At this point, one thing alone was on my mind—make her pay and show her that I was no longer the Eva who could be walked all over.
Jake rushed over at the sound of the slap, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Babe!" He called, grabbing Tiffany by the arm.
And then came the waterworks. She hurts into a loud bout of tears, snuggling into his arms.
"Babe, she insulted me."
Jake was on the spot. He stared daggers at me but beneath it, I could see the tint of fear that he tried so well to hide. This was it. I was in control now.
"Eva—"
But before he could even finish talking, a loud clear voice cut through the silence that had fallen upon the hall.
"What the hell is going on here?!"
My heart skipped a beat suddenly. I didn't need to turn around to know it was him. The same guy who I had come to know wanted more than a business partnership with me.
His hand slithered across mine as he locked our fingers together, an act that sent a wave of murmurs across the hall again.
The facade on Jake's face shattered as he stared at my fingers which were now intertwined with Mason's.
"Mr. Green!" He exclaimed, an expression of reverence falling on his facial features. "What a pleasure to meet you. I apologise for the act of my sister. She suffers from a recurring mental illness, sadly. The doctors have tried their best to help her but she defies medications."
His words made me smirk. Tiffany let out a gasp, her face turning red as she struggled to unhook her arms from Jake's arms as he held her firmly. She obviously wanted to protest but the glare from Jake had her swallowing her annoyance and humiliation in bitterness.
"That is no excuse for her to hit my fiancée!"
If it was possible for his jaw to hit the ground, it would have landed on the ground with the shock on his face.
"Y-Your fiance?" He stammered, fanning himself with the back of his hands as though he was hot.
His eyes searched my eyes with his, as though he expected me to refute the claim but I stared down at him.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
Mason. Our meeting the other day had not exactly come to a conclusion because I had stormed out of the office. His proposal was utterly preposterous! Yet, his act spoke more to me than it even did to everyone who stared at us in shock.
I could hear them whisper amongst themselves:
"Oh my God! Mason Green and Eva White are in a relationship?"
"No way."
"I can't believe this. This will be a couple of the century!"
"They will be an unstoppable force!"
"Their competitors are in for it if these two get married!"
Mason's public claim on me did not sit well with me, but the look on Jake's face as he gaped like a fish out of water was too satisfying for me to argue.
Besides, refuting it publicly would do our businesses more harm than good.
I turned to him, but he had his familiar cocky smirk on his face as he pretended not to notice my glare. The jerk knew exactly what he was playing at.
I'd deal with him later.
Jake turned back to me, an incredulous look on his face. "You didn't tell me you were getting married."
My expression was cool as I responded, "I don't see why I should tell you, Mr. Donovan. Who are you to me?"
He opened his mouth to argue but I was quick to add, "Now, please leave before you cause a scene."
He chuckled nervously but I could see the fear in his eyes. The words were obviously familiar to him. "But.. I just got here. This is a networking event as well and I was still speaking with Mr. Hart. I want to—"
"Don't make the guards throw you out, sir. Next time, when you're coming for a networking event, keep your dog leashed!" I snapped, eyeing Tiffany whose face was now a tomato.
Jake's eyes widened. "Eva, come on. We can talk about thi—"
"Security!" I called, gazing coolly but pointedly at him.
His eyes grew wide. "Eva, come on. You can't do this. Let's put the past behind us. We can talk this out," he muttered in a low voice, leaning into me. "We can still work together."
Mason was quick to shove him slightly backwards. "Do you want to now harass my fiance in front of me? How dare you? Do you want to be ruined?"
Jake's face grew white in fear. "N-No, Mr. Green. She knows me. She knows me. Ask her. We're good friends but we just had a mild—"
My ears tingled with his words. "You and I have never been friends. In fact, I don't even know you. Instead of mistaking me for someone else, I'd suggest you watch your next words if you like yourself and your business."
He looked defeated and dejected. As the security pushed him out, he struggled, shoving their hands away from him as he walked out, Tiffany strutting on his tail.
"I'll be back, Eva. I promise you. And I'll take my kids from you!"
*
Within the confines of my boys' large, luxurious bedroom, I couldn't help but think about the events of the day.
Mason had eventually slipped out of the party shortly after Jake's departure, barely giving me the chance to call him out on what he did.
All he had said was, "See you on Thursday, Ms. White."
I felt my insides burn. Jake's last words also resounded in my heart, making me grow uneasy and sending a wave of anger washing over me.
How dare he? How dare he even think he had children with me after he had thrown us out of his life all for his stupid bimbo?
How dare he even—ugh! Just remembering the entitlement in his voice sent me reeling in utter bitterness and hatred.
As I stared at my boys, Nathan and Noah, my mind sunk back into the same question that had troubled me for several nights for five years. Whose were they?
They could either be Jake's or the stranger's and I badly prayed they were the stranger's kids. But something troubled me about them.
They both took majorly my features—my blue eyes and my nose. But while Nathan had Jake's dirty blond hair while Noah was just as brown hairs as I was.
I had tried to wish and pray that the stranger was also dirty-blond-haired, else, I would have to come to the conclusion that they were Jake's sons.
My heart raced frantically at the thought of Jake going through with his words, but I suddenly froze as a thought flashed across my mind.
I knew what Jake was playing at. He thought I was still the Eva or five years ago who did his every bidding and cowered at his threats.
But I would prove to him just how wrong he was. I would put him in the place he belonged —beneath my damn feet!