Chapter 4

　　Nadia's POV

　　A sharp, piercing shriek echoed through the bridal shop. Daisy jumped back, her hands hovering over the brown stains that spread rapidly across the pristine white lace.

　　"Nadia! What do you think you're doing?" Alexander demanded as he grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away.

　　In a fit of anger, I didn't think twice before I whirled around and landed a slap on his face.

　　Alexander's eyes widened in shock as he stared at me.

　　"Don't touch me." I snapped, my voice cold.

　　He quickly recovered from the shock and slowly walked closer to me. "Nadia, baby, please calm down. Are you still mad about me leaving the house yesterday? You should be feeling better now."

　　I glared at him, fuming. "I am not feeling any better."

　　"Please, baby… I'm asking because I care. What can I do to make you feel better?" he asked, looking down at my clenched fists. "I'm sure your hand must hurt."

　　He reached out and held my hand before I could protest, trying to massage it. "You shouldn't get upset over something so insignificant, baby. You'll only end up hurting yourself, and we don't want that, do we?"

　　My eyes trailed off to Daisy as he said that. "So you mean to tell me Daisy is insignificant?" I asked, and he nodded.

　　"Yes, she is," he responded firmly, and I watched as Daisy squirmed. Her face turned pale, and she quickly averted her gaze, staring down at the floor.

　　I scoffed as I looked away from her. "I'm leaving."

　　I snatched my hand from Alexander's grip and made my way out of the bridal shop.

　　"Wait! Let's go together!" he yelled as he ran after me.

　　I'd rather die than share a car with him right now.

　　"Nope. I came alone, and I'll leave alone." I said over my shoulder as I stormed to my car.

　　"Oh my goodness, Nadia! Stop being so stubborn!" he said exasperatedly as he grabbed my wrist from behind. "We can leave together in my car. Didn't you say we weren't spending much time together? We could bond with this."

　　Before I could protest, he clamped his hand around my wrist and pulled me over to his car.

　　"It's really not that hard, babe. Little things like car rides matter in a relationship, too," he spoke as he opened the car door. "Come on, babe. Get in."

　　As he said that, my eyes drifted off to the passenger's seat, and I spotted a pink hair clip.

　　There was only one person who could belong to, and it certainly wasn't me.

　　Alexander followed my gaze and saw what I was staring at. He quickly picked it up and tucked it away.

　　He cleared his throat, avoiding my gaze. "What are you waiting for, baby? Get in."

　　I scoffed and eyed him in disgust. "How about you make sure you check your car more carefully, Alexander? I wouldn't want to stumble upon something more personal next time. You know, like a pink thong."

　　Alexander rolled his eyes and let out a groan as he massaged his temple. "Don't say that, Nadia… It's just a hair clip…" he trailed off, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

　　"Why is a hair clip in your car then? Whose is it?" I asked him, my arms folded.

　　"Oh my fucking goodness, Nadia! I don't know who it belongs to, okay? You know I have female associates in this line of work, so it's normal for things like hair clips to be left behind by mistake!"

　　"You are being so difficult, and I do not have it in me to tolerate this behavior any longer. You have to stop acting like a petulant child and try to be more understanding of me. You also have to consider my career, Nadia. It's impossible for me not to interact with women at work. You should know this!"

　　Was this bastard really trying to lecture me right now?

　　The nerve of him to act morally upright when he was literally cheating on me!

　　"You know what? I don't have to listen to this bullshit."

　　With that said, I turned around and started walking back to my car.

　　"Nadia? What do you think you're doing?" he asked from behind me.

　　"What does it look like I'm doing, Alexander? I'm walking to my fucking car!" I snapped at him without bothering to look back.

　　"So what? You're just going to walk away?" he shouted, his voice etched with frustration. "You didn't even put on your wedding dress. Not only that, but you also splashed coffee on it, and now you're not even going to leave with me?"

　　When I didn't give him a response, he continued, his voice growing increasingly annoyed. "You've been acting really weird since yesterday for some fucking reason that I do not know! Why are you making such a big deal about a hair clip? It is not that serious!"

　　I didn't need to look at his face to know he was mad.

　　"This is not about the fucking hair clip, Alexander! I am not in the mood to argue with you right now, so you'd better leave me alone. I need some time away from you. Because if I stay in the same vicinity as you, I might slap you for a second time!" I shouted back.

　　He didn't say anything after that, and I felt his eyes on me as I got into my car and drove out of the bridal shop's parking lot. Anger was coursing through me as I stepped on the gas and zoomed off into the road.

　　How dare he act like he didn't do anything wrong, and I was being the difficult one?

　　Was he out of his goddamn mind?!

　　I continued stepping on the gas, increasing the speed in a bid to expend my anger.

　　I wasn't even thinking straight.

　　A red-hot flash of fury blinded me as I kept driving. Then suddenly, I heard a loud bang.

　　I blinked in confusion, looking around as I tried to make sense of what just happened.

　　That was when I realized that I had just rear-ended a car—a luxury one at that. It was a black Mercedes-Benz.

　　My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly rushed out of my car to apologize to the driver.

　　"Oh fuck! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I kept muttering to myself, panicking as I walked towards the car.

　　I knocked on the tinted window, lowering my head in apology. "I am so sorry about that! I don't know what I was thinking, I wasn't in my right senses. I can pay for any damages—"

　　I heard the sound of the window winding down, but I still kept my head lowered, too embarrassed to look up.

　　"Nadia?"

　　I froze in shock when I heard my name.

　　And that voice... It sounded familiar...

　　I took in a deep breath and finally raised my head.

　　My eyes widened in surprise when I saw who was inside the car.

　　"Theodore? Is that you?"

　　Theodore Morrow, my ex-fiancé.

　　The same man whose engagement I'd broken seven years ago.