Chapter 54: No Wedding

Erica’s mind immediately conjured up several questions at once.

How did he know she had touched his phone?

Did he know that Celine called him?

Who was Celine to him anyway?

Could she be someone special to him?

That was impossible, Tristan never took a woman as special.

Erica’s eyes darted thoughtfully, what should she say to him?

“What are you talking about? I didn’t touch your…”

Erica was beginning to say to him when the sound of his phone ringing cut off the silence. Erica’s breath immediately seized in that single moment, her eyes flickering over to his phone which was in his grasp.

Who could be calling him? Could it be her?

Her heart suddenly stopped beating and she began to fidget unknowingly.

A tight frown was etched on Tristan’s rigid face as he looked down at his phone screen, it felt like whoever might have called him was a strange number he was trying to figure out if he should pick up or not.

That number had also been just digits, not saved on his contacts list.

If it really was her calling, she couldn’t let him pick up. Erica’s mind immediately thought about this. If she allowed him to speak to Celine right now, he would come to know about the lie she’d told Celine.

That damned woman, whoever she was better leave Tristan alone, if she knew who she was up against, she wouldn’t want to be enemies with someone like her because she definitely didn’t spare her enemies.

“Tristan, you can’t…” Erica was about to stop him from answering his ringing phone, she had inched a hand forward but she hadn’t gotten the chance to do anything yet when he swiped his phone screen and put the phone against his ear.

He listened quietly for a few moments, as each second ticked by, Erica’s expression turned paler and paler.

******

Celine sat listlessly on her sofa, her phone had slowly slipped out of her grasp at some point, but she still clearly remembered the contents of the text she had just received.

[Celine right? I just spoke to Tristan about you, but he can’t recall your name or where he might have met you. Are you sure he knows who you are? I’m sorry, he doesn’t want to call you back, I guess he must have forgotten you or wherever he met you. If you need my help talking to him about anything, don’t hesitate to contact me.]

Those words repeated in her head like a broken record, she saw the words floating in her head making her quietly dizzy, and her vision blurred, she only realized when she felt a warm trickle of liquid down her cheeks that there were tears in her eyes and she was crying.

Once she became aware of the tears, she suddenly became aware of the sharp ache in her chest, a suffocating pain that clutched her heart.

There were times she would wonder to herself, had Tristan regretted what happened between them considering how fast he had left without even looking back. But more than regret…he had forgotten?

Her fingers slowly curled into fists against the silk fabric of her pajamas.

She slowly wiped off her tears, it was no use crying anymore.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but it seemed like her only option right now. She would raise her child on her own.

He had forgotten her hadn’t he? She wouldn’t burden him or disrupt his life with news of her pregnancy anymore, she knew as the father he had the right to know, but there were some things best kept to oneself and in this case, it would be best for both Tristan and herself if she forgot about him too.

*****

“What is this?”

Erica’s eyes widened in panic when Tristan turned his phone to show her a familiar picture on the screen.

It was the image of both of them entering the Neville city airport. Specifically, she walked behind him while he was head of her, but there was a clear indication that they were together and the angles made it seem like a couple about to go on a hectic trip with the husband being ahead and the wife following right behind.

“That’s…” Erica swallowed difficulty to come up with an excuse before she quickly continued, “…such a weird picture, who took that?”

Just now when Tristan had received a call, unlike what Erica assumed it hadn’t been Celine but Kaleb who called to inform him of a huge rumor going around.

That specific picture had been zoomed to show Erica’s ring finger which held a nice, beautiful diamond ring. Many gossip sites began to create assumptions of an engagement, it just so happened that Mr Williams, Erica’s father came out that same day hinting at a relationship in the works that might make the Williams and the Blakewood/Grayson one and the same as family.

In the whole Blakewood family, only Tristan had changed his last name and taken up his maternal last name Grayson, which meant there was going to be a binding relationship formed between Tristan Grayson and the Williams, as far as people knew, only marriage brought such a bond.

These hints had exploded into a huge, city wide news. The wedding of a man like Tristan was sure to blow up within minutes.

Tristan didn’t look displeased because he knew she talked to Celine, it was because of the rumor. Erica realized.

She secretly released a sigh of relief. For some reason Erica preferred it were this rather than it being that Tristan discovered her conversation with Celine.

If the woman had any pride, what Erica had sent to her in that message was enough to make her never want to call or see Tristan ever again.

“It’s the exact same question I’m asking you Erica, this can’t be some coincidence, it’s a deliberately taken photograph and so conveniently there are rumors that I will be marrying you. Didn’t I make myself clear when I said there would be no wedding, no engagement?” He spoke frigidly, his voice so stern it made her almost cower, at the same time it shattered something inside her that wished he felt some affections for her.

“Why? What’s so wrong with me that you can’t like me?” She asked moving to go close to him.

Tristan took one step backwards, raising a hand to stop her from coming closer to him.

“It seems I’ve let you think too much about whatever you believe is between us. Let me get this clear, do not get your head up in the clouds because of the rumors circulating about you being my fiancee. I’ve told you this before, I hate relationships, I will never be forming one with you or anyone else. If you insist on breeching the lines of professionalism, I’ll call my lawyers as soon as tomorrow to sever whatever investments contract that exists between your father and I.”

Erica’s heart thumped with panic, she concealed the look of hurt in her eyes, unable to show her true emotions to Tristan. If he truly saw that she had deep feelings for him, or if she tried to insist on pursuing them, he would kick her out of his life and the work she was using as an excuse to get close to him would be completely gone and cut off.

“I had nothing to do with those pictures Tristan, you know how the paparazzi can be, they like to create rumors just to generate a buzz. But they’re just rumors, if you really don’t want to get married I’ll respect that, I’ll let my Dad know and he’ll cut off whatever agreements he has with the Blakewood matriarch.” She was quick to change her words, she knew very well that Tristan hated women who would like to latch onto him or those who would try to tie him down with marriage. Though that was her goal, she would take things slow, she wouldn’t do anything to push him out of her life.

It was best to keep her eyes on the prize.

Without saying a word to her he called someone.

“Take those pictures down, and release an official statement to the public. There is no engagement or any wedding, anyone who believes I will ever be getting married is delusional, I want that delusion cleared completely, is that understood?”

Erica swallowed a bitter taste down her tongue when he said those words.

’… anyone who believes I will ever be getting married is delusional…’

’… delusional…’

Was he referring to her?

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