Chapter 54

54 iii. The Man He Has Become

It was the anniversary of the company, of course, she was not so dumb as to not think the chairwoman will be among the attendees.

But she was assured she already booked a flight ticket to Hawaii for what Dominus described as a much-needed vacation.

So it came as a sense of betrayal for her to see the madame as one of the attendees. She just prays she won’t be noticed, it has been so long anyway, and she has only seen her in two particular instances.

She felt uncomfortable wearing the dress Dominus bought her, it was too expensive. In fact, he has dressed her from head to toe in garments and accessories fitting for royalty.

She felt like a trying-hard socialite, and the rumors will be more fueled this way. But he looked so frustrated and deprived her of good beautiful sex for a week. This deprivation made her crave him so badly that she just said yes to letting him dress her up for the event.

Dominus left her for a bit to talk with some executives from a partner company. But it has been almost an hour, and she is starting to get impatient, more so that the madame keeps on looking at her direction as if trying to jog her memory as to when they have met.

She bit on her lower lip and began to walk away when she bumped into another person. She almost fell down on the floor if not for the arms that helped her.

“Are you okay, miss?” the worried voice of the guy she bumped with spoke to her.

“Ahmmm... I am fine,” she glanced around frantically. She knows how irked Dominus will be when he sees her talking to someone else, especially of the opposite sex.

.....

“You don’t look okay to me, miss. Let me help you,” he touched her shoulder as she backed away and pushed him slightly to give them space.

“You are trembling, are you okay,” his hands tried to steady her shoulders but it was slapped away by much larger ones.

She knew this will happen. She looked up and saw Dominus glaring at the poor man.

She desperately held onto Dominus’s arm, “Please Sir Dom, I am fine. I was so clumsy and slipped, and he was just helping me out.”

Dominus’s blazing gaze shifted into her, “Don’t defend this stupid man.”

“I am just an employee here sir, it is true that I was just helping her up since she stumbled and fell,” it was the poor man’s turn to tremble before the tycoon.

“Honey,” she whispered and grabbed into Dominus’s hand, squeezing into it.

She blushed saying that word in public. She couldn’t think of any other way to stop him from causing a scene or possibly injuring someone yet again.

Dominus turned red hearing her say it, he froze and just stared at her which the poor samaritan took as an opportunity to scamper away.

“What did you say?” he asked her softly, his fingers tenderly caressing her cheek as the focus of the party turned to them, the furious madame’s included.

“I can’t repeat what I said, everyone is staring at us,” she blushed profusely, wanting nothing else but to disappear and to be swallowed completely by the ground.

“So what if they see or hear us? I already told you, I don’t care about that stuff. Now tell me again what you just said, or do I have to deprive you again?” his voice was gentle but the threat was real.

She has gotten so addicted to his sex that she simply can’t think of having to do away with it for another week. He really is cruel this way.

But how can she repeat saying such a thing in front of his grandmother and all of the crowd’s attention centered on them?

That is just far too much to take, damned heavens, the gods won’t even send her a fainting spell. She blushed when he took a step closer.

“Do I need to kiss you, for you to repeat what you said? We both know what happens when we kiss,” his voice was serious, the baritone voice making her walls tighten, and his nearness already making her knees shake.

Damn it, she has to be allowed to protest. This is just not fair!

But the closer his face appears in front of her, the more scared she is of him claiming her lips and making her moan in front of all this crowd. That is a worse evil.

“Honey,” she said, louder. The crowd gasps and the madame nearly fainted watching a nobody, a lowly employee call her beloved grandchild that endearment.

He smirked, “Good girl, you are so good to me honey,” he claimed her lips gently just to seal the deal.

He smiled when she pushed him away as she blushed profusely. She will be angry with him for some time he knows, but it will be worth it.

Because now, everyone knows she is his. Everyone knows she is Dominus’s woman.

The madame shouted her grandson’s name as she almost collapsed from what she had just witnessed.

“What insanity is this, Dominus? How dare you kiss a social-climbing secretary in front of me?” she furiously walked towards them, her sharp eyes were directed to the woman beside him.

“Grandmother, she is no social climber. I think we have already settled that a long time ago. And she is not just another employee but the only woman I will ever allow myself to marry,” he met her accusations and smiled confidently, unperturbed by the anger of the old woman at what he had just done.

“What are you talking about? Shut up before you humiliate yourself and this family further!” the old woman’s voice came almost as a shrill as she shouted the words.

Dominus smirked, “Grandma, what’s wrong about what I just said? It is true, Mary is the only one I’ll take as a wife. My child with her is the only heir this family will ever see,” he continued, his voice was steady as he smiled.

“Are you insane? Do you think I will allow you to take just anyone? Mary! Don’t tell me this woman is that whore from years ago? You fool, I told you she took the money and left you for it. I showed you the documents she signed years ago when she abandoned you at your worst!” the old woman, stumbled, losing her cool as she held into a table for support.

“Grandma, we both know she never withdrew the money from the bank. Or did you think I will not investigate? I feel insulted you think I will believe every word you said. And no, no one is allowed to call her names, she will soon be replacing you as the household’s madame anyway, so I suggest you give her the respect she deserves,” Dominus shielded Mary from his grandmother as the old woman advanced, her hand raised to slap Mary behind him.

“Get out of my way, I need to teach that woman a lesson!” the old lady was shouting at the top of her lungs as people begin to whisper about them.

Everyone has heard what he just told, there is no way the family will recognize a nobody as the bearer of the next family heir. It will be such a disgrace.

Dominus gripped the old woman’s wrist, if it was another person he would have crushed her bones, but it is the person who raised him, so he just held it and created a wall between her and Mary.

“I am serious grandma, I do love her. I will ask for your blessings again when you have calmed down,” he smiled softly and let go of her hand as her assistants came forward, helping the madame when the shock of it all made her stumble again.

“Please don’t think of this as me casting you away. You are my family. But she is my family as well. There is nothing in this world that will make me let her go. She is the woman for me grandma, the sooner you accept that, the easier it will be for everyone,” he bowed as a sign of respect for her then turned to the woman behind him, she was clutching her purse as she trembled like a twig against a storm.

“It was a necessary chaos, queenie. I am sorry it has to be this way. Let’s go home now,” he held her in his arms when her knees gave out.

He carried her in his arms as the people around them whispered, the madame shouting in the background.

But Mary felt at peace because she was close to him like this. She circled her arms around his neck for support and let out a soft smile.

“That’s my girl, you did very well, queenie,” he complimented her when they are finally inside his car.

“I- I never knew that you recalled. You acted as if you have lost your memories of us,” she pointed out.

“It will take more than a concussion to make me forget you. I love you so much, queenie. I adore you so,” he caressed her cheek and wiped her tears away.

“Did you have me investigated?” she asked, she would have known if he did.

“No, I did not. But I am sure you wouldn’t have taken the money. Moreover, I wouldn’t mind even if you took it. Everything I have is yours. Whether you took it or not is not important. I still would have pursued you,” he assured her.

“You hid yourself well these past years, it drove me mad, I nearly lost my mind when you did that. That’s the only thing you did that I hate,” he took her hands and pressed them to his lips.

“I have no choice, I don’t know how to explain what I did. I am too tired to explain it,” she blushed, loving the way his lips feel against her skin.

“You don’t have to explain anything. Just say you’ll never run away from me again,” his voice was gentle as he pressed a chaste kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll never run away from you again, Dominus. I promise,” she couldn’t even finish her sentence as he claimed her lips hungrily.

He kissed her like a man who had thirst for water in a desert. She is his oasis and he needs her so.

She pushed him away, “We better go home now.”

“Why so? Can’t we do it in the car? The car’s windows are heavily tinted,” he teased her.

“No!” a horrified look on her face registered as people started to come out of the hotel, curiosity making them stare at his car.

“Relax, I’m not going for a double win,” he smiled satisfactorily and put her seatbelt on.

He removed her ponytail and threw it away, making her blush more, “But no more of this silly hairdo, queenie, it never suited you.”

She nodded and smiled softly at him, “Fine, you always have a thing for my hair,” she teased him.

“And sniffing you up, I suppose,” he added, making her laugh.

“That too, of course. You are so weird,” she teased him.

He started the engine and agreed with her, “I guess I am. But I am only like this because of you, then you only have yourself to blame for the kind of man I have become.”