Married with the Broken Hearted CEO novel Chapter 56

When Geoffrey and Isa left, Adira and Chadwick stood near the entrance for couple of seconds. Her eyes stared at the wedding ring on her husband left hand, fourth finger. 
Adira can clearly remember the day Chadwick said that there’s no need for them to wear their wedding ring, unless they will attend parties, special event, press conference and projects together. From that day onward, she can use her 10 fingers to count the days when they wore their rings. Yet among those days, there is no occasion when they wore it inside their house; a place where they don’t need to deceive anyone. 
That occurrence, however, changed as of today. 
Chadwick turned around to Adira. He caught him looking at his left hand which made him freeze for a moment. He, then, remembered what he did last night. 
‘The ring!’ he gasped inwardly. 
Swiftly like a thief who hid after hearing the owner’s footsteps, Chadwick hid his both hands behind his back. 
Quiet fell upon the house as they stood in front of each other, no sounds as if they are inside a classroom where students are answering a very hard test, and a strict dean is there to watch and observe if they will cheat. 
For Adira, test is quite harder than the bar exam test she took years ago. There are no multiple choices. And it is something she did not review beforehand. 
‘Why is he wearing our wedding ring?’ she repeated the question inside her head again and again. But like a hopeless student sitting in her desk while holding her pen and staring at the odd question, Adira found no answer for now. 
Chadwick was like an open book in the beginning. But nowadays, he keeps getting harder and harder to read.
“What are you doing?” 
As Adira spoke, the silence broke. 
Chadwick flinched with a gape. He closed his mouth, gulped, then stuttered, “H-Huh?” 
His hand began to feel clammy behind his back and his heart pounded, as if it went up to his mouth. Chadwick could feel the beading sweats on his forehead as Adira stared at the direction where his hands at. 
‘Did she see it? Did she see me wearing the ring?’ He panicked. 
When Adira tended her eyes to his face, Chadwick felt like thousands blocks of ice glaze impacted altogether at the top of his head. It might be better to get a hit so he can lose his consciousness and pretend that he has no recollection of past days when he woke up. 
“Why are you hiding my phone?” Adira added. 
Chadwick’s eyebrows tangled in a condemning frown. Adira did not ask anything about the ring. 
Is it because she did not see it? Or she wanted to pretend she did not? 
“Do you love my phone case so much? I can tell you where I bought it. So, give my phone back.” 
If Adira did not see his ring, Chadwick will feel at ease. He switches the phone to his right hand and then, he gave her phone back using the hand with no ring. 
“Here,” he said. 
Adira grabbed her phone. As if nothing happened, she turned her back against him and walked away. “I will prepare for my work.” 
Although she looked calm outside, her mind got a huge blow from a blizzard she did not expect to come. She witnessed and realized lot of surprising stuffs early in the morning. 
‘Who would have thought that the girl my husband loves is that bartender's stepsister?’ 
She considered herself as bystander. But she did not know that all this time, she’s in the picture of her husband’s messy love triangle. 
‘Marrying Chadwick was a mistake from the first place,’ she thought while walking slowly. 
“Adira.” 
Chadwick’s voice snapped her out from deep thoughts. She stopped her pace and looked back, only to see the confusion painted on his face. 
“You won’t ask anything?” he said as he put his hands inside his pocket. 
Just like how Chadwick wanted to hide the ring on his finger, Adira also wanted to hide her befuddlement from the situation. 
“It’s obvious,” she said in apathetic tone as she crossed her arms. “I told you that I made a research before our marriage. I learned that my husband likes a woman, who likes someone else. If I have one regret, it is not investigating about that stepbrother of Isa.” 
It’s true. Isa is the center between Chadwick, who kept on reaching to her, and Geoffrey who wanted to push her away. But now, the female lead has changed. Adira came between the two men. This time, they both wanted Adira. 
“It looks like I can’t go back to my favorite bar from now on,” Adira sighed the chuckled sarcastically. 
She stepped away. Chadwick did not hold her back anymore and just watched her entered her room. He could not believe how nonchalant she can be even after finding out the whole truth. 
“While me, it still feels like standing under the storm,” Chadwick murmured and hanged his head low. 
Is it really the case? 
Will Adira be as nonchalant as before? 
No. 
When Adira entered her room, she leaned behind the door and stared at the blank space. 
All this time, she only has one goal. That is to get pregnant by her husband. So, she tried her best to seduce him, but none of them work; she thought. 
Before their divorce, Adira planned of continuing her seducing to Chadwick. But now, she’s having a hard time thinking if that’s the right thing to do. 
If she’ll get pregnant with Chadwick’s son, she felt that her life won’t be peaceful even after their divorce. 
‘Because there is Geoffrey and Isa,’ Adira sighed silently. 
If the situation turned into this, then Adira thought that maybe, it is better to divorce Chadwick right away instead of waiting for five months.
‘But how about the project?’ 
She heaved a sigh once again. 
For the first time, she got confused of her plans about her husband. 
------------------------------
Inside the coffee shop, Isa is sitting in the corner while looking from afar. She came here, hoping she can cool her head. But none of the relaxing mood and music of the shop gave her a sense of tranquility. 
“Miss, this is your tomato juice,” the waitress gently placed her order on the table. 
Isa did not notice her and stayed staring at the blank space. Then, she bit her lower lip and clenched her fists above the table. 
‘It is annoying. It is so damn annoying!’ she screamed internally. 
When the waitress noticed her trembling with reddened face, she thought Isa must be sick. So, she worriedly asked, “Miss? Are you okay?” 
Isa flinched. Catching her breath, she looked at the waitress. She opened her fists and forced a smile on her lips. She always wanted to look kind and gentle from the outside. 
“Yes?” Isa replied. 
“You are trembling, and your face is all red. Are you fine?” the waitress asked. 
“Ahhh, yes. I’m fine.” Isa held her glass of tomato juice and smiled. “Thank you for the juice.” 
In a flash, she turned like an angel. Her kind infectious smile brought warmth to the waitress, and her mind felt at ease. 
“Thank goodness. I thought you’re sick,” the waitress said. 
Sick? 
‘Yes I am,’ Isa said inside her head. ‘I am sick of that Adira.’ 
Although she’s cursing Adira silently, she kept the beam on her lips until the waitress disappeared. 
Alone again, Adira turned into a grimace. She stared at the tomato juice, whom her stepbrother really likes. Then, she remembered their conversation a moment ago: 
[ “Adira is someone that I love.”
“W-What?” 
“For 12 years, I only love Adira.”] 
Her grip around the glass tightened. 
She couldn’t believe what she just heard from him. 
All those long years, she only dedicated loving Geoffrey. But what did he say? She’s in love with Adira for 12 years? 
“What does he like about her?” she murmured.
Isa thinks that Adira stole everything from her from the very beginning. She snatched Geoffrey, and now, even Chadwick is head over heels to her. 
She felt so devastated and jealous. 
‘Why is it have to be her?’ 
‘What’s with her that made those two falls so in love?!’ 
In her eyes, Adira is nothing but a beautiful rich fox. Using her face and body, Isa is so sure that Adira seduced the two men. 
‘Those fools. They fell into her trap!’ 
She lifted her glass and roughly drank the juice as if she’s drinking an alcohol. She has low alcohol tolerance. But right at this moment, she wanted to go and get drunk. At least that way, she will forget the heartache.
“Knock knock~” 
A man suddenly sat at the seat across her. Scowling, Isa looked at the handsome man who’s sneering at her. 
There are many times men used to get lured by Isa’s angelic face. Sometimes, Isa entertained them. But even though she’s enjoying getting the attention from other people, she won’t date. There’s only Geoffret in her heart, and that will hardly change. 
The man sitting in front of her is quite a hook. Not only his devilishly handsome, but all things he’s wearing are expensive; from his watch, his necktie, his suits, and the smooth skin he has, all speak thousand or million dollars. 
For women who want to experience luxury, this man is a good catch. But Isa does not need money anymore. Besides, she’s not in the mood to entertain anyone. 
“Who are you?” Isa asked him with stern voice. 
“Oh? You don’t know me?” the man replied while pointing himself. He chuckled a little, and his voice did not please her. 
“I am so sorry. But I hate talking to someone I don’t know.” 
Isa stood up and planned of going out even without finishing her tomato juice.
“But I know you,” the man said in stern voice. “The mistress of Chadwick.”
Upon hearing that, Isa stopped and quickly looked at him. The articles and news did not say anything about her identity. So how did this man know that she is acquainted with Chadwick?
‘Is he… someone from the party?’ she considered while staring at his face.
“You are quite famous, Miss Isa,” the man added. 
Scowling, Isa asked him with quivering voice. “But no one in the party knows it’s me. Nor I tell them my name. So, who are you? How did you know my name?” 
The man smiled at her and replied, “I am not sure. I can be an ally or a foe. It is depending on you.” 
An ally or a foe. These confused her. Isa stared at his face for long time and then, she recognized who the hell is he. 
“It’s you! The one who tripped me during the party!” 
Isa was drunk at the time. But she slightly took a glimpse of the man who tripped her feet. Because of him, she was embarrassed in the crowd! How can she forgive the person who humiliated her?! 
“You…! You embarrassed me!” She grabbed the glass of juice and about to throw it to his face but the man, named Nocturne, held the glass to stop him. 
“Embarrass you?” he asked, smirking. “That’s not true. The reason why I did that is not to embarrass you but to embarrass another person.” 
“W-What?” she uttered. 
“In that incident, who do you think got humiliated? Is it you who got Chadwick’s help? Or the wife who was abandoned on the stage?” 
Isa’s pupil shook. 
He’s right. The person who got humiliated that time is not her. But Adira. 
Her grip loosened on the glass. She squinted her eyes towards him and asked, “Why did you do that?” 
“For revenge,” Nocturne said. “She humiliated me when all I did is to adore her face and body. So, in exchange of humiliating me, I wanted her to crawl back to me.” 
For a moment, Isa thought she found the person who shares the same goal as her. She also wanted for Adira to get out of the two men’s lives. And to do that, she thinks that perhaps, getting a help from Nocturne is a great idea. 
“What do want if I choose to be an ally?” 
His face split an evil grin, like every imp filled nightmare. With an eerie and haunting smirk, Nocturne replied, “Why don’t you sit back so we can talk more about this?”