Ruthless Seduction

Chapter Thirty Four

My nerves was a mess. My hand shook as I lifted the coffee cup in my mouth. I could barely take a sip of my latte, the little sips I took felit like it wanted to  go back up my throat. The panging anxiety in the pit of my stomach was hard to ignore. I put my cup down and lifted my head up to look at her. Guiliana Di Fiordo-Lavigne, Axel's wife. She was sitting right across me. Cool, calm, confident and unapologetic. While I, on the other hand, was shaky and nervous.

I didn't believe her at first. I wanted to believe that she was just Axel's past fling who couldn't get over him but when I saw the proof, her ID with Axel's last name, I felt like my world fell apart. We decided to talk about it over a cup of coffee at a coffee shop just across the condominium building.

She noticed me looking at her and smiled. I straightened my back stiffly, faking confidence. But I didn't know if I could pull this act off. Right now, I was a mess of nerves. I took in a deep breath to calm myself down.

"Valerie." She said in an eerily calm voice. She looked at me as if studying my reaction. "You're Valerie right?"

"Yes, I am." I answered blankly

"Axel has told me a few things about you while we were in Italy." She kept that fake smile intact on her lips. I swallowed that knot I felt in my throat. My heart felt like it was being squeezed. He was with her when he went to Italy. I wanted to cave in but held myself up. I would never give her the satisfaction of seeing me crumble. I had to keep my act together.

"What did he tell you?" I casually asked as if I was talking to a friend.

"All good, I assure you." She said and straightened up, her face more serious. "Axel and I are trying to make our marriage work. We've had our personal issues and we decided to spend some time away from each other. Axel is a man. I know he had needs and I wasn't around to ful fill it. Naiintindihan ko kung bakit siya nagkaroon ng extramarital affair at gusto ko rin ipaalam na hindi ako galit sa'yo."

My sweaty hands clenched into fists under the table while still trying to maintin a relaxed facade. My heart felt like it was going to burst as I held all my emotions back. Totoo ba ang sinasabi niya? I didn't want to believe it but based on his actions lately, she could be telling the truth. Simula nang bumalik si Axel mula sa Italy nag-iba na siya. Parang palagi siyang may itinatago sa akin. He was always busy, always on his phone or in front of his laptop in his library.

"Pero nakikiusap ako sa'yo, please stay away from him. We're already married."

Married. I never thought that word could hurt me this much. I held back a wince. It hurts so much that it felt like I had been physically assaulted. I took in a deep breath. Breathe, Valerie, Breathe.

"You're a beautiful young woman. Marami ka pang makikilalalang lalaki, yung wala pang asawa. yung hindi pa nakatali." There was malice in her words, a cold edge to it. Na para bang ipinamumukha niya sa akin kung ano ako. She was rubbing salt on an already painful and open wound.

If she thought what she said would break me, she was wrong. I am Valerie Zamora. Hindi ako sanay na naapi at hindi ako papayag na maapi. I turned my anxiety into strength and confidence. The bitchy side of me was activated.

"Bakit hindi siya ang pakiusapan mong lumayo sa akin?" I said in a mocking smile. Her face suddenly fell and my smile grew bigger. "Can't he willinly stay away from me? Well, I can't blame him. Axel and I have great chemistry both in bed and out of it. At katulad nga ng sabi mo, I'm a beautiful young woman."

I saw how her jaw clenched, her face darkened, her expression turned into a scowl. The bitch in me was rejoicing seeing her riled up like that. Guiliana's annoyingly cool demeanor disappeared.