His Ex Wife novel Chapter 21

Flashback

Mariella had not stopped thinking about her first kiss after the incident that had occurred yesterday or last night if she put it correctly. When Iyan had dropped her back home, he had insisted she keeps her jacket even though it was already cold for him too.

The moment she had stepped on the threshold, she had been scared Rupert Lewis would already be there, waiting for her, but luckily nothing as such happened. Rupert had been in a deep slumber, and she had also quietly gotten into her own room, locking it just in case he did wake up, and she lied in her bed, unable to sleep.

She knew she was dragging it till too far but she had been drawn to Iyan, she had indeed felt it a few times that he understood her, without her having to say a word at all. She imagined if he really liked her that much, the blush from her cheeks refused to leave her alone with her thoughts and her cheeks heated up at the thought of his arms engulfing her, protecting her from the world while he held her still, kissing her.

The night fell and the day was already here, at 6 am sharp, the knock on her door startled her, bringing her out of her reverie. She realized she had not even slept all night.

“Out of the room, on the breakfast table,” Rupert yelled on the other end of the door.

“Yes sir,” she cried from in bed, her heart was in her mouth by now. Everything about Rupert Lewis struck fear in her heart, the kind of fear she could not get rid of, even if she wanted to.

She had no other choice, this was the routine she had to follow every day when Rupert Lewis was at home, breakfast at 6, news at 7 and leaving for work at sharp 8. At night, he was already on the dinner table at 7.30. He liked to follow the clock’s rules very strictly and made sure Mariella did too.

Mariella stood up, she felt a bit weak because of the lack of sleep, but still got up and brushed her teeth to reach the breakfast table that was on the ground floor.

Rupert was in the kitchen when she arrived at the breakfast table. It was a grand table that could easily accommodate more than 20 people at once. She took the seat as far as she could, on one far end of the table and waited. It was the rule of this house, the one who was in the kitchen could not be interrupted or else the one interfering would receive punishment.

And thus, one could easily make out that the rules of the house were made by Rupert for his own convenience and could be broken only by him- after all, who else knew about the rules he had made up anyway…

Mariella recalled the first time when she had come from Italy and tried to prepare breakfast for her father as a gesture of peace, after all, who else was she left anyway in the world but that had been her first mistake: entering the kitchen without asking Rupert. And the punishment that she had gone through, still made her heart sit every time she thought of it.

Indeed, Rupert had locked her in the cold freezer for 3 hours. That is just how he was, he reacted well and normally when everything went his way, but one had to let things get out of his control to see what he really was- sick to the core.

Rupert got out of the kitchen now, he placed the benedict omlette and some orange juice on the table and sat right opposite to her. She waited for him to sit down, no one could start eating until he did.

Rupert John Lewis was a man now in his fifties, he had not gotten married after his relationship with Mariella’s mother, Lucy. She had been the last woman he had been attracted to and he was heartbroken after she had left. He was still as fit as a fiddle, he really took care of his diet and physique, that was probably the reason he did not age much, his face barely had any wrinkles upon them and his nose sat sharp, like that of a wolf dog.

He swallowed a bite from his plate, his fork still in his hand and knife neatly set aside. He was observing Mariella now, she had been quiet and somewhat nervous today. He could tell looking at her body language. Something about the way she sat right now, in front of him made him want to throw her right now on this table and make her scream; the fear she felt, the way she trembled when he was inside her turned on the animal inside Rupert. But it was something else today.

“Anything on your mind honey?” he asked strictly.

His voice alone made Mariella jump up. She had really been lost in her own world of thoughts.

“No,” she said hesitantly and started munching her breakfast forcefully, she knew Rupert liked the plate to be finished, he did not tolerate wastage.

Her father did not say anything, but he kept an unflinching eye on her all the while she had been eating.

After their breakfast, Rupert insisted that he dropped her to school which she denied, but she knew that her opinion would not hold water. He was adamant and as soon as they got to school, Mariella was about to hop out of the car anyway, she could not bear the presence of this man for any further, it made her sick.

Right then Iyan appeared out of nowhere from amongst the crowd of the students lazily creeping their way inside the premises of Edmont High. Iyan could not sleep all night either, it was evident, his puffy eyes had big eye bags underneath them but the glow on his face was unmatchable to anything else in the world. He had been waiting at the gate for Mariella to arrive, though he did not have any classes today, but he just wanted to see her once before she got inside school.