Chapter 50 ROGERIO Youd think my problems would go away as quickly as I wished . Well , that would disprove the relationships beggars have with horses , wouldnt it ? My job , the upcoming wedding , my life in general ; everything made me feel uncomfortable . Waking up meant I was saddled with the responsibility of living like a lab experiment , someones fun science project . Only , I wasnt having any fun . The lab rats never do anyway . I disliked being here and perhaps taking the offer to be in charge of the family business was the worst decision I have ever made . On a personal scale at least , if I dared to look beyond my needs , I could understand why doing it was for the greater good . But how many of these greater good projects would I have to do before I can finally do something that I wanted? Ironic , isnt it ? One would expect the richest billionaire in the city to be having the time of his life , I said to myself and looked around the room . When my thoughts started to follow this path , it filled me with amusement because I wondered if getting wasnt a personal decision . It would be expected that the man who broke up his marriage with his trophy wife was ecstatic about his wedding to the woman he loved . Well , I wasnt . I would never admit it to anyone else , but I was terrified because this entire thing started off as a personal plan . Now, it felt different , and therein lies the issue . I loved Elena once ; devoted would be the right word , but she left . A part of me still cared about her after that event . I spent weeks angry that the private investigators I had hired to find her were unable to give accurate details about her location . Then one day , she came back to Milan . She looked as beautiful as ever , and her charisma charmed me once again . Enough to let her tales of woe slip past me , even if it seemed like a story cooked up on the flight here . I didnt think about it much . I was happy to have her back , and she was ready to get married to me again . Perhaps I shouldve thought about an offer to reschedule a wedding that had been canceled at the altar , but I didnt . At the time , my parents seemed glad to be rid of Charlotte ; they had never liked her . She wasnt ill mannered towards them , if anything , she constantly tried to get on their good side . They treated her the way they treated everyone whom they thought had nothing to offer . When I informed them about my decision to marry Elena , I hadnt attached any external ideas to their approval to divorce her despite the buzz they knew it would create in the media . If anything , they were ready to put a few people on their payroll to spread propaganda against Charlotte . The plan was to absolve us of any faults in the public eye and find something scandalous to pin on her , but that was too mean , even for us . I stood against it and told them I would take all the blame because I didnt care about public perception . The only opinions that matter are the ones that were acted upon , but they wouldnt stand for it , which was understandable . The Thuthais had already been through one marriage scandal , and the media had a field day creating stories about it . It didnt matter that neither family involved in the issue granted any interviews . They milked it till there was nothing left but silence . I learned a couple of lessons the first time ; one , people liked to have opinions . It didnt matter if they had adequate information regarding the topic . If there was something to talk about , you can be certain theyd say something . Its 32.5 % Chapter 50 best to let them speculate . Two , people had a very short attention span . If something more important piqued their interest , it would be over soon . People who sat in their houses and led lives that no one scrutinized them for didnt matter to me in the long run . Yes , their resources funded our businesses , but that was the extent of their importance . While my mother and grandfather were still hung up on keeping the family legacy , I had learned over time that someone needed to be the villain . They didnt think it was a fair position , but when has anything ever been ? I had been fighting different forms of unfairness my entire life … If it could take one snap of my fingers and someone would push a button , delete some parts of my life , and get a do over , Id take it in a heartbeat . But this wasnt the time for regrets or thoughts about things I couldnt control . My life seemed like something had tipped the balance , but I needed to find a way to focus and stay in control . As the days rolled by , I slowly doubted my decision to take Elena back . I admit marrying Charlotte was a spontaneous decision , albeit necessary , but this , I felt like I was being handed the award for the worlds biggest moron . Why else would anyone take back their ex who abandoned them at the altar ? What exactly was I playing at ? Love ? At what cost ? Does anything even make sense ? I muttered to myself as I walked down the hallway , making my way to the front door with slow steady steps . I fished in my pocket for my phone and looked at the screen , taking note of the time . It had been three days since I had seen or spoken to Elena . She was having a party somewhere I cant be bothered to remember , and I was here , making more money for her to spend . Thats how I thought about her now ; for some reason , I felt like this entire thing had an angle . Her stories werent adding up , but neither was my grandfathers . When I spoke to him about my doubts , he assured me that they were merely pre wedding jitters . I gave up on trying to make him see my reasons . I had done enough with my marital issues , I might as well do the wedding and get over it . I tried to keep my mind on the merits of marrying her to remind myself why this needed to be done . That posed a new problem , given that the only thing her family offered me was social currency . Sure , they had enough wealth to go around ; sure we didnt need their money . If anything , they needed ours . If my family was still open to the idea of marriage after the disappearance , something else was at play here . I was certain my grandfather wasnt receptive to the idea because of their financial records . He wanted something more , and knowing him , he was going to get it . Sometimes , I envied his drive . I was ambitious , at least Id like to think so , but he … He was something . As cold as he seemed to other people , to me , he was an enigma . I constantly tried to unravel his plans ; it was the only way to stay steps ahead of him , but getting him to approve a wedding between Elena and me , the second time , felt like I was walking into a trap . One I had built with my hands . I reached for the door and pulled it open . I took one last look and shut the door behind me . I nodded my response to the security guard stationed at my door and tried to ignore his presence as we got into the elevator . Once outside , he turned in the opposite direction while I waited for the driver . It was nearly dawn but still dark . This was my favorite time of the day ; the world was barely awake , and I could think quietly . A few seconds later , the car slowly came to a halt in front of me , and I entered it . As we drove through the streets , I watched as nature stirred , slowly coming alive , and the last conversation Elena and I had before she left Milan replayed in my mind . We had arrived at the restaurant , exchanged pleasantries , and ordered food despite my refusal to eat anything . I decided to let her have her way and forced some pasta down my throat as she rambled on about wedding dresses 7 % Chapter 50 and whatnot . The food wasnt bad , it wasnt as great as the one I had before getting there , but it served its purpose as a wonderful distraction . That was up until I mentioned her visit to the estate . Her expression seemed to falter for a moment , then she asked me how I knew . I insisted that she answer me , but she clammed up and proceeded to act offended that I was having her watched . She said everything but confirmed that she had been there in clear terms . When I thought she had run out of things to say , she reminded me that the estate belonged to her , being my wife . Were not married yet , I blurted , and she stopped talking , her eyes holding a blend of amusement and curiosity which quickly turned to rage . There was a brief moment of silence which I suspected she was using to replay my words in her mind and catch onto the undertones . For the first time since she returned , I felt like I could finally see through her as she struggled to mask her anger . I couldnt fight the feeling that Elena was up to something , and I had become a man with no choice but to watch . Well , that would absolve me of blame because I did have a choice . I could buy her another estate , and give her acres of land on a different continent . Three if shes greedy enough , but for some reason , when I questioned her about it , she seemed reluctant to discuss the issue , insisted she wanted the one in Milan , and assured me that I didnt have to bother myself with the details because she had it under control . Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!