The Betrayed Ex-wife's Revenge

Imela Barau's POV

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Blink.

Repeat.

All the coping lessons I gave myself for thirty minutes while we drove over here had suddenly become useless, as none of them were helping me face the beat of the drum. My heart hammered against my chest, and sweat trickled down my face as I bit down on my lower lip, waiting for the reaction of the speechless family at the dinner table to the news.

"You asked her to marry you?" Ivory Plane, Oliver's mother, exclaimed as her green eyes darted between us in horror, as if those words were the worst thing she had ever heard. Her complete disapproval bore itself in her poised, high-pitched voice.

Oliver Plane dropped the bomb a minute ago. It was the news of our engagement at the dinner table, and a minute of silence passed with the gazes of the other four Planes at the table darting between us.

"I am very sure that is what I just said a minute ago, Mom." Oliver, who hadn't picked up all the cues his mother had laid since he stepped into the house hand in hand with me, asked.

I stayed still in my seat, like one drenched in cold, dirty water, unable to blink or even breathe, when Ivory's murderous gaze swept over to me. I always pictured myself dying at a ripe old age, but seated here and now, I felt my death wasn't so far away.

I wasn't poorly dressed. I wore a red asymmetrical dress which Elena, my grandma, bought me on my 21st birthday four months ago after saving up for five months. It was lovely, and I reserved it to be worn only on special occasions like tonight. Ivory's eyes, however, made me feel like I wore filth from my head down to my toe as her disgust-filled eyes raked over me.

My hands tightened around my cutlery because we had barely finished eating when Oliver dropped the news of our engagement on them, probably hoping for a better reaction than the one he was currently receiving.

Ivory had asked who I was, wanting to chit-chat despite the disdain and obvious resentment she bore for my presence, and Oliver introduced me to them as his fiancée.

When Oliver Plane asked me to marry him, I only thought about spending forever with the man I love and growing together to a ripe old age. I didn't think too far into the reality of what that meant, and that was my error. This, right here, is what it meant.

"Congratulations, brother," Nina said happily, and she was the first on the table to show a genuine reaction. She was Oliver's younger sister of three years, who was studying at Harvard Law. The nineteen-year-old rose from her seat and gave him a warm hug in a show of support.

If looks could kill, Ivory Plane would have murdered her youngest child at that very moment.

"Thank you," Oliver said with a radiant smile, and Nina's green eyes dimmed as she returned his smile.

"Congratulations?" Ivory scoffed, and this turned the two siblings' attention to her. "This is madness! He is literally throwing his life away, and on whom? Her?" Her cold, burning gaze once again seized me from head down to my finger, and her cheeks turned red from visible rage.

"You are being dramatic, Mom, as always." Nina brushed it off casually.

Oh, it was nice that one out of the four Planes that heard the news was all welcoming. Two against three wasn't a very hopeful look.

I never thought I would be one to turn a family against themselves, but here I was, doing a fine job at that.

Ivory once again looks so close to murdering her child. "Stop talking, Nina, for your own sake." She said it gracefully, even though her eyes warned the girl that she was this close to meeting a cruel fate if she kept talking.

Nina scoffed and reluctantly returned to her seat.

My hands on the table trembled, and I withdrew them and placed them on my lap where no one would see them.

Oliver noticed because he reached out, placed his hand tenderly on mine, and squeezed on it. "In what way am I throwing my life away? What is wrong with Imela?" Oliver demanded.

Ivory threw her hands up as if the answer to the question was so obvious to anyone looking. "What do you know about her? What does her mother do? Who is her father? What does he do? These are the things you took into consideration before-"

"Before what?" Oliver challenged with a raised brow, not letting her finish. His voice was becoming rigid, and I knew he was close to losing control. "Before falling in love and wanting to spend the rest of my life with someone? What do her father and mother have to do with the fact that I love her?" He adjusted the blue tie he had on and undid the few top buttons of his white inner shirt.

I could tell he wanted to get out of this three-piece suit.

"Son, marriage is a serious commitment, not just something you run into because you feel like it." Robert Plane spoke up for the first time since his son dropped the bomb on them.

With his line of speech, it showed he was choosing his wife's side and not Oliver's.

The odds weren't in our favour.

"Of course not, Dad; I am supposed to treat it like a business transaction like you and Mom have for thirty years, hating who you married and wishing nothing but death upon them, but staying married because it is good for business." He answered.

Robert slammed his hand against the table, startling everyone seated. "Enough!"

"You will speak to your father and me with respect." Ivory snapped, turning her fury on Oliver.

Oliver looked anything but ready to do as he was told. "You have shown little to no respect to Imela since she got here, and you do not even know her."

Ivory's attention, once again, moved to me, and they became as hard as rocks. Her green eyes pierced into me as if they could see my soul.

Her gaze darkened, and anger flared in her eyes. "I do not need to know her to know her type. She's a gold digger, a manipulator, one who sees a boy from a wealthy family and lashes onto him for as long as she can. She is the kind that will take all that she can from him before leaving him for dead." Ivory poured out on me, her tone brittle with annoyance.

Silence once again engulfed everyone, and the only noise heard was a clock hanging on the wall in the living room.

I gasped, and a tear dropped. I felt a stab in my chest, unable to bear her crude words.

Nina glanced at me with a pitiful look on her face and said, "If I were you, I'd get as far from this cursed family as possible; we ruin everything we touch and try to love." She advised, and there was no sarcasm in her tone.

Oliver threw the serviette down on the table, rose to his feet, and turned his attention to me. "I am sorry you had to sit through this hell called dinner. I will not keep you anymore and burden you with this madness." He offered me his hand. "Let's get out of here."

"Oliver, do not walk out on us; this dinner isn't over," Robert said in a commanding tone.

"It is for me and my fiancée." He replied, not breaking his gaze on me.

I took his hand, and I felt much strength return to my legs as he pulled me up.

He wrapped his arms protectively around me as soon as I fully rose, and without looking back at those still seated at the table, he led me away from the hell called dinner.

Xoxo

Hello, thanks for opening. I hope you will enjoy your read.

Also, the playlist for this book is as follows: Until I Found You - Stephen Sanchez

Say Yes To Heaven - Lana Del Ray

I Want You Anyway - Jon McLaughlin

The Night We Met - Lord Huron

Before You Leave Me- Alex Warren

Can't Lose - I.B.K

The Good Ones - Gabby Barrett

Another Love - Tom Odell

Daylight - David Kushner

Wait For Me - Johnny Drille

Steady My Heart - Kari Jobe

Rivers Flows In You - Yiruma

Wonder- Shawn Mendes

These songs are always in replay and help set the options and rhythm for the book. Hope you love them XD.

Oliver and I stepped out of the multimillion-dollar, architecturally refined mansion into the compound of the Planes. The fluorescent lighting illuminated the night to show the path for the exit, and it was a work of art, amongst many others. Finally, outside and alone with Oliver, I drew a long breath.

He still wrapped his arms around me, and if only he knew how much strength he had given me. I didn't expect him to go to the lengths he had gone for me today, but I appreciated that he defended my honour. Still, I didn't want him to be on bad terms with his family because of me.

We walked to Oliver's car in silence, and he opened the door to me.

"Again, I am sorry for what happened back there," he began.

"I told you our kinds don't mix from the beginning," I said at the same time.

He paused, taken off guard by the line of my sentence, and released his hand around me. I glanced at him and found a look of confusion and betrayal on his face as he stared at me.

"Are you saying my mother is right with her cruel criticism and treatment, then? You also believe money, class, and fame are everything and should dictate someone's actions."

I shook my head. "No, Olly."

His displeasure showed itself as a frown on his face, causing a wrinkle at the side of his eyes. "Then what? Was I wrong to ask you to marry me?"

"Oliver, no. Your family disapproves. Can't you see that? What happened in there is what happens when someone isn't accepted into a family." I explained it to him because I felt he wasn't grasping the situation. "I don't think we are ever going to get along. I know they will never like or accept me, especially your mother."

His frown disappeared, and finally, he looked to understand the point I was making. "You are not marrying them," he said, pulling me closer and wrapping his arms around me. I felt safer in his embrace.

"You are marrying me," he continued. "Oliver Plane, or I can be Oliver Barau if that is what you want; I haven't thought that far yet."

I smiled and shook my head, which lay against his chest. He knew all the right words, even without thinking about it.

"Blane sounds nice," I said, peeking up at him.

He grinned at me, and his blue eyes flickered at the lightning. "I like it too."

I got into Harvard Business School on merit. I had smashed my final exams and emerged as the country's best student. Impressed, the minister of education decided to sponsor my studies at any university of my choice.

I chose Harvard because it was prestigious and outstanding in academic performance compared to others, and I chose business administration. I would have never been able to afford to come here alone because I lived with my grandma, and she could only do so much financially.

This was an opportunity I didn't plan to throw away. I knew coming to Harvard meant I would meet people from notable families, but I was here to study and had no reason to bother myself.

Oliver Plane was the son of Ivory and Robert Plane, but I didn't know that when I first met him and his brother. The Planes were among the country's top ten wealthiest families, according to Forbes. They were also said to be a powerful family, and with their reputation in aviation, they stood to get more prosperous in the coming years.

Oliver was very good at keeping a low profile on his life, and who he was, and for a while, I thought he was just like me, a student who got in through merit or sponsorship. I wanted to believe that because it was easier.

I didn't come to the university to fall in love, but fate worked differently. The blue-eyed boy was charming and funny and, most of all, a gentleman, and my heart was not strong enough to stay firm.

The truth about Oliver's family came three weeks after meeting him, and we were on our third date. I had already fallen in love with the man, but realising who he was sent me running the other way.

I avoided him for the following two weeks, and when he asked why I had changed, I told him that his kind didn't mix with mine.

He asked what his kind was, and I told him his kind were the wealthy and powerful, and he needed to stick to them.

Oh, he didn't like that, and he told me he thought I would be different from others.

He asked if I would be like everyone in his life and define him by his family or if I would let him show me who he was.

I grew up thinking all children born into wealthy families were natural assholes who cared nothing about anyone but themselves. I held to that belief system until I got to know Oliver, and that all changed.

He was funny, kind, and caring. Falling in love with him was easy, but I knew what that meant. He told me he didn't grow up in a family where love was shown, and he wanted to love and be loved.

It was expected; his favourite song was I Want You Anyway by Jon McLaughlin.

He told me he loved me soon after, and I believed him. I knew I would fall for him when he smiled at me at the university's clinic, and I feared I might not survive it.

We were both crazy, and we knew it, but we didn't want to live any other way.

He asked me to marry him this morning, which officially made it three months since our first meeting and later date.

The first words that came out of my mouth in response were, "I'm scared," to which he laughed.

Then he told me that wasn't the answer to his question.

I told him I wanted to marry him, and he said, "Then say yes."

I did, and now we are here.

Oliver leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose, "I need to get us out of here because I don't know about you, but I do not want to be here anymore."

I nodded, and I almost got into the car when we heard, "Oliver, Imela. Hey."

It was Seth.

We turned around to find him standing there with an awkward look.

"Hey," I responded, and Oliver gave me a look of disbelief before staring back at his brother.

"Hey?" he scoffed. "Thanks for having my back in there, Seth."

Seth had stayed silent throughout the throw-down at the table, refusing to take a side.

Seth took a step forward. "I am already a black sheep of the family; my opinion doesn't count in there, and you know that," he said in his defence.

Oliver told me their parents felt disappointed when they discovered their first son had developed a diehard passion for art and not business studies, as they had hoped. They felt disappointed and shifted their love and dedication to Oliver, who was now betraying them.

"It doesn't matter; I have always had your back; it would have been nice if you returned the favour," Oliver answered.

"Then I am sorry," Seth said. "But you didn't tell me you were engaged to Imela; we have never kept anything from each other before, and I was as shocked as everyone." He accused in a disappointed tone.

A smile came onto Oliver's face, and he turned to look at me and rub my shoulders. "I did this morning; we are still getting used to it."

A smile came into his face, but it was soon replaced with regret. "Congratulations to both of you, but I don't think you can continue with this engagement," he said.

Watching Oliver's emotions go from happy to murderous in a second was unbelievable. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dad said they would disown you if you keep pursuing this crazy idea, and I think they mean it." He answered.

Oliver stepped into the hallway of the hospital ward and approached the nurse at the counter to ask where Elena's ward was, trying to find it with his eyes. My heart skipped at seeing him, and my palms grew sweaty. I couldn't help the smile that curled its way into my face, and it took a few seconds for him to find me. When he did, his smile was wide and blinding.

Oh, this man with his goofy smile was as beautiful as they came.

He had an untucked grey shirt with its sleeves rolled up on a pair of plain black trousers. His short, silky blond hair looked ruffled, and though this wasn't his best look, he still killed it.

He stopped speaking to the nurse and hurried over to me. His eyes filled with adoration as he stared at me as if he hadn't seen anything better.

This wasn't my best look. I wore a red sundress that stopped on my knee and a pair of black slip-ons. My coarse hair was in a messy ponytail, and my glasses kept falling off my nose today. I was tired.

"Hey, beautiful," he said, pulling me into a tight bear hug.

He thought differently.

I wrapped my arms around what I could of him and buried my face in his chest, inhaling his scent and feeling at ease.

My grandmother, Elena getting into an accident was the last thing I expected when I entered the new week. I was barely done with my last class at 1 p.m. when I got a call from Mount Auburn's Hospital informing me about my grandmother's accident.

I left for the hospital immediately after completing my test and called Oliver and told him what had happened. He promised he would be there as soon as his test ended, and that was a few more hours the I called my uncle.

My mother died a few hours after I was born; she had haemorrhaged beyond control, and the doctors couldn't save her. I never knew my father, and Elena called him a tourist who had swept my mother off her feet when he visited our country.

Elena became my mother and my grandmother, providing the care I needed and never failing to tell me about how loving and kind my mother was. Fate was cruel, but I was loved and cared for, and though it didn't take the longing of a mother away, it helped make it less.

Elena was the best grandma I could have ever asked for. She was my friend and my number one fan. When I got the educational sponsorship to study here, she came with me. Her son and his family were already in the States, which made things easier and here we are three years later.

Despite everything I appreciated Oliver being here even more than he knew.

Oliver didn't take his parents' threat of disownment seriously because he didn't end things with me like I expected him to.

We had left four days ago after Seth had told us what their parents said, and when I asked what his thoughts were on it all, he told me he had everything under control.

The next day, he texted if I was up for a karaoke date. When I hesitated in responding to his message, he sent me a cute puppy face, and who was I to say no? We have carried on even though the world breathed thunder and brimstones. When I expressed my concerns to Elena, she told me to follow my heart. My heart felt secure with Oliver, and so I followed it.

I didn't expect to find Ivory at my place two days later, but that happened. She had come to ask me to stay away from her son, and from the look of it, it took a lot of effort for her to take that step. She asked how much I needed to leave Oliver for good. I was surprised but knew I shouldn't be; she called me a gold digger, and so she believed I was the worst of the worst.

I told her I didn't want his money or hers, and she scoffed, not believing my words. She told me I wasn't the first woman to have tried scheming into Oliver's heart, and I wouldn't be the last. She advised me to take the money before it was too late, then took her leave.

I told Oliver about his mother's visit, and though visibly angry, he comforted me and apologised on his mother's behalf. He promised they would eventually get tired when they realised he was serious about me.

He pulled away from our loving hug and tucked my hair behind my ears, the smile he had on his face earlier lingering. "Hey," I said, unable to break my gaze from him.

"How is she?" he asked, going to the reason we were both at the hospital.

"She's fine; the doctor advised that she reduce the stress she takes on herself."

His hand caressed my face tenderly, and unable to fight the urge, I leaned in for another hug. "I am glad she is fine; I was a little worried."

"I didn't mean to do that to you," I honestly revealed, pulling back.

He shook his head, lightly brushing it off. "It's nothing; besides, it's Elena. She's family at this point."

"I love you." Was all I could say.

He warmed up to my words, and his blue eyes flickered with adoration. "I know."

"I know Elena has been hearing your voice and will come out herself if you don't go in and see her," I said, dragging Oliver along with me.

Though he was almost twice my size, he let me pull him into the ward where Elena lay. "Look who came to visit, Grandma!" I announced, gesturing to Oliver as if he were a surprise gift.

"You didn't have to bother yourself, son; it is nothing serious." Then she turned to me and scolded me, "Why did you drag him here?"

"She didn't drag me; I wanted to come." He jumped to my defence. "How are you feeling? Ela told me your legs gave out on you due to stress."

She sighed dramatically. "That's what the doctor said. I guess since they went to school, they have to be right."

"Once we are married and I get a place, you'll move in with us." You will do no more work. How about that?"

She smiled excitedly at Oliver's promise: "Oh, I cannot wait for that day."

I had called Onu, my uncle, informing him about Elena's condition immediately after I arrived at the hospital. He came over a few minutes ago, along with his wife, Luna, to carry on from where I stopped. Elena did the honour of introducing Oliver to them, and he spoke so highly of him that my heart hurt.

Onu told us they would take Elena home for a few weeks and asked if I was okay with them. Even though I would miss coming home and seeing her, I knew she needed rest and care.

"I don't think it is fair that you get her hopes up, though," I began as Oliver and I walked out of the hospital together, hand in hand.

Oliver paused and turned to look at me, a little lost. "How do you mean?"

"About us getting married and having her move in with us."

"You do not want to get married?" He asked, his curiosity settling on his face. He didn't seem to have listened to the second part of my sentence.

I shook my head. "I want to get married. I've fantasised about my wedding day since I could remember, but-"

He cut in, "But what, babe?"

I opened my mouth to speak but shut it up and looked away.

He wasn't seeing the obvious objection, or he was pretending it wasn't there. Perhaps he could pretend and ignore reality, but I didn't live in such a world; I didn't have such luxury. The world was bigger than the two of us, so promises that can't be kept should not be made.

"Your family will never approve."

"Seth and Nina have no problem with you."

Ah, yes, the two Planes who are not in their parents' good graces are all we have.

"You are not helping your case."

He shrugged. "Maybe I don't want to help it. The only real opposition to us is my mother."

"And your father will support his wife no matter what." I countered.

"Are you for us or them?"

"Us."

"You're not acting like it." He said and released my hand, taking a step back.

"Oliver."

He rubbed his face and ran a hand through his hair. "You, Ela, are the only person whose opinion matters to me, not my mom or dad." I love you."

I wanted to be like him. Every nerve in my body wanted to act and think like him. "Your world is so simple."

He stopped and stared at me in silence. There was no judgement, just awe and adoration like he always did. "It can be your world, too." He said it in a whisper, and I almost missed it.

I tried a smile and said, "It's not that easy."

"It is," he said confidently, "marry me. Tonight."