ended up staying later than usual that evening, reviewing a few things with Alexander. Surprisingly, the senior Mr. Virelli spent the day with Jillian though I suspected it was mostly to discuss the show.

As I stepped outside, I noticed a man standing by my car. My stomach tightened the moment he turned to face me.

"Silas? What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice wary.

"Can we talk?" he said.

I hesitated, weighing my options, then let out a sigh. "Alright," I finally agreed.

We sat down at a diner near the company.

"Want to order something?" he asked, but I just stared at him in silence.

"Right," he muttered, then sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Daphne, seriously?" I scoffed.

"I'm sorry, okay? I really am," he insisted, as if that was supposed to fix everything.

"Why?" I asked, my voice heavy with frustration.

"Five years together just thrown away."

"I don't think you want to hear it," he said. It was typical of him always blunt.

"No, I do. I really do," I replied firmly.

"I lost feelings, okay?" he admitted. "I mean, look at you... plain and boring. You're not exactly the kind of person I see myself with for the rest of my life."

I blinked as I took in His hurtful words. It wrecked me.

"So you cheated on me because I'm ugly?" My voice cracked as I spoke.

"That's not what I meant, it's just-" he trailed off. "The point is, you didn't deserve it."

"Do you love her?" I asked.

He looked away, guilt was written all over his face.

"You could have just broken up with me, you know," I said, my tears blurred my vision.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

I pushed back my chair abruptly, standing up in anger. As I turned to leave, I caught sight of Linda and Marco a few booths away, their eyes on me.

Great, I thought. They saw everything. I hurried away before they had the chance to speak.

As I reached my car, my hands trembled, causing me to drop my keys.

"Veronica, are you okay?" a familiar voice asked.

"I'm fine," I answered, forcing a tearful smile at Alexander.

I drove off, my face wet with tears. When I glanced at myself in the rear-view mirror, I barely recognized the reflection staring back. Suddenly I didn't see any feature on me that was good, everything about me was ugly.

No wonder he cheated.