Chapter 4 The Engagement Revelation

I thought I had seen wickedness when Victoria Mogul walked into the diner and tore me down in front of strangers. I thought her words were the sharpest blade a woman like me could take.

But I was wrong.

The real wound came a week later. Mark lied to me.

It was a Sunday morning, Lily and I were sharing pancakes I made with our last cup of flour. She had poured syrup on her dress and was laughing at her mess when I saw the news on the the television. .

The bold letters screamed at me from the screen.

"Mogul Heir Engaged to Model Emily Vanclair."

My heart stopped.

Under the headline was a photograph of Mark, my Mark, who had kissed me that empty night at the diner. He was standing beside a woman who looked like she was made from perfection itself.

She was slim, curvy, elegant, and had lips and body type any man would kill for. She was sexy as hell! She wore a white silk gown that accentuated all her curves. Her arm was hooked through his like a leech.

Her smile was flawless, her teeth were the perfect white colour and everything about was stinkingly rich.

I couldn't breathe.

The newscaster kept talking about how Emily Vanclair, international model and heiress, was the perfect match for Mark Mogul. It spoke of their families' long-standing ties, their combined wealth and the "wedding of the century" that would merge their business empires.

And not once, not once, did it mention love. If I was the one he loved, why was he doing this? My knees felt weak and I wanted to faint.

I started shaking as I heard the words, next thing I knew, I began to shed tears. Lily was pulling my sleeve, her small voice breaking through my meltdown.

"Mummy? Why are you crying?"

I turned off the television, quickly wiped my tears and forced a smile that I didn't feel. "It's nothing, sweetheart. Just... nothing."

But inside, my heart was splitting open.

Mark had betrayed me. He lied to me and treated me like some cheap whore, like one of his flings.

When Mark came to the diner that night, I was waiting.

He walked in as if nothing happened, his smile was warm, and his eyes were searching for mine. But I couldn't smile back. I couldn't pretend.

"Clara," he said softly, coming closer to me.

The warmth of breath on my face threatened to melt the brewing anger inside of me. Every fibre of my being wanted him, his perfume made me feel like a gigglish little girl. I wanted him to touch me everywhere.

But I gathered myself together and showed him the blog post of he and Emilyon my phone. I managed to ask him weakly despite my sexual heat in the monent.

"What is this?"

His face lost its excitement as he looked at the headline. "Clara, I can explain..."

"Explain?" My voice was loud with anger and my hands trembed. "Explain how you stood there with her, smiling for cameras, while I was here believing the things you told me? And what was that stupid kiss the other night? Am I just one of your cheap whores?"

"Clara, please." His voice was pleading for my understanding, his hand kept reaching for mine, but I pulled back as soon as they touched me.

"It's not real. It's my parents. They arranged this. I didn't agree to it." he said.

"What does that even mean?'' Anger was boiling on my insides. " You're lying to me. Why didn't you stop it?," I yelled, my tears falling freely now.

"You let them use your life, your future, and you just stood there beside her. Worse still, you lied to me Mark. You lied to me!" I broke down in hot tears and sat on one of the customer chairs. .

"I had no choice. He said in a whisper. "They threatened to cut me off completely, to ruin you if I refused. You don't understand the lengths they'll go to."

"I do understand!" I snapped, raising my voice again."Your mother already came here, Mark. She humiliated me in front of everyone, called my daughter an imbecile. And now this? "So you're scared of loosing your fortune? I thought you said you wanted to fight for our love?''

He didn't say a word. Then I realized that my anger was nothing to him. He used to be a playboy,so he was used to whores screaming at him. So, I calmed down.

"I don't even know why I'm upset. It's not like you proposed to me. I was just too stupid to believe that I meant anything to you." My voice dropped to a whisper again.

"Do you know what this feels like? To be the secret in your shadow while the whole world celebrates your engagement to someone else?"

His face broke down with guilt. "Clara, you're not a secret to me. You're the only real thing I have had in years. Emily means nothing. It's you I..." He stopped talking, it was like his throat went dry.

"You belong in her world, not mine," I whispered in tears. "And one day, you'll realise that. You'll choose her. Because your family will never let you choose me."

His eyes burned with an fierce emotion that frightened the hell out of me. "No! Clara, they can control everything else, but they don't get to decide who I love. Please."

He was begging me like a child that was scared of being punished. The heir to the Mogul Incorporated at my feet like a common beggar. My heart sank.

My knees went weak, and my tears were choking in my throat. But before I could speak, the diner door opened and the devil walked in.

Emily Vanclair.

She was even more beautiful in person with flawless skin, and long legs that carried her like a queen into my small world. Her eyes looked through the diner with mild disgust before resting on Mark.

"Darling," she said sweetly, speaking like she owned him. "There you are. Your mother said I might find you here."

My stomach twisted. The way she said "darling" made me want to run and hide. I felt humiliated by Mark. It because of him that she was ridiculing the diner that fed me and my child.

Mark's face was completely white.. "Emily, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," she replied smoothly, ignoring me completely. She sat on the stool beside him, her manicured fingers brushing his sleeve like she already owned him. "We have a photoshoot tomorrow, remember? Vogue wants us on the cover of their magazine as the couple of the year."

My breath stopped. "Couple of the year". It was like someone was pounding nails into my chest.

Finally, Emily looked at me, and the disgust in her eyes nearly made me faint. She gave a degrading little smile. "You must be the waitress or sorry my husband to be's uhm.... cheap hobby."

The room started spinning. My vision blurred with tears, but I refused to let her see me break.

I stood tall, though my voice was shaking when I said, "Your table's that way if you're ordering. If not, you should leave."

Her laugh was sharp, like glass shattering. "You're fierce. I see why Mark chose you to satisfy his urges."

"Emily!" Mark yelled at her angrily. "Don't speak to her like that"

She ignored him and moved closer to me, her voice was low but was loud enough for me to hear. "Understand this, Clara, you'll never win. Men like Mark might play with women like you, but they always marry women like me."

I froze, her words hit every hidden fear I had.

Mark hit his hand on the table, his voice was more serious this time. "Enough, Emily! You don't get to talk to her like that."

She didn't even move. "Then perhaps you should stop giving her reasons to believe she matters."

The silence that followed was suffocating. My heart pounded, my hands kept trembling, and I knew I couldn't stay there another second.

"I have customers," I said faintly, turning away before they saw the tears spilling down my cheeks.

Mark called me, but I didn't stop.