Anna's POV
Four hours now and I still hadn't found the Steel deal contract. Then it suddenly hit me.
If it wasn't here, then it meant it was back at home and that meant going back home. I needed to get some of my stuff too.
Although some part of me dreaded going back home and facing Sophia and Kathryn, I knew I had to do it.
I slouched to the sofa and dialed Aidan's number.
We had exchanged contacts before he left the courthouse and he promised to text me his home address, which he hadn't done yet.
He picked up at the first ring.
"Hey," I said rather quickly, biting my lower lip.
Was I supposed to call him husband already?
"Hi," he replied back with a low tone that made me raise a brow.
"Uhmm, am I interrupting anything, husband?"
A low chuckle escaped his lips and I found myself smiling too.
"I'm still at work, wife," he muttered with the same sarcastic tone.
I nodded in understanding. I guess that was why he hadn't had time to send me the address. He hadn't called all day too and I imagined him going back on his words.
I was willing to give him the 30% so there was no reason to back out now, was there?
"Uhmm, I wanted to ask if you can come pick me up but never mind. Could you send me the address? You haven't done that yet."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry I won't be able to pick you up. I'll get my mechanic to fix your car tomorrow if it's fixable."
"It's fine. Don't worry, I'll call a cab once I'm done. Just send me the address, okay?"
"Okay." He sounded different from the mischievous man I got married to earlier.
It suddenly dawned on me that I had no idea what he does for work. He only told me he goes to work very early and now it's almost 6pm and he wasn't done with work yet?
I was dead curious to ask but I figured this was the wrong time to do that.
My phone vibrated and I glanced at my phone screen to see Aidan had just sent me his home address.
Apartment 4B, 132 Willow Creek Drive, Brooksville.
"I just sent the address, see you at home then?"
"Yeah, see you at home. When will you be home?"
"I should be done in an hour or two. I need to go now, bye."
Before I could bade him bye, he disconnected the call and I stared at the phone with a raised brow.
Waving the thought away, I ordered for a cab and packed my things to head to the family mansion. I needed to get all my things and also search for the Steel deal contract.
That's my first contract as the acting CEO and I was supposed to sign it this morning but unfortunately, the accident happened and now I couldn't find it here.
In a space of 24 hours, a lot has happened.
The lawyer didn't come in as promised and I planned to call him tomorrow if I don't receive any message from him.
I took the executive elevator out to the lobby to find my cab waiting. I jumped in and gave him the address of the family mansion, relaxing my banging head which was still in a bandage.
I didn't know when I dozed off until the driver began to call to me. "Ma'am, we're here!"
I sat up immediately, and stepped out.
"Can you wait for me? I'll be back in like five, okay?" I smiled at the driver.
"Okay." He replied and I nodded.
I really need to get another car tomorrow, I said to myself.
I turned to the massive gate, staring at it for a while with folded arms, thinking of all the memories of my childhood with my Mom and Dad.
Now I was leaving it all. I would be staying with my fake husband for a whole year. I sighed as I stepped in.
I opened the front door and entered, only to see Sophie in Kathryn's arms. She was helping Sophie up, as though she was too sick to stand up herself.
They stared at me in silence, shocked to see me because they probably weren't expecting me.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Kathryn asked through clenched teeth.
"I'm here to pick up my things," I commented, walking past the both of them to my room upstairs.
I jam-packed my clothes from the closet into two of my boxes, and filled up the third box with my bags and the last box with my shoes.
I zipped them up and moved to my drawer to search for the contract. I still could not recall exactly where I had put it but I was really hoping to find it.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I glanced at the door with irritation, knowing it was either Sophie or Kathryn.
I wondered how Sophie reacted to the news of my marriage. That must be the reason why she was so pale.
I stalked to the door in frustration, and threw the door open to see Kathryn standing there. She tried to walk in but I blocked her way with my frame leaning on the doorway, and with folded arms.
"What do you want?" I asked pointedly.
"Shouldn't you be at your husband's or doesn't he have a home to house you?"
I smirked and was about to close the door in her face when she stuck her leg in to stop me.
She looked extremely angry at my indifference.
"Sophie just came back from the hospital. Didn't you see she couldn't stand up herself?" She shouted and I glanced at her briefly, before pointing to the bandage on my head.
"Did you ask me how I got this?"
She blinked and stepped back a little, her eyes darting to my bandaged head. I smiled.
"I wish Sophie good health. Now if you'll excuse me."
"Anna…" I slammed the door shut in her eyes before she could finish, locked it from behind and walked back in.
Her fist pounded on my door for a while as she continued to order me to open up. After a while, she left and I continued my search until I was too exhausted to continue.
I guess I'd have to come back tomorrow or next. I'd have my Assistant reschedule the appointment with the Steels.
I dragged all four boxes, two at a time, down the staircase till I got to the living, panting in exhaustion.
Sophie was still in the living, now sitting upright all by herself. She still looked pale but better than when I first came in.
Our eyes locked for a second before I looked away and was about to wheel my luggages out when Kathryn's voice stopped me again.
"Are you ashamed to stay the night here because you don't want us to think your so-called husband doesn't have a house?"
She appeared in front of me and I held her gaze, my expression hard and cold.
I snorted.
"Really? This is my father's house. I can come and go anytime I wish. The outsider here is you and your daughter." I snapped in response.
My step-sister chuckled at my words and I turned to face her.
"Oh. Someone has been taking some lessons. Finally grown some nerve because you suddenly bought yourself a man? Too bad your bravado will not do anything to help you," she taunted.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Get over yourself, please. You're all bark and no bite."
Sophia raised her eyebrows at my words. "Look who's talking. You are so shameless, Annalyn. I can't believe you would stoop as low as pretending to get married. Seriously? You have always acted so high and mighty, but deep down, you are just so fucking vain, sweetheart."
Her words hit me right in the chest, and it made my anger level rise defensively.
"You're just jealous because the company is finally out of your reach, Sophia. And my husband is real, thank you very much. You can choose to believe it or not. I don't give a fuck."
She sneered at the mention of my husband, her sinister smile finally falling away.
"The company is still very much within reach, Anna. You think you have it already, but you don't. Hell, you're already finding it hard enough as it is to prove your marriage to the lawyer. You think your faux bravado is going to work on him?" Kathryn chipped in, my jaw clenched and my brows raised in suspicion at her not so subtle reminder at the lawyer's obvious absence.
She was partly right, of course. The company would not be fully mine until I manage to clear things and finalise everything with the family lawyer.
And I wouldn't be able to do that if the damned man kept postponing the meeting we were supposed to have.
Something must have shown on my face because Sophia's lips tugged into a smile again.
She crossed her arms together as she approached me, eyeing me from head to toe.
"You know. I honestly think the whole wedding saga is just a ploy to get Warren back. Make him feel like he was missing out on something important. That is why you hid the identity of your husband, is it not? So that when Warren comes crawling back, you would be able to act like it was what you intended all along? Because we all know this 'so-called husband of yours" doesn't even exist in the first place. You're that desperate!"
Her mother looked thoughtful for a while, then gasped dramatically. "Is that true, Anna? This is just a showoff?"
She looked both shocked and relieved. Shocked that I would even think of doing such a thing and relieved that I wouldn't get the company if it turned out to be true.
Sophia shook her head at me and laughed. "That was not very creative of you, Annalyn. Because if there is one thing I know, it is the fact that Warren will not marry you. Not now, not ever."
My insides bubbled with laughter. "Well, I'm not as desperate as people who would stoop so low to sleep with other people's men!"
A defeaning silence filled the air.
Were they thinking I would pretend what happened this morning never happened?
I was tempted to mention the accident too but there was still a lot of time for that.
"You already have Warren all to yourself, Soph. I don't want him. In fact, you can go right ahead and get married to him. I'm sure that's what you want the most right now. It's alright. It's not as though you'll be able to find someone else to marry anyway," I deadpanned.
My words were sharp like the edge of a knife, and I watched as they made their mark.
Her smile fell away again, and her entire expression twisted into an unpleasantness that rivaled anything I had ever seen on her face.
She took several steps closer until she was standing right before me, her eyes narrowed with a mixture of anger and determination.
"Warren could go fuck himself for all I care, Anna. You know what I want. The company rightfully belongs to me and my mother. You are nothing but an obstacle."
I snorted.
"You're a bastard to my father's lineage, Sophia. And even if your mother was legally married to my father, she has always been, and she will always be nothing but a mistress. I am my father's daughter."
"And so? Did that stop him from being lonely? He married my mother because you weren't enough for him! If you were a daughter to be proud of and someone he could trust, why would he have to add a clause asking you to get married before you can get the company?"
My jaw dropped slightly at how blatantly rude her words were. She was wrong and she knew it. I knew it too, but that didn't stop the words and what they implied from hitting me right in the lungs like an avalanche.
Sophia went on before I could respond, dropping the final, fatal blow.
"Besides, if your mum had been a good wife when she was alive, I'm pretty sure your father would have chosen to preserve her memory forever, rather than remarrying."
A wave of rage bloomed in my chest. It took over my emotions and clouded my judgement, and before I could stop to think about what I was about to do, I raised my hand and strike Sophia hard in the face.