Love, Lies and Billionaires

“I need to know the people I’d been with while we were friends”

Irene paused for a while and lifted her eyes from her glass before giving off a scoff. “You’re joking, right?” She asked, but only got a stare from Maren. “Wow, so now I’m some… I don’t know, dick documenter?”

“Oh, come on, Irene. I know it sounds completely ridiculous and probably inappropriate, but I you’re Irene. I mean, we used to do things together back then. You basically introduced me to more than half the men I met before William,” She said and paused. “I know you can tell me”

Irene went silent for a while as her index finger circled round the tip of her wine glass like she was in thought.

“I’m glad you remembered that I hooked you to half the men you know, including William, but nope, I’m not doing this,” she said and down the rest of her glass. “I’m not going to be your victim one more time.”

“What does that even mean?” Maren asked, confusion printed on her face.

“You’ve used me your life, and I’d be a fool to let you do that one more time. So if you don’t mind, I’ve got better things to do than sit here and help you remember your dirty escapade.”

She stood up from where she sat and walked to the kitchen counter where the half filled bottle of wine sat.

“Oh my god, Irene,” Maren grumbled and walked towards her. She stood a few feet from her and folded her arms and watched her down another glass. “I just need you to do me one last favour and this is what I get?” she asked, gesturing with her hands.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said drunkenly, or probably pretending to be.

“Every sentence you’ve made sense I walked in here has been about the past, Irene. If I’ve hung on to it the way you have, I definitely wouldn’t be here. I’m here asking for your help to clear my confusion and you’re just acting up like an overgrown baby!”

There was a thunderclap, and the storm raged stronger. Irene raised a brow and finally dropped the glass. Her face got serious.

“Did you even stop to think about why I keep dwelling on the past? Well, maybe we never actually got to talk about it!” She raged.

“You think I got closer to William just because he saw me as a confidant? No Maren, everyone saw me as a confidant. He was just another name on the list.” She said and moved closer to where Maren stood, looking at her.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“William was obsessed with you, but you failed to see that because your selfish desires blinded you. Who wants this? Maren, who said this? Maren, who thought of this? Maren. All I ever heard was Maren, Maren, Maren!”

“All William talked about was you, Maren, but you never did that unless he did something extremely great for you. You confided in me, he confided in me, so I did the stats and concluded that you didn’t deserve him.”

“I seduced him countless times, but of course, the fool was a loyal mess and wouldn’t take a second glance at me. I wanted to save him from you so bad that I recorded some conversations we had whenever you were mad at him and accused him of being with someone else, but it didn’t change his mind.”

“It felt like you were immersed in some kind of voodoo or something that only affected him,” she added, running her hands through her hair with a hint of violence.

“William was one of the most loyal men ever to be created on this earth till that day of your wedding at the hotel,” she said with a short smirk.

Maren shut her eyes in pain from the memory, but opened it almost immediately.

“I made him drunk, Maren. And you would have seen that if your stupid suspicions did not blind you,” she spat. “He never wanted it, but I guess I’m as irresistible as ever.” A hint of pride crept into her voice.

“Fuck what I said that day. That was the first and only time we fucked! And it felt so good to finally take what was yours, you selfish fool”

“Stop it, Irene!”

“No!” Irene yelled back, veins creeping on the sides of her neck as she got more angry by the minute.

“I’ve always walked in your shadow, Maren. I always tried to be there for you, making it my sole aim to make sure you’re okay whenever you were down. But you never reciprocated it. You were so full of yourself!”

“god, I was so mad at William. He was such a fool. Going after you, even after what you did to him and what you didn’t.” She said and pushed Maren. She lost balance and moved back a little but still didn’t react. A tear fell from her eyes.

“He tried explaining that what he did wasn’t intentional, but of course you never listened. You treated him like he was some idiot when he came back to beg you and I watched from the shadows like some reject in love”

“William came back to me when he knew getting you back was hopeless but I wanted you to suffer emotionally the way you made us both so I poisoned his mind with the idea of claiming Nathan at all cost because it was obvious that you loved him so much and wouldn’t let him go easily”

“I wanted you to feel pain, but William saw it as a way to get close to you in a different way. I hated him so much!” She screamed, loud enough to be heard over the storm.

She stopped for a while and edged closer to Maren. “I owe you nothing, Maren, but you owe me a lot. Still, here you are trying to make it seem like we’re all good and ask me such a ridiculous question.”

She scoffed. “I guess little miss perfect still has some undisposed skeletons in her cupboard.” She folded her arms, letting her lips curl up into a smile. “Your son is a bastard Maren…”

Maren surged forward and zipped the rest of her words into her mouth with a hard slap.