Confrontation with Karen

Doran led her inside the vast hall where the wedding ceremony was being held. It had been extravagantly decorated with flowers and ribbons to support the wedding theme.

Few guests had arrived so far. They made their way to their designated table and Caleb spotted them. He seemed dapper in his all-cobalt blue three-piece suit. Opening his arms he rushed to his best man with a joyous smile brightening all his features.

"I know you are a busy man but I wouldn't go through this without you," both men hugged and patted each other's back.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything. Didn't I give you a whole week off from the office?" Doran answered with a huff and Caleb's eyes fell on Skyla.

"Thank you for coming. You caged him years ago and now it's my time," he teasingly chuckled and Skyla only politely smiled in return.

"Come, let's check all the arrangements one last time and take our positions," Doran offered and led the groom away, silently indicating for Skyla to sit and stay put.

The hall filled up soon enough and to her dismay Doran's secretary; Karen. Yes, the same one with whom he was caught cheating. She had been given the seat right next to Skyla. She ambled over, walking like a supermodel and settled in her seat.

As if only knowing of his lewd actions was not enough, he had to shove it in Skyla's face as well. The girl had more plastic on her face than there was in the oceans. Her perfectly manicured hands drummed the table restlessly as her ample breasts almost spilt out of the tight bodycon dress she was clad in.

Now and then she would throw an uninterested but contemptuous look towards Skyla. The one that said why she got to have Doran, what does he even see in her? Skyla ignored her. She was not worth the trouble.

Skyla watched the ceremony and clapped heartily for the lovely couple. Caleb had been always nice to her and she had met his fiancée and now wife, Laisa a few times as well. They made a beautiful couple.

Once the ceremony was done, Skyla walked over to the couple and congratulated them on their nuptials.

"Congratulations, I wish both of you a very happy married life," she hugged the new bride who was glowing, the love Caleb showered on her was evident on her face. It always showed on a woman's face how her man treated her.

"Oh! Thank you, Mrs. Blackthorn. I am very humbled you could come," Laisa answered.

"Pleasure is all mine," Skyla graciously smiled. She needed to use the restroom so she excused herself.

A few girls had gathered in the restroom. Seeing Skyla and seizing her up and down they all began to murmur.

"How lucky she is to have bagged Doran?"

"She is nothing in looks in comparison to him."

"How dreamy is Doran? And the way he walks the ramp," the murmurs and taunts continued. Skyla had gotten used to these. At times she wanted to take jibes at such women, who elevated men to the level of gods based on their good looks. Without knowing how rotten they could be from the inside.

She quietly went inside the cubicle, hoping the girls would have left by the time she would come out. The silence outside told her they were gone.

Leaving the cubicle she proceeded to wash basins when the door opened and Karen meandered inside on her high heels. She flicked her blonde hair back as her heels clicked on the marble floor. Halting right beside Skyla she sneered.

"I keep him cosy and warm in the office, what a shame that you can't do that even in bed," Skyla tightly gripped the sides of the wash basin. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure. She tried to restrain herself but couldn't.

"I wish you had a smidge of self-respect or dignity. A homewrecker doesn't go far, it always comes back to bite you," she seethed out, her heart writhing in pain.

"Oh! Heavens, so that's what naive Skyla believes that I am a homewrecker? We have been shagging a long time before you walked into his life. It's not about you, it's about him. No one can take him like I do," she leaned closer and seductively whispered in Skyla's ear.

"His c*** was made for me," all the self-restraint evaporated like water on a scorching day and the slap Skyla gave her resonated loud and clear in the bathroom. Karen's head whipped to the other side from the force and her handprint was embedded in her skin.

"Shut up!" she hadn't expected such an outburst from Skyla.

Karen's mouth flew open at the sudden action and she placed her hand on the burning skin.

"This will not end well for you, Skyla. You shouldn't have raised your hand on me," she smirked as if this was her plan all along, to rile her up.

Skyla's chest heaved as her emotions were all over the place. She should have stayed in control and she just lost it. A new hell would break loose on her now.

Karen threw her one final lingering glance and steadied herself before walking out. Her destination was Doran. Skyla followed soon after and saw her whispering something in Doran's ear. The smile he held never faltered as he nodded and scanned the hall until he found Skyla.

Karen walked away from him as if she was just there to deliver a message related to business but Skyla knew what she must have said. Doran's hypnotic smile stayed but his icy eyes pierced her heart as if with icicles and she knew she was in trouble. Her hands and feet went numb and she couldn't move a muscle until he came to fetch her.

With every step he took, Skyla's heart dropped into a bottomless pit of despair. The anxiety she had begun to develop made her cold sweat break out on her temples. Until he was right in front of her.

"We need to talk, let's go home," he took her arm and whispered. "Keep smiling or I will double your punishment."