AMETHYST

True to his words, Nikolas has been trying so hard to be a better person and make us work. Work has been more fun and we now go to work together.

"Someone's blushing. What's going through your head?" Lauren teases, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What? I am not." I could barely even convince myself.

"Eh. I believe you." She smirks. I know she does not believe me but I am glad that she didn't push further.

"So, how is it with Damien?" I ask. Damien is her next door neighbour that she likes.

"He just doesn't seem to get my signals. Always. And it is annoying." Worry etches on her face as she speaks. She's clearly smitten by him.

"Maybe you should try dating other people. Who knows? This might just be a crush." I advice.

"Alright. Thank you." She says.

"You've been looking radiant these days. Enjoying marital life, I see." Hey, I thought we were past that.

"I am surprised myself." I shrug.

"So happy for you, babe." She extends her hands to hold mine in excitement.

"Thanks, hun." I reply. We are startled by someone clearing their throat.

"Oh. Hi." I say to Henry.

"Hey, Amethyst." He smiles at me and gives Lauren a disgusted look. She rolls her eyes at him. These two, always at each other's neck.

"Excuse me, Amethyst." Lauren stands up to leave and Henry's gaze trails her till she is out of sight.

"So annoying." He says as he turns back to look at me.

"Urghh. Shut the hell up, Henry. What you both need is a release of the sexual tension that flies around when you both are together." He pretends like I am wrong.

"Me? Her? Yuck, Impossible." He shrugs in disdain.

"Keep trying to convince yourself." I roll my eyes at his obvious denial.

"Well, are you done with the proposed design for the milky rice product package?" He asks.

"Almost. I will email it to you once I'm done." I am glad I am still on track, time-wise. Being married to the CEO doesn't mean I have to slack off. It's even more reason why I have to prove my competence. After my twelve months of being here, I might still work here but my Art hub plans still stand.

•••••

"Hey mom." I speak into the phone the moment she speaks.

"Celestine!" She squeals in joy.

"Are you home?" I ask.

"Yeah." She replies.

"Alright. I will be there after work later in the evening." She gasps in shock before letting out a low sob.

"Thank you." She sniffs as she speaks. I haven't gone visiting since I was forced into this marriage. Opening my heart really did wonders to me, it did change me for the better.

I walk to Nick's office to inform him of the change. He barks "Come in." upon hearing my knock.

"Hey, moro." His facial expression changes to a tender one as he immediately vacates his chair to meet me half way.

"Sweetheart." He says and pecks me on the cheeks. I stand on tip toes to kiss his lips.

"I spoke to mom. I'll go see her this evening so you can go home without me. I will take a cab." He shakes his head in disagreement.

"No. We will go together. I don't want you entering a cab at late hours. I'll be your chauffeur." He smirks. I know that isn't his reason. This possessive husband of mine doesn't trust other men around me, he says I am too pretty for them not to make a move.

"Really?" I raise my eyebrow, hissing. I turn to walk away but he grabs my hand to stop me.

"Please. I want to see them too." Another excuse.

"What's the real reason behind you wanting to accompany me?" The serious look on my face gets him startled and in a moment, he spills the truth.

"Okay. I just don't trust other men around you. You are too pretty to resist talking to." I glare at him hard.

"You are not serious at all." I shoot back. He sends me his puppy dog eyes.

"Fine. See you at closing hour." I give a quick kiss and flee before he has the chance to reciprocate, laughing to myself. I am met by the face of Brittany who was glaring at me furiously.

"Something wrong with your eyes? Your face is red." I laugh out loud. She deserves my bants.

As I walk forward, I hear her muttering the word "Bitch." I won't let this slide this time.

"What did you say?" I ask her.

"I called you a bitch. What can you do?" The question was like an alarm. In a flash, I lift up my hands to slap her but my hand is stopped mid air.

"Hey. What is happening here?" The person who held my hand asks.

"Your secretary here was just being stupid. It is nothing, just wanted to teach her a lesson but it is okay." I smirk when I recognise the relief on her features as I saved her stupid ass.

"If you need me to handle it, please inform me." He says, giving her a warning look.

"Alright, sweets. Now go to your office." I practically shove him into his office and shut the door.

"Now, this would be the last time you try this. The third time, you won't like that version of me." I warn her and leave, not waiting for any reply from her miserable ass. She needs to know I am the wife and whatever she had going on with him is over.

That evening after work, Nick and I headed to my parent's house. On arrival, we were ushered in by Sonia, the housekeeper.

"Welcome, Sir, Ma." She greets us the moment she opens the door.

"Hello. Is mom in?" I ask out of courtesy. My husband just remains mute and I pinch his hand to reply her greeting.

"Hello." He replies with a tight lipped smile.

"Yes, ma'am. Everyone is around." My eyes widen, that means I am going to meet my Father. Nick squeezes my hand in reassurance as if sensing my sour mood. She leads us to the dinning room as we closely follow behind her.

•••••

Thankfully, the dinner went well without any drama. Just before leaving, my mom calls me into her room to speak to me. I excuse myself from Nick and head to her room.

"Hey, ma." She holds my hands and leads me to sit on the bed.

"Celestine. I know you are angry with the family for the arranged marriage but I can see it's working for you now." She pauses and smiles, amidst the sadness in her eyes.

"I know your dad will not tell you this because of his pride and all but you need to understand why that was done." She pauses to take a deep breath before speaking.

"We were loosing the company.  Everything was going downhill. We needed a loan to revive it. Your father- in-law offered to help us but in exchange, you get married to Nick." She finally says.

"Let me get this straight. I was used as payment and you want me to understand that?" I ask, utterly angry.

"No. You weren't. How could you say that? You will never be payment for anything." She says in defence.

"So, what was I?" I cock an eyebrow in her direction, disconnecting our hands. She reaches out to hold mine but I shove hers off.

"Your dad has always loved you, even though at a point he stopped showing it. It was a tough decision letting his baby girl go but he needed to be sure you were safe should the revival not work." She further explains.

"Does Nick know about this?" I ask.

"No, he doesn't. It's just his dad. He just agreed so he could be CEO." Mom answers and I let out a sigh of relief.

"There was nothing we could do about it. Please understand us. Please." She pleads. I give her a brief hug and get up to take my leave.

"I need to wrap my head around this."

"Amethyst! Celestine!" She cries out, letting out a sob. I walk to Nick and by the look on my face, he understood that I needed to be out of here.

"It'll be alright, moro." He walks me to his car and opens the door for me to sit.

"Hey. Please talk to me." He pleads as he drives back home.  I nod my head, the discussion with mom still going through my mind. The car comes to a halt and he gets down.

But we are not home yet. I wanted to say but he's already out of sight. He returns with a huge chunk of Cotton Candy and a bucket of Ice cream.

The silent understanding he had for my current mood is amazing. Eventually, I am glad he insisted we went there together.

He didn't say anything as he drove back home, occassionally looking at me with concern etched on his face and worry signs on his forehead.

At home, he scoops me into his arms as he takes me to the sitting room. Gently, he places me on the white pandora settee and turns on the Television to E!

"I'll be right back." He walks out and returns with the things he purchased.

"Have this." She hands over the cotton candy to me. He seats beside me and feeds scoop after scoop of ice cream to me.

"They sold me out." All the emotions I had bottled up inside of me was finally let out. I am a crying mess right now..

"Shhhh. Hey. Calm down." He kisses my forehead delicately.

"What did your mom tell you?" I narrate everything to him, sobbing quietly.

"Hey. Baby, nobody sold you out. Heck, I didn't even know about all these." He runs his hand up his hair in frustration.

"Yes, I know. She told me you didn't." He sighs and wraps me in his arms.

"Shh. It's okay, baby. I am always here for you." He cooes as he gently pats my arms.