0°Celsius: Chapter 14

Deceived.

I was desperate for his forgiveness…

Desperate beyond limits…

And maybe that’s why I was standing here in Henry’s office ,handing him over the file behind Andro’s back.

As I made way out of his office and the news of Henry’s final confirmation to the project spread my happiness had no limits.

I was sure Andro will be very happy after all this project was his dream project and also one of the biggest.

He was celebrating his victory.

But his celebrations involved being with her and not me.

I must admit I never saw Andro as happy as he is today..

With her in his arms he is staring at Andrea with so much love .

‘Oh god Alex I can’t believe….I am so happy for you…’

With this she captured his lips…

I should look away.

I know but I can’t.

My eyes wanted to see it…to feel my heartbreak…to feel emptiness.

His hand pulled her waist to deeper the kiss.

They looked oblivious of the world.

Oblivious of me.

But for me seeing him in someone else’s arms was the only thing that mattered.

It didn’t mattered that I was shamelessly staring at them.

Or that people around were talking about me being a sl** who sold her body to get this deal.

They ended the kiss…

Smile lingered on their faces as the first teardrop managed to escape my eyes.

I turned around my back to them and I remembered the last time he turned his back on me.

Flashback

The debit card in her hands brought a smile on her face as she proceeded towards the jewellery shop.

Her eyes landed on it…

The perfect cut diamond ring

The one she always used to see from the window and wonder if she will ever wear it.

Placing the ring on her finger and giving it a kiss she handed over the card at the counter.

‘Thank you ma’am.’

the counter girl said.

She nodded and made her way out to the car that was already waiting for her.

The driver opened the door for her and she again smiled wondering how money can buy everything.

As she entered the AR mansion looking at her ring from different poses she saw Andro’s back on her.

He looked engaged on a call.

Unable to hide her happiness she engulfed him from behind and pressed her head on his shoulders.

Usually he replies or reacts but today his hands stood stiff. Still at his side clenching .

Something was wrong and she could sense it

‘Andro….’

He didn’t turn…he didn’t reply…he simply cut the call and unwrapped her arms that engulfed her.

As soon as his touch left her and he moved away from her without even looking at her the smile on her face disappeared.

‘Why?’

Was his simple question. A question that sparked the long hidden fear in her heart.

She knew what he was asking…

The question was her worst nightmare

The nightmare that was becoming a reality.

‘A….Andro…please first….listen…to…me…..’

He turned around and I saw a fire in his eyes which I never saw before.

His fire didn’t scare me but the burning hatred in them against me did.

Before I could react a lot number of pictures were thrown at my face…

As each picture descended on the ground and my eyes lingered on them.

My heart got ready to burst and my hands started shaking…

With the little courage left I lowered on my knees and picked the first picture.

It was true..

The picture was not fake but the emotions were.

It showed me in arms of him…who was my worst nightmare.

He was holding me but you can’t see how he was forcing me.

His harsh grip on my waist and it leaving a bruise for next few days was hidden from the picture.

The next pic my eyes landed on was again true.

Me handing over bundle of dollars in his hands.

But the fear in my eyes of him blackmailing me was again hidden.

No one knew the secret behind this happy smile.

But the next picture that laid near my heel made my heart stop for a second.

Two people were laying naked under the sheets. His hand held my locks as he smiled at me ..I was asleep peacefully on his chest.

But they didn’t show that I was drugged that night.

They didn’t show that this picture was planned and clicked perfectly when nothing actually happened.

‘Is anything left to listen after seeing this?’

Andro’s voice brought me back and I looked up at him.

‘Andro…I swear….I…’

‘Just shut the Fu** up Saph…!! Shut up!!….I want just a yes or no …tell me Saph…

‘Are these pics true?’

They were but they were a deception. He forced me…he blackmailed me…

I continued to sob. How do I tell him the truth..

‘Are they true Sapphire!!’

His thunderous voice made me shiver and I nodded.

‘Y..es’

‘Did you stole my money and gave it to that bastard?’

I remained silent not able to answer.

‘Answer me dammit!!’

‘Y….es…’

‘Did you lied to me that your friend needed it for her operation…did you lied to me that you were in the hospital that night…did you lied …?’

‘Yes…’

He turned around and grabbed his hair in his hands frustrated…

‘Did you did all this for my money…did you agreed to be my fiancé　because I had money….’

‘Andro…initially-‘

‘Yes or no dammit!!’

‘Y…e…s’

Next I heard a glass landing on the wall and breaking into pieces..

Followed by another and another…

His violence and anger never surfaced before…he was mostly very calm and composed but today this side of him made me fear him.

‘I satisfied each and every wish you had…you asked and I placed it at your feet…clothes, jewellery…everything….in return I asked only one damn thing….your love….but you couldn’t give it to me……’

I moved towards him trying to explain that I did like him…maybe not as much as he loved me …but still he was the first man that made me feel this way.

The first man who brought butterflies in my stomach and whose one touch made my soul shiver.

‘Andro…. please……..there is no other man in my life…..’

‘Oh so this is a hobby…huh..?…he is not the only man…you go and sleep with other guys and in front of me you act as a virgin…well played miss Sapphire Brown….well played…’

Next I know he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up.

His eyes were pools of hatred.

‘Tell me Saph…. wasn’t I enough?… wasn’t my love enough for you?…or I was always just a source of money for you….a toy with who you can play as you pleased…’

Tears were leaking like stream and my throat felt blocked with all the tears and anxiety..

I wanted to tell him so much but he was not ready to listen to me…

‘Andro…you are getting me wr…ong..’

But he won’t listen…

He had stepped back from me and turned his back.

‘Just get lost from my life and don’t you ever show me your face…you were a mistake…a mistake that made me realise what a fool I was defending the girl the everyone warned me about…’

‘Andro……!!! Please…..I really love you….’

He shut the door on my face and like this the girl named Sapphire Brown was thrown out of Alessandro’s life.

She stared at the ring on her finger and endless teardrops fell on the solitaire.

This ring was his only sovereign she had and she loved it more than herself.

After all it was the only thing that made her realise that materialistic things can not buy you true happiness….only love can.

I didn’t wanted anyone to see me in such a vulnerable state…so here I was crying my heart out inside the washroom cubicle…placing my hands on my mouth to silence my breaking sobs.

I know it has been long.

I should accept the fact that he has moved on in life with Andrea.

But I just can’t.

I cannot see him finding comfort in someone else’s arms.

I just cannot see his smile at her like he used to smile at me.

Oh god please give me strength..

Strength to repent for my mistakes before breaking down.

Cleaning my face and washing away all tears and sadness I made my way out of the washroom like nothing happened.

But what I saw was completely unexpected.

Gone was the wave of happiness. Instead everyone looked tensed with their eyes fixed on the led screen.

The news was enough to shake the very floor under my feat.

‘….the breaking news of the minute is that in the latest Business rivalry we have MM industries as the leader…the shares were reported to be 20% up within one trading day. Reaching it’s 52 week high…the opening bid was the highest in 12 weeks and we all can guess the reason behind it…..yes you are guessing right ..they have won the patent infringement case from AR industries ….clearing it’s name in the 10 year long case…this victory is evident in the shares…investors have again gained confidence in MM after they managed to get 80 million $ compensation from none other than AR industries…..Mr Alessandro Romano suffered the greatest loss of the decade with investors drawing out their money and shares reaching their lowest…..’

That was enough to make me take a step back and find where Alessandro was..

He must be devastated!!

He needs to be strong at this point…

I need to make sure he is alright…

I frantically searched for him.

There he was sitting in his office with eyes fixed on a stationary point lost in his own thoughts…

Before I could open the door a guard stopped me.

‘Sorry ma’am sir has ordered….no one is allowed to enter right now…’

I nodded and he returned…placing my hands on the glass wall overlooking his office….I kept staring at him…

He looked so lost and vulnerable…

I hope I could help him…

Suddenly his lost eyes met mine through the glass and I stepped back.

Before I know he moved out of the office grabbed my wrist painfully and dragged me along.

‘Andr-‘

He didn’t let me complete…instead I was pushed harshly inside the elevator with him behind me.

As soon as the door dinged closed both my wrists were grabbed harshly and my head was slammed on the elevator wall.

A throbbing pain entered my skull and for a second my vision became hazy.

His cold red eyes never looked so dangerous before.

His intention never so unpredictable.

And touch never so hateful before.

‘Andro….pl…ease….why….are….yo-‘

‘You are a disgusting bi***…a fuc**** backstabber!! Sapphire Brown why the hell you have to ruin my life every single time I get up!! Why you have to destroy my dreams…my ambitious…my life!!!Can’t you just leave me alone!!! Why….’

‘Andro….please try to understand…I cannot forget you…you are my everything…I. Love you….’

‘Love me….huh….love is a word that girls like you can never understand…. don’t confuse lust with love….you like my body…my status…my money….but you don’t love me…..a girl like you can never love anyone except herself!! ‘

‘I know what I am feeling…I have lived with it for last 2 years…..if it wasn’t your love….I would have died many years before…you are my lifeline Andro….why don’t you understand!’

‘You don’t destroy the person you love miss Sapphire.’

What was he saying….I gave him a confused look and his next words made me hate myself more than I ever did.

‘Don’t give me these innocent eyes….you think I don’t know how you got that deal….you think I don’t have cameras hidden in my book shelves…you think I don’t know how you shamelessly stole my most confidential file and gave it to that Bastard Henry!!…………

Are you happy to finally destroy me!!

To watch me on my knees….as a failure!! To kill me!!’

His grip on my hands loosened and he stepped back placing his head on the wall behind and closing his eyes..

I…

I did this?

That file …….?

Oh god what have I done!!

‘Andro….I didn’t knew…Henry………he…said….it was a file….on some….old project….!!’

He laughed…

With his eyes yearning to cry his lips were smirking.

His emotions were jumbled at such a vulnerable time.

Unable to express anyone could see he was an emotional mess right now.

‘You didn’t know!! Oh wow!! What are you Sapphire 3 years that you didn’t know!! You think I am a fool who will buy your lies…if you have guts to deceive me…do have guts to accept it on my face as well…’

The lift dinged as we reached the ground floor.

‘If I had known I….would have never given him that file…I thought you.

..will forgive me…if I got…you the deal….’

‘Forgive you…? Listen this for once and for all Sapphire Brown because I don’t like to repeat myself…..I will never ever forgive you for what you did to me…you can cry, plead…die begging for forgiveness but Alessandro Romano has never before nor will ever forgive those who break his trust…and heart…’

‘There is the door and I hope you will not waste you time anymore…you can go and live your life…but if you are adamant with this impossible wish of yours to get forgiven….then let me remind you miss Brown….I will no more hesitate to get my revenge on you which I am being generous enough for not taking from you….because you also know if I come on taking my revenge you will regret the day you stepped in my life…and the girl left after I had taken my revenge will be even more broken than I am…I am refraining…don’t let me question it….’

‘Get lost…hope to never see you again!’

With this I was slightly pushed out of the elevator and slowly the door closed on me.