Chapter 31

Third Person POV;

Aleena sat back in the West Wing of Damien's mansion staring into space. She looked around the guest room designated to her, she loathed it. Not because it was not a beautiful place because it was just as luxurious as any other room in the mansion, but she wanted to be in none other than Damien's bedroom.

She hated the fact that he had gotten married to someone that was not her and even worse, a middle class woman like Ariana. It made no sense to her how he would stoop so low and get married to a nobody when she was right there loving him tirelessly from day one.

She had thrown a major tantrum when Tracy had called to inform her of Damien's engagement which she had discarded as a rumor she saw on the internet. She wanted to rush down to Los Angeles immediately but her shooting schedule back in the Maldives did not let her. She called Damien but it all went to voicemail and he never returned her calls or texts.

She even tried making it to the wedding but her flight was delayed and she could only arrive a week later. Aleena had to admit, the pictures on the internet did no justice to how beautiful Ariana was in person but it did not matter to her.

She watched their show of affection in their room the other in total spite. Damien would never leave his work for anything and just because Ariana had seduced him, he agreed. What was in that little seduction that she had not done? But he put his work aside and stayed back. He even sent her gifts for no reason at all. She did her best to hide her envy at how good they looked together. She hated how everyone seemed to be so fond of Ariana and her seemingly innocent ways. She scoffed. Innocent indeed! Aleena was so sure that Ariana was putting on an act to get on everyone's good books but thankfully she and Tracy could see through her motives.

If she knew Damien at all, she was sure he would not just get married out of the blue, it must have been well planned and premeditated, he did not do things without a reason.

She was well aware that he was not in love with Ariana. The others may have been oblivious but she was not, Damien was not in love with Ariana and she planned to use this knowledge as a leverage to get in between them and claim what was rightfully hers, she thought.

How she was going to do it? She truly did not know but she was going to get Damien somehow. By hook or by crook, he was going to be hers and hers alone. She would have him all to herself eventually, she just had to make him realize how much he loved her.

To not get on his bad side, she would leave but her return was going to be spectacular, one that would be her Trump card and the beginning of her reign as the queen of Damien Kingston's empire.

She smiled and sighed dreamily at the thought.

****

Stella had been up all night contemplating a lot of things. She stared up at the starrry sky and sighed heavily.

She was more than happy that her son was finally married and to a very good girl at that but somehow something felt off about their relationship.

There was no honeymoon and next thing she knew, he was away for a business trip in another country and there was no knowledge of when he was going to return.

She was no fool, she was aware of the tension between them. She shook it off as Ariana being a shy one but the n again in his absence she seemed more playful and carefree. She really did not want Damien treating her the same he was treating everyone else. Her son had been cold and closed off ever since...

No, she would not think about the past but she really expected her to change him.

"Stella, you're thinking again." Her husband stated the obvious.

"Gerald, I'm worried for him." She admitted with the worry evident in her gaze.

Gerald sighed deeply as he sat up on their bed.

"You can't keep worrying like this Stella. It's not good for you." Gerald advised as he rubbed on her back soothingly while she spoke.

"I know but I thought him getting married would bring the much needed change we prayed for but he's nowhere to be seen." Stella complained with a shaky voice.

"Isn't it too soon for you to get such ideas. Give it time, they just got married." He pointed out.

Stella nodded. Sure he was right, but she still nursed the sinking feeling in her heart. Damien did not look like a man in love, she would know because she was somewhat an expert when it came to matters of the heart.

"Do you think he'll ever see reasons with me?" She asked as tears formed in her eyes.

"You mean, if he'll ever forgive me?" Gerald countered glumly.

"I don't know Stella, I honestly do not know." He answered truthfully in a downcast tone as he sighed ruefully.

She drew closer to him and placed her head on his shoulder as her rubbed her back soothingly.

They were going to be fine. She truly believed they were going to be alright in the end.

****

Tracy shook her head at how ridiculous Fiona sounded, gushing over Ariana as usual.

"What's it with you and that girl?" She asked irritatedly.

"What's wrong with me being friends with my brother's wife?" Fiona returned with the same sass.

"You're not even this cozy with Aleena." Tracy remarked.

"What does she have to do with anything?" Fiona asked, furrowing her brows in apparent confusion.

"Are you so blind to not notice how much in love she is with Damien?"

Fiona shrugged blithely.

"It's not my fault Damien married someone else." It actually wasn't.

Tracy shook her head once again at her naive little sister. She was just a kid, so she would not see through the low class girl's facade. It was clear to her that Ariana did not belong in a billionaire family like this one and she would never stop showing her dislike for her.

She was apparently rooting for Aleena to be Damien's wife and truly wished she was able to swoop in just in time to bring Damien to his senses before he tied the knot but Aleena could not make it.

It was not too late as far as she was concerned. She was sure they would break up soon anyway, Damien was too much of a difficult man to deal with. It was only a matter of time before Ariana upped and left and she would be there for it. The only person she believed could handle Damien's excesses particularly well was Aiden.

She sighed at the thought of him ignoring her advances. Just like Aleena, she had been in love with him right from their childhood days but he never paid attention to her.

She watched him with an aching heart going out and bedding other women while she wallowed in misery. She could not stop herself from loving him, no matter how much she tried. It was a painful feeling.

"Tracy!" Fiona exclaimed, zapping her out of her thoughts with a jerk. She scowled.

"I was speaking to you and you just zoned out." Fiona frowned, definitely not pleased with her sister ignoring her.

"Don't you have studying to do?" Tracy questioned.

"I don't feel like studying." Fiona whined like a child, as always.

"Go find something else to do then, you're bothering me. Leave my room." She ordered.

"You're no fun." Fiona grumbled as she trudged out of the room in exaggerated sunken shoulders.

Tracy grunted with a roll of her eyes as soon as the door closed.

She moved towards the large mirror situated in her bedroom and stared at herself.

Damien, Ariana and Aleena could sort themselves out, she was more worried about impressing Aiden.

No doubt, she was beautiful. Her dirty blonde hair she had dyed brown because she noticed that Aiden had a thing for brunettes, paired with her deep blue eyes made her a stunner. She looked like a model with her small cup sized breasts and hardly any flesh anywhere else but she was truly beautiful.

She had everything he would want in a woman but why did he still not find her attractive. She had gone out of her way to change things about herself but all he did was push her to the sideline. She did not get it.

She was so disappointed and heartbroken she did not think she could take any more of it but she always found her way back to wanting him even more. It was so frustrating and she had no idea what to do with herself. Immersing herself in her job did not help either.

"Just what would it take to get you off my mind Aiden?" She asked herself exasperatedly.