Billionaire Heiress Wanted A Divorce

Chapter 7 Away From Home

　　(Layla’s POV)

　　*

　　I sat near a window of a café next to a small rundown budget hotel in town. The food was awful, but I was too hungry to be picky.

　　I slumped on the squeaky sounding chair after realising I only had enough cash to stay one more night at the hotel to be by myself. It has only been a week since I left home, and I was already broke. Things did not go well as I had imagined.

　　I heard Max was secretly searching for me all over the city and I knew this was a place he would least expect me to be. I was starting to fear what would happen to me once I ran out of cash in my purse.

　　I could not even go out of town for fear that both Max and even my father would find me, “God, help me”

　　“I’m not God but I’m here to the rescue” I looked up and smiled happily to see Emily’s face. The only one that I could trust to help me out from my misery. “You look.. surprisingly refreshing, Layla. You did something to your hair?”

　　With what little money I had, I thought I needed to do something about my looks. What if I decided to go back to that lying cheating husband of mine? Surely, I needed to look presentable.

　　“Priorities” I chuckled at Emily and pointed to her to sit in front of me. “How’s the office and that unfaithful soon to be ex-husband of mine?”

　　“He is desperately looking for you. Of course, I’m his first suspect. It was good that you did not come crashing to my home. He came looking” Emily rolled her eyes and took my fries without asking for permission. She then paused and looked at me like she had seen a ghost.

　　Taking both my hands in hers, I was surprised to see tears forming at the corner of her eyes, “Oh Layla. What happened to you? Are you unwell?”

　　“I’m fine. Just a little tired” I faked a smile not wanting my best friend to worry much about me.

　　“You are lying” she whispered and caressed my fingers with hers, “You lost so much weight. Have you looked in the mirror lately. Those eyebags and swollen eyes are not giving me good vibes about your mental and physical health (she took a deep breath). Pack your things, you are coming to live with me”

　　“No, I can’t do that to you. Max will ruin your career if he finds out that you are hiding me from him” Emily did not come from a wealthy family. She was in fact the one supporting her family financially.

　　“You should have called me! I would have found a better place for you to hide rather than this dump” she paused to look around the café and wrinkled her nose to the unpleasant smell of the fishes nearby. I was hiding near a fisherman’s village, a remote area from the city.

　　It was quiet and safe. I needed to be alone to think about how I should start my new life after my divorce.

　　“Why did you not call me sooner, Layla? And, what is your plan?”

　　“Emily” I cleared my throat as I felt a lump forming from being embarrassed to confess to her, “I’m embarrassed to admit you were right about Max. You warned me for months, but I pushed you away, calling you a liar. I’m sorry”

　　“Layla, you are my friend. I would never be angry at you for such a small quarrel we had about Max” she pinched my nose and smiled, “Without you Layla, I would not get a job at MaxGems in the first place. You hired me and trained me to be where I am right now. I owe you”

　　“You’ll lose your job if Max finds out you are helping me, Emily”

　　She burst out laughing before she took more of my untouched fries by me, “You don’t have to worry about that, silly. I had already quit”

　　“You did what? What are you planning to do next?”

　　“Me?” Emily pointed at her and shook her head, “You tell me your plans first”

　　“I had a plan” I then slumped into my chair again and shrugged. “You won’t believe what Max did to me”

　　“What now? Did he blame you for the misery of his life that he is facing? He is too young to call it a midlife crisis, by the way” I smiled looking at her imitating how Maxwell would usually talk to her as her boss.

　　I could not help noticing that Emily was looking at something or someone in the café. Did she just spot a handsome guy to her liking? Well, that was the least of my concerns at that time.

　　“It is much worse, Emily. I walked out, right? Then, I drove to the airport to get me a plane ticket. I thought it would be a good idea to get out of Cantana City for a while, to a place Max and I had planned to go to but never did. I needed to be away from him, to think” I snorted being silly to have that idea, “I went to get the plane tickets using my credit card, and guess what? Declined. He cut me off. Froze all my accounts!”

　　Emily gasped dramatically with a hand on her chest, batting her eyelashes, “That nerve! That slimy, cheating.. urgh! What was he thinking? Cut you off and you’ll crawl back to him?”

　　Honestly, I was about to do that as I only had about ten dollars left in my wallet for my next meal. “I only have some cash left which would not last a day”

　　“Come live with me. I have a way to make it discreet. Then, we can live off on ramen noodles and cheap wine. At least, it is better than this dump you are staying at” I laughed hearing her talk, but I could not help noticing she was looking at someone else.

　　“I could not bear to work under Maxwell anymore. He had changed into someone impatient, making mistakes and hot-tempered with him scolding his staff for his own incompetencies. I’m not going back there” she sighed and looked at me, “Unless of course you get the company back one day. Then, I will work for you, Layla”

　　Touched by her words, I could not help to cry out from thinking about our destiny together, “Oh, Emily. I’m so sorry to drag you in with my problems. I never had thought he would cheat on me. I loved him, and he betrayed me”

　　Emily moved her squeaky chair next to me and gave me a tight hug, “Oh, Layla. Don’t cry. I’m here for you”

　　It felt so good knowing I had someone that I could talk to,

　　so I took that opportunity to vent my frustration about my ruined marriage, “I had doubted myself thinking if it was my fault that he had cheated on me. Was it because I had put on so much weight? Did he not know I had sacrificed so much to have a baby with him? Is he punishing me for not being able to give him an heir? Was I not good in bed? Did I –”

　　“Layla, stop!” Emily wiped my tears with her thumb and shook her head, “It is not your fault. Never was. He does not deserve to be with a woman like you. His loss. Not yours”

　　“I don’t know what to do now. I only have ten dollars left in my purse”

　　“Pack your things and come with me. I’ll get you something to eat first. You are not having this awful food anymore. Then, we discuss on what we should do next”

　　I nodded and could not argue with the offer from Emily. I needed a place to stay, and God had sent an angel like Emily to save me from having to live on the streets next.

　　I could not help to notice that Emily was staring at something or someone behind me, “Who are you looking at, Emily?”

　　“There was this guy that looked familiar but not to worry. He left” she said with a smile showing her perfectly aligned teeth. “Let’s go. It is getting dark soon”

　　The night was filled with laughter as Emily tried to make me forget about Max. All we did was talk about our plans for me to start my new life after my divorce once Max signed those damn papers. “First, you need to find a job”

　　“In Cantana City? Many companies have some partnership with Max. He will find a way to trap me back in his life. I need to get out of town, Emily”

　　“Maybe but not now. Hey, there is this new company that I got an offer to join. It has nothing to do with MaxGems. However, rumour has it that the mysterious boss is difficult to handle. He only hires designers that could match his demanding taste. And.. (Emily made a drumroll sound), there is a vacancy in their jewely business. How about that?”

　　“Do you think, I can get a job there?”

　　“I think with your skills, you may be overqualified for the role. I will recommend you get an interview, then we’ll see how that would go”

　　I nodded and for once after a week of my miserable life, I could sleep in peace. Emily’s new place was modest with only one room. So, I had asked to sleep in her living room on a hard sofa bed. I did not mind at all. It was better than the awful and smelly bed of the hotel I stayed in.

　　Several days had passed and finally it was the day for me to go for an interview. I was excited and also a little nervous. SkyLuxe Gems was new in town.

　　I had done some research on the company, but none came back helpful about who was the person who had founded the company, except for the company being heavily invested by the Strauss family. “Strauss family is very wealthy and way richer than the Blackwood family. Perhaps it would be a good start for me to build my name as a famous designer there”

　　Driving Emily’s compact old car, I could not help but notice a black SUV was following me. “Could that be Max?”

　　I made a sudden turn being curious if I was truly being stalked. I looked in the rear mirror and saw the same car still chasing after me, but my eyes could not see clearly who was driving that car. Fortunately, I was familiar with the road to navigate the twists and turns ahead.

　　I felt a surge of emotions that ranged from heartache and rage, and surprisingly the chase had given me a hint of exhilaration. After passing a bridge, the headlamp of that car flashed brightly, and a loud boom from behind was heard sending my car turning around at the road before it hit the dividers.

　　The car stopped at the side, and I hit my forehead on the steering wheel. I then heard a ringing tone in my ears and my vision went blurry. I could not feel my body and that had made me panic, “H-help m-me”

　　My call for help was answered by a man who came to the side of my car and smashed the window to the driver seat. He said with a knife in his hand, “A message to you. You are the reason that caused unhappiness to many. Time for you to be eliminated”

　　I saw the knife coming towards my throat and I knew then on how much Maxwell had hated me until he sent men to kill me. With tears wetting my cheeks feeling the fear and sadness in my heart, I closed my eyes.

　　‘Please, God. I do not want to die today. Not like this’

　　“Get away from her!” I heard another faint voice nearby and opened my eyes slowly. Although my vision was a little blurry, I could see a man wearing a suit came forward and punched the other man holding the knife.

　　My tired eyes looked around for ways to get out of the wrecked car. I fumbled with my seatbelt with my trembling hands, “Come on, please”, I whispered to myself, desperately trying to get free from the seatbelt that seemed to be stuck to release me.

　　A few seconds later, I felt like my head was pounding from the inside and I became out of breath. Slowly, my eyelids became heavy, and I felt a little short of breath.

　　When my eyes finally shut, I heard someone whisper my name. “Layla Briana Blackwood, wake up”

　　I then passed out not knowing who that man was who knew my real family name.