Chapter 12

Nathalie watched the sturdy back walk away until it was out of sight.

She rubbed her face and leaned back in her chair, sighing tiredly.

Right, she was tired.

She was tired of being ignored all the time.

Their marriage is in sight, but the future husband doesn't seem at all interested in taking care of it, let alone preparing for everything.

She looked down at the ring studded with diamonds that gleamed beautifully and luxuriously on her ring finger. Slowly, her fingers wiped the ring. A ring with hers and Xavier's names engraved on it. The ring that binds them together.

Her mind wandered back to the figure of a woman she had just met, Rachel. A woman who she thinks is ordinary and who doesn't seem to be the type of woman her future husband would like to be.

Even so, her heart couldn't stop restless. Their marriage was imminent, and it was very difficult to get to this point. The point where she could finally reach Xavier.

Nathalie fumbled for her cell phone in her small bag, deciding to call Hannah, her future mother-in-law. She would never feel at ease until she made sure that the woman named Rachel was not a stumbling block in her relationship with Xavier.

The call finally connected after the third ring.

"Hello, honey? Have you guys tried on the wedding outfit yet?" said the future mother-in-law accompanied by several questions.

Nathalie exhaled slowly, subconsciously forcing a smile before finally replying, "Mommy, Xavier's very busy, he turned down all plans for the day."

"God! The wedding is only a month away, but he is still busy work," said Hannah looking a little annoyed. "Later, I will tell X to take the time to take care of your wedding. Just take it easy, everything will go smoothly, and your wedding will still take place."

"Thank you very much, Mommy, Uhm ..." For a moment, Nathalie seemed to doubt whether she should discuss Rachel with her future mother-in-law.

"Nath, honey, what's wrong?" asked Hannah on the other end of the phone. "Is there a problem? Tell me what happened."

"Uhm..." Nathalie was silent for a split second. "Do you know about any ex-girlfriends or women who have been close to X?"

"I don't know about that, Nath, Xavier's a very secretive person when it comes to personal matters. Maybe Dimitri knows better about that," explained Hannah. "So what? Xavier has an affair with another woman, huh? Just tell me!"

"No! it's not like that, Mommy." She immediately corrected the assumption. It could be a long business if Nathalie's baseless suspicions turned into new problems.

"Uhm, I'm just wondering who Xavier's exes were."

"Oh, I see … listen, Nath, I understand your anxiety. But, don't worry, no matter what the woman who was with Xavier, in the end, it will be you who will be with my son on the aisle. So, don't let things like that become a burden on your thoughts, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy … but I want you not to discuss this with X. This is purely my anxiety. I don't want him to think that his future wife doesn't believe in him."

Don't let Hannah take this to Xavier, or things will get worse. Xavier will be furious with her. It could be because of this trivial thing, he canceled their wedding plans.

"Okay, I'm not going to discuss this with X. Honey, can I hang up the phone, okay? Grandpa seems to have gone home. Anyway, I'll talk to Xavier later so I can take the time to take care of your wedding."

Soon the call ended. Nathalie stared at her phone screen for a moment, then put it back in her bag.

If Hannah didn't know anything about Xavier's private life, then finding out about Rachel by involving the woman was not the right thing to do.

"I guess I'll have to find out myself," she mumbled softly as she looked straight ahead. "I won't be able to calm down until I confirm that this is all just a baseless assumption."

The beautiful woman glanced at the watch that was wrapped around her arm, then got up from her seat.

Even though she had gone to great lengths to postpone all of her photoshoots today to make time for her wedding preparations, Xavier doesn't seem to want to bother doing the same thing.

.

.

(*)

Rachel's brows furrowed as she saw Nancy following her shortly after she returned to the office room.

Nancy had just sat down in her chair when Rachel said, "How come your lunch is over early? You usually spend your entire break, and going upstairs after that."

"I'm lazy to be a spectator of a couple arguing, Rachel. Moreover, that couple is our boss," complained the blonde woman. "I don't think it's polite, right, I'm a spectator and also a listener of Mr. Alexandre's private conversation with his future wife, so I'll just go."

Ah, it's true, the beautiful woman that Rachel had admired when they accidentally met in the toilet was Xavier's future wife.

"Eh, but I was quite surprised… it turned out that Mr. Alexandre to his future wife spoke very emotionally and very sharply. Anyway, it is very different from Mr. Alexandre that we have known so far."

"Really?" Nancy's chatter more or less caught Rachel's attention. The woman turned her chair towards Nancy's cubicle. "Maybe they are having problems, isn't fighting in a relationship normal?"

For a moment Nancy stared at her best friend in astonishment. Usually, Rachel was never interested in other people's problems, especially those that had nothing to do with her.

"I accidentally overheard earlier, that his future wife had gone all the way to the office to invite Mr. Alexandre to try on a wedding outfit and order a ring. But Mr. Alexandre flatly refused, he simply said he was busy and didn't have time. Anyway, This isn't his wedding, how come he didn't seem interested in that."

Nancy's explanation made Rachel gasp. For a moment she was lost in thoughts when it occurred to her that maybe this marriage was not Xavier's will. Maybe based on coercion or for one reason or another.

Rachel linked it to Xavier's attitude towards her, who still didn't seem to let her go. The man had another woman to marry.

Is it possible that Xavier married Nathalie out of compulsion?

If so, maybe…

Rachel subconsciously shook her head, dispelling any other conjectures that suddenly crossed her head.

Whatever the reason, it's none of Rachel's business.

She didn't want to interfere at all, because she didn't want to be involved later with all the big and small problems that Xavier had with his future wife.