Isla's Pov,
"It seems Mr. Moretti is no longer available to work with us, should we stop sending him invites?" One of the sponsors of the charity asked Isla after cornering her.
"Not at all Mr. Louis, Mr. Moretti just had unforeseen circumstances come up that needed urgent attention, I was sent to represent him last minute, he was not happy about it but had no choice," Isla said, trying her best to sound as genuine as possible.
"What kind of unforeseen circumstances? This is the third charity event he has missed, how can this be explained? Or are they all because of unforeseen circumstances?" Mr. Louis asked, clearly not buying her excuse.
Isla panicked a little bit, Mr. Louis was one of their top clients, she couldn't lose him over another stupid thing Adrian had decided to do.
"It's a private family issue, the last two were a mistake of scheduling on my part, and this last one was well prepared for by us both, but at the last minute, an urgent family issue arose that couldn't be ignored. Rest assured, I'll pass on your displeasure and have him speak to you himself." She said with a smile, hoping it to be the end of their conversation.
She had been at this event for more than an hour, not bothering to even go home after work to not run late, her leg hurt, and her head ached.
"Good Day, Ms Isla." He said after a long while of uncomfortable silence and walked away without looking back.
She left out the breath she had been holding, although his response had been vague, she hoped she had at least managed to appease him this time, they couldn't afford to lose such a valuable business partner. Since she had appeased those she came to the event for, Isla wanted to get out as fast as she possibly could.
Isla heaved a breath before she headed towards the door. She couldn't wait to get home and into a hot shower.
**********
All her thoughts of hot showers came to a screeching pause when she saw the familiar red heels at the door of her house.
She knew she had seen those heels somewhere, but her mind just couldn't remember. Carefully, she passed it and pushed the door open to the luxurious penthouse she shared with her boss, who also happened to be her husband.
She passed all the littered clothes from the living room and stopped right at the front of her room door.
Now her heart was beating fast at the scene she might find behind those closed doors. Taking a deep breath, she pushes the door open and the scene in front of her makes her freeze.
Her husband and her sister….tangled in each other on her matrimonial bed.
All her thoughts came to a pause as she watched the scene in front of her, numbness filling her veins.
Neither of them had noticed her yet, still lost in each other to even care about whether they had been caught or not.
She stood at the doorstep, still surprised before one of them turned and saw her.
Celeste smirked at her, her wide-eyed look full of barely concealed contempt.
"Oh look who is back!" She said with excitement drawing Adrian's attention to Isla who still stood at the door.
"You're back already? How did the meeting go? I hope you have all the sponsors a good enough reason why I was unable to attend," He said nonchalantly.
"A good enough reason? Tell me, what is a good enough reason is on why you were unable to attend?" Isla asked after a long moment of stunned silence, her voice dangerously calm.
"Is that a serious question? Can you not see I am busy? Celeste was feeling bad today after losing a brand deal so I wanted to cheer her up, can't you see that?" He said, dismissively as Isla's eyes moved from him to her stepsister who still wore a smirk on her face, and then back to him.
"Is she more important than your work? Do you know how many clients I had to suck up to because you didn't show up?" Isla yelled, her fist clenched, and the rage in her voice was barely concealed.
"As a matter of fact, yes, she is more important than my work, she is the most important person to me and she is more important than anything or anyone else to me! Get that in your head and I don't pay you for nothing, I don't see why you should be applauded for simply doing your Job," He yelled back and Isla took a step back, her heart beating fast. She had to get out of there.
She nodded, the tears that had been gathering in her eyes began to dry up as she took many steps back, before turning around completely and walking away.
None of them tried to stop her, not like she would accept anything less from them. When she had gotten the the other side of the penthouse, that was when she was able to calm down and let the tears fall.
All the memories of how much she had given up for this marriage, for this man came rushing back at her.
She had given up opportunities, her body, her ambitions, and someone who loved her….just because she foolishly thought there would be a day when Adrian would return her love.
She let her tears fall under the starry night for a little longer before cleaning them and going into her private room.
She calmly began drafting her divorce papers she would send to her lawyer in the morning and when she was through, she opened her drawer to place them when the sight of an unfamiliar envelope caught her attention.
Who had put that there? She knew it wasn't her. Cautiously, she lifted it and opened it, before her eyes went wide. What was in that envelope would change the course of her life forever.