by Tee, Marian
She did her best to remember that, especially since the award ceremony had started and the usual red carpet had been rolled out for the VIP guests.
“Ladies and gentlemen, a warm round of applause for the first of our guests of honor, Mr. Ioniko Vlahos.”
Ioniko walked down the red carpet in a swift pace, looking absolutely gorgeous and sexy in a black three-piece suit and a crimson necktie. He looked at her only for the briefest moment, his eyes warm. And then he was walking past her and ascending the stage to take his place on the VIP row.
“Thank you, dear students and teachers. And now, another round of applause for our next guests of honor, Mr. Damen Leventis and his lovely fiancée, Ms. Alina Kokinos.”
Hearing the words spoken in her presence hurt a lot more than she had expected.
She closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight of them together. There was a heightened sense of excitement in the crowd at the sight of them, and she squeezed her eyes shut more tightly when she began to hear them talk about how Damen and the Kokinos heiress looked so good together—
Oh.
He was walking past her now. She knew it was so, without even looking, because she knew his scent.
He was walking past her now, another woman by his side. His fiancée. His side. A place she might never have.
Mairi literally found herself swaying on her feet, but her friends helped her stay upright as they kept their arms around Mairi’s waist like three bosom buddies.
Mr. Damen Leventis and his lovely fiancée, Ms. Alina Kokinos…
The names and words became louder and louder with every echo in her mind. She wanted to cover her ears and stop herself from hearing it, but she knew it was impossible.
Mandy suddenly squeezed her hand. “Ms. Thorn just called your name.”
Mairi forced her eyes to open and tried to think past her erratic heartbeat and the gnawing pain inside her. Ms. Thorn had the crowd applauding her now, and she knew she had to move. And she would, just as soon as she remembered how to do it.
“You don’t have to do this,” Velvet muttered under her breath, her heart breaking at the blank look on Mairi’s face. It was as if she had just realized that fairy tales were just…fairy tales, and they were never meant to happen in real life.
“I’m okay,” Mairi whispered to them, not wanting her friends to worry about her. She didn’t want to look at them after that, knowing that seeing their concern might cause her to break down.
Damen schooled his face into an expressionless mask as he observed Mairi’s ascent to the stage. She looked too pale, he thought, his chest tightening at the sight of her makeup-less face.
It made him want to reach out to her—
At the other end of the row of seats, Damen heard Ioniko greet Mairi warmly and he turned sharply to look at them, quickly enough to catch sight of Mairi giving Ioniko a grateful smile in return.
The gratitude hit him like a ton of bricks, jealous rage creating an inferno of bitter feelings inside Damen. It hurt, it fucking did not make him feel good to see that smile on her face.
She was supposed to smile like that at him only.
As she walked past Ioniko and towards his direction, Damen waited for Mairi to look at him. But when it was clear she would not, he heard himself saying to Alina, “Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”
Mairi stumbled on her way to the podium, having heard Damen’s words.
Damen paled. Shit. He had meant to hurt her for being too close to Vlahos, for wanting him – Damen – to be more like Vlahos, like he was not enough for her, the way he had never been enough for his parents to love.
But the way she scrambled to right herself, her body posture tense and defensive, told Damen that she would rather stumble again than have him help her now.
He shoved his hands deep inside his trouser pockets, the only way he could stop himself from reaching out to Mairi. He watched her from behind, feeling so goddamn proud at the way she was able to keep moving even after what he had stupidly done.
I’m sorry, Damen thought achingly.
He had promised never to hurt her again, but what they had – what he had made her agree to – it just wasn’t going to work. Had he really been such an idiot to think it would be different for them?
He had to make a choice.
He had to choose now, before Mairi chose someone else over him.
Mairi did her best as she read her speech, and if her voice shook once or twice for no reason at all, well – there wasn’t anything she could do about that. She just hoped the crowd thought she was nervous and not…heartbroken.
The speech was short and simple, and she worked on keeping her voice clear and inflectionless as she began thanking the people who had to be thanked.
“And lastly, our school’s Teachers' Day presentation would not be the special occasion that it is this year if not for the generosity of our guests of honor, who have gifted us with financial sponsorship and their precious time.”
Conscious of Ms. Thorn’s strict rules about etiquette, Mairi took a deep breath, unaware that the microphone had picked it up again and created a sound like a tornado throughout the auditorium.
The crowd laughed.
She…wished she could laugh with them.
Mairi forced herself to look at Ioniko first. “And so on behalf of the faculty, administration, and students making up the Grecian Academy for Young Ladies, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our guests of honor, Mr. Ioniko Vlahos—”
Ioniko raised his hand in a small wave, a simple act that had the entire student body giggling.
She turned to the only couple on the stage, her gaze blinded with tears. “—and the soon-to-be-wedded couple, Mr. Damen Leventis a-and Ms. Alina Kokinos.”
Her fingers curled around her speech, crushing it in her hand the same way Damen crushed her heart as he helped his fiancée out of her chair like she was a precious jewel so they could acknowledge the crowd with smiles and a brief wave.
Mairi mumbled the rest of her speech. She didn’t care if the crowd thought she was speaking Cantonese now. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from Damen as possible.
As she walked back to her seat, the ugly hateful truth that she had tried to be blind to finally made itself undeniably clear.
The problem had never been her love or making Damen believe in it.
The problem had always been whether Damen could believe in love. Because if he could believe in love, then he would never have made her go through this. If he understood how love could hurt and kill, he would never have forced her to see him and his fiancée together.
The rest of the presentation proceeded in an efficiently speedy manner, as was typical of any event organized by GAYL’s terrifying principal. The highest award went to an old history professor about to retire, and Mrs. Bettany became teary-eyed when Ms. Thorn presented her not only with a framed certificate but also a prize check amounting to $50,000, sponsored by this year’s guests of honor.
Mairi thought her ordeal was about to end, but it was not. It was only about to get worse, she realized as she dimly heard Ms. Thorn invite the guests of honor to make a brief speech themselves.
“Mr. Leventis? Ms. Kokinos? Would you like to go first?” Ms. Thorn sent them an encouraging smile.
Cold sweat bathed Damen's body under his suit. He had an awful feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“Would you like me to take care of this on my own?” he asked, hoping she would indeed say yes. But she did not.
Alina shook her head. “It’s fine.”
Left with no choice, Damen tried not to look visibly reluctant as he offered Alina his hand and guided her to the podium, his hand on the small of her back. He knew that such a simple gesture would hurt Mairi even more, and his gaze searched hers, needing to let her know that it did not and should not mean anything because he did not care about Alina in any way.
It took less than a second for Damen to spot Mai
ri in the crowd, and he sucked his breath in at the glassy look on her face.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
She looked like he was killing her again and again, and the most painful thing about it was that it might just be true. If the roles had been reversed, Damen knew he would not be as stoic. If he ever saw another man holding Mairi in any way, he knew would very well lose it and start a fistfight.
As he and Alina reached the podium, Ms. Thorn moved close to the microphone and asked charmingly, “How about a kiss between the lovely couple? I am certain I speak for many students in saying we think you had the loveliest engagement party. The two of you make such a beautiful couple and we’d love to celebrate your engagement with you two today.”
Chapter Eleven
To trust a Greek billionaire, one must be prepared for competition.
She said: Like, a lot. You don’t know what I have to go through—
He said: Says the woman who had not one, not two, but three fucking Greek billionaires after her.
A fucking kiss? Ioniko’s face hardened in disbelief. He had heard that the indomitable Rose Thorn was good at charming people and getting money out of their pockets, and now he knew it was true.
No wonder there was such a huge media presence today, Ioniko thought in disgust. She had planned this all along, and since it was rare to catch Damen and Alina together, much less sharing a kiss, a photo of it would surely put GAYL on the map.
He looked at the couple, who were clearly taken aback by the request as well.
And then he looked at her.
Mairi was completely white, and even this far away he could see the stricken look on her face.
Ioniko’s gaze returned to Leventis, the asshole who had caused Mairi to look like that. He was smiling, talking easily, trying to cajole Ms. Thorn out of the request, but the other woman was just as ruthless, making it impossible for Damen to refuse lest he wanted the crowd to think he disliked kissing his fiancée.
When he turned to Mairi again, he cursed under his breath. She looked like she was near to collapsing.
Fuck this.
He did not like playing the knight in shining armor, but something about Mairi made him want to pretend he was good.
Without a word, he stalked off the stage and headed towards Mairi’s direction.
****
Stavros Manolis looked up at the imposing entrance of the Grecian Academy For Young Ladies.
After so many years, he had finally found her.
This was the best lead he had in ages, and instincts told him that this time he might really see her again.
Mairi Tanner.
He owed her so many things, not the very least his apology for ruining her life without even knowing it.
Inside, he was greeted by name by one of the usherettes. The woman was well-trained, welcoming him without hesitation even though Stavros knew she was surely shocked and curious about what a bachelor billionaire was doing in a Teachers' Day presentation at a school where none of his family members studied.
Nyssa unclipped the CB radio from her pants to let Ms. Thorn know about the unexpected presence of yet another Greek billionaire. What was it with today, Nyssa wondered, that GAYL was practically bursting with hot rich guys?
And Stavros Manolis? The man was notorious for his workaholic ways, rarely being photographed for the society pages because he was that reclusive. The only events he attended were those sponsored by his company. They were very strictly monitored ones, leaving no chances for the paparazzi to interview him.
Stavros waited patiently for the usherette to speak with her superior. When she turned back to him, her welcoming smile was something he expected. Because he was who he was, doors would always open. Always.
“Ms. Thorn would like to invite you to the VIP row, Mr. Manolis.”
“It would be an honor.” He knew how this worked. He had come here without an invitation. This was what the school required in exchange.
As the usherette escorted him inside the auditorium, he was surprised to see a couple of familiar faces on stage. There was Ioniko Vlahos and, even more surprising, Damen Leventis and his rather insipid fiancée Alina Kokinos.
Damen was engaged in a lighthearted banter with a woman Stavros assumed to be the principal. As he listened absently to their exchange, Stavros knew his friend was fighting a losing battle. It was just a simple kiss between an engaged couple; it would be the height of rudeness to his fiancée if he continued refusing.
He asked the usherette quietly, “I believe you have a Ms. Mairi Tanner working here?”
“Oh, yes. She was our presenter for the opening speech. Would you like to meet her after the ceremony?”
“That would be ideal.” Stavros paused, considering his options. “If you could point out where she’s seated for now though?”
The woman stopped next to the front row seats. “There she is, Mr. Manolis.”
Stavros slowly followed her gaze.
It was her.
It really was her.
And she looked…she looked exactly like how she looked that day she had been expelled for being labeled a gold digger because of him.
****
“My fiancée is a shy person, Ms. Thorn…”
“Oh, we are not asking for a passionate kiss, Mr. Leventis. I am very much aware of the tender age of my students. This is all in the spirit of celebrating your engagement, you understand. Just a small sweet kiss between a loving couple would be more than enough, wouldn’t you say so, girls?”
The students cheered their agreement.
Mairi listened sickly to the word play between Damen and Ms. Thorn, knowing that in the end the latter would win.
It would only be a matter of time.
And if they did kiss…
And if she saw them kiss…
She wanted to be sick.
****
Ms. Thorn was not going to give this up.
Damen knew she was not being a bitch about this, knew she was simply being her usual calculating self and saw no harm in asking for something that should be simple for any engaged couple to do. It was not her fault that she did not know how much he had fucked up and that by kissing his fiancée, he would be hurting another – the woman most special to him.
The thought of hurting Mairi again had his face hardening. No. Never. He had hurt her enough. He prepared himself to be rude, and damn what happened afterwards, but Alina, for once in her life, beat him to speaking.
“He is very protective of me,” Alina was suddenly saying. “I’m much younger than he is. He doesn’t like people to think he’s taking advantage of my age.” She smiled up at Damen even as her gaze remained unreadable and guarded. “What he needs to realize is that I am not to be protected.”
She took his face in her hands and tiptoed, her lips touching his.
Damen stilled.
In his mind, and he did not know if he had imagined it or not, he heard it so clearly – Mairi catching her breath, Mairi’s tears splattering on the floor, Mairi giving up on him.
No!
When Alina released him from her hold, he immediately turned to look at Mairi.
She was not crying. She did not seem like she was holding her breath. But she did look like she had finally given up waiting for him.
No.
And then he saw it –
Ioniko, coming from the side of the stage, walking purposely towards Mairi.
And further away from him but nearer to Mairi, Damen saw Stavros Manolis gazing at Mairi as well. He didn’t know and understand why Manolis was looking at Mairi like that, but if there was one thing he knew, it was that Manolis appeared to be his rival as well.
A part of him told Damen to just let it go. Mairi Tanner would have all the Greek billionaires she could ever want. Maybe reading all those books had done her good. Even if they weren’t meant to be, at least she would be well taken care of.
The noble part of him told Damen to let it go, to
let Mairi move on.
But the selfish and honest part of him told Damen that if he did let her go, it would mean forever. If he gave up on her, it would be for the rest of their lives. He would never have the chance to call Mairi his again, never be able to taste her lips or feel her body welcome him—
No.
He looked at Alina. “I’m sorry. It won’t work between us.” His words were caught by the microphone. He removed her ring from his finger.
Alina didn't speak, staring at him with wide-eyed shock.
“I’m sorry,” he said again before jumping off the stage to go after the woman that had taught his heart to beat for someone else.
****
Mairi could not think of a single thing that was more painful than seeing the man she loved receive the kiss of the woman who owned him and would one day have his name and bear him children.
It did not just hurt. It burned, like acid on her skin, a raging infection that almost drove Mairi to her knees.
Another woman’s lips was covering the lips of the man she loved – the man she had waited for all her life.
“No,” she whispered, closing her eyes, praying to God that it was a nightmare she could wake up from. But when she opened her eyes, Damen was still on stage and Alina Kokinos was still kissing him.
She fell back in her seat, knowing that it was a sight she could never forget, not even if she lived to be a hundred years old. She would always remember this, and she would always grieve because that one kiss had sliced her heart and broken it into a thousand pieces.
Mairi’s eyes fluttered close as she wheezed for breath as discreetly as she could. She was having a panic attack. Or maybe this was shock. She didn’t know anymore. All she knew was that she couldn’t breathe past the pain.
“Mairi?” That was Velvet.
“Mairi!” That was Mandy.
“Mairi?” That was…Ioniko?
“Mairi?” That was…a voice from the past, one familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
And then chaos, everyone around her gasping, followed by a thousand clicking sounds as she heard a voice she didn’t think she’d hear anymore say her name.