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Determined, I sank my fork into my cake. Only when I heard a sound of disgust did I stop. I wasn't sure if it was Alexander or my father.
"Aren't you going to greet us properly, Audrey? It's been so long since we've seen each other. I'm glad you finally came to your senses and decided to apologize."
Blinking, I looked up. Lei's fingers dug deeper into my thigh. He had merely returned my father's brief nod– no words of greeting had been exchanged.
"Excuse me?" I repeated. "I'm here because I was invited, and I wanted to show good faith as far as family peace is concerned."
One of the staff brought another place setting so Alexander could sit down and not have to continue standing around stupidly.
"In my opinion, that includes apologizing to your fiancé."
I snorted before I could stop myself. "We broke up, remember, Father?"
"It doesn't have to be permanent."
I didn't even dare look in Alexander's direction. Instead, I looked at my cake. "Why can't we just eat and forget about this?"
My father sat down, let my mother hand him a piece of cake, and then looked at me. For him, Lei didn't even seem to exist right now.
The phone in my pocket vibrated, so I casually let my hand disappear to pull it out. The message was from Lei.
He looks at you as if he wants you back.
I typed without looking at the screen.But he is no longer the one I belong to.
The silence at the table dragged on. Even when I picked up my fork again and was busy destroying the cake. If anyone saw Lei's hand was still on my thigh and didn't move an inch... I wouldn't care, I realized, and at the same time I looked up at Lei, who was pretending that none of this was his business.
"Don't you think there are some things we should talk about, Audrey?" Alexander addressed me so abruptly that I was almost startled.
"If I'm not mistaken, we've already talked about everything in church, haven't we? You gave me a choice, I made one, and now I have no interest in rekindling old ties."
"You have a new man? So soon after you broke up with me?" He twisted his face as if he had just found several caterpillars in his salad.
"My love life is not your business. Nor is it a subject for a meeting over coffee and cake."
"No, I want to know. Tell me. And preferably who it is."
I pursed my lips. "No."
"Is it true?" my father interrupted. "Are you cheating on Alexander?"
Suddenly I was on my feet. Before I realized it myself, I slammed the fork down on the table. Pieces of cake flew in all directions. "This is exactly why you haven't heard from me in months. Because you act like you're the ones who get to decide every little detail of my life. You piss me off. You," I pointed at my father, "because you pretend that Alexander and I never broke up. We have nothing to do with each other anymore, I don't feel anything for him and nothing will ever change that. I'm not going to marry him just so you can have a damn heir to your empire." My eyes shifted to Alexander. "And you can fuck off, too. Anyway, I would never take you back. Hell would freeze before that. And Mother? I prefer people who don't base their affection for me on my weight. So don't look at me as if having curves is so reprehensible."
I shook my head and left the room. More words were on the tip of my tongue. More insulting words that I had no business saying.
I hurried down the corridor without a destination in mind. At first, it was enough to put some distance between me and this room full of snakes. Eventually, I just leaned against a wall, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.
It had been a mistake to come here. Even with Lei as my support, it had escalated because one man was incapable of acknowledging the facts and another boasted of being the master of manipulative games. Within minutes, they had my blood boiling– something that hadn't happened in weeks. In fact, I couldn't even remember the last time I was as upset as I was at that moment.
When I heard footsteps, I looked up to see Lei. There was neither regret nor pity on his face, but another emotion I liked much better. The assurance that he would defend me if I gave him permission.
I pressed my lips together for a few seconds before exhaling loudly and finally looking at him again. Determined.
"So is it time to cut thefake, yeah?" he asked, preempting me. I had expected to catch him off guard and cold. Instead, he proved once again how well he knew me.
I slowly walked toward him. Standing directly in front of him, I was forced to look up, at least until his hands slid under my ass and I sat on his hips.
With my back to the wall, I was in a much better position for this conversation.
