The Deceived Heiress

Chapter 2

Waking up in the middle of the night due to jet lag was not a good thing since I would have difficulty falling back to sleep.

Laying at the other side of the bed was a loudly snoring Blue who had a long and peaceful smile that I envy right now.

Walking to the window, I felt my phone buzz.

And based on the ringtone, I knew who was calling.

With a sigh, I answered the phone and smiled even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Trina."

His broad Italian accent sent chills to my spine, but after two years, I have trained myself to contain the expression that I loved hearing his deep sultry voice, especially when we're on a call.

"Paulò, what's with the sudden call?" I asked with a kind voice, even though my heart was beating so hard deep inside that I was afraid it would jump out of my chest.

"I felt the need to remind you about the invitation to my wedding—" Disregarding his following words, my heart tightened once again, and just like that, my throat went dry, and the smile on my face was gone.

Paulò Vaughn, my first in almost anything but not everything.

Six years ago, I went back to Italy for the blue-eyed boy who I first crushed on. I never found him, but instead, I met Paulo, who happily toured me around Italy. That was the start of a heartbreak coming that I never knew. I couldn't stay long in Italy as I still had to fulfill my duties for the company which I knew I was to inherit.

We promised to stay in touch, and he would visit me from time to time in Greece. And a year after we met, we began to officially date. For the next two years, everything was great except the fact that I was busy with our family business, and at that time—

He met an American/French heiress, Claire Mòire.

And just like that, they had an affair and it resulted in her pregnancy. I was angry to the point I left all my paperwork to fly to France and made myself known in the Mòire Household about what he and I had. Only for Claire to give an early birth due to stress, and now they're getting married—

because he fell in love with her.

When I got heartbroken and lashed out my anger at the richly known household name, I scandalized our family name, which will forever scar me, as one of our significant shareholders suddenly withdrew his investment. The scandal was too big as he is a distant relative of Moire's; regardless of discarding that piece of s**t investor in my mind, it made a destructive impact on the business.

My father was outraged that I acted upon my emotions. That's why I told myself never to ever do it again. He had difficulty convincing our investors to stay, since Moire was also a big name in the business world.

For an entire year, I was crying my heart out and, at the same time, working my ass off to pay the price of what I had done in our business that my father had worked so hard to build.

Until two months ago, I told myself to stop crying about it, since nothing would happen. I still have to pick myself up as Paulò has already decided what his heart wants.

Deciding not to associate myself with the likes of Italian men, I promised myself that I would not try to look for the blue-eyed man I met once when I was young. They say that it's the most painful thing someone could do to you when someone cheats, but for me, it wasn't.

The most painful thing is that you never had a chance to love that person.

The thing that also happened to my biological mother.

I didn't even have the chance to say hi to her or even create a memorable event with her.

After my scandal and heartbreak, I didn't try to look for Alejandro Romano again.

Their family was private.

If you searched for them on the internet, no results would come out, only those Paparazzi pictures, which I conclude are useless.

No information on them whatsoever.

Heck, I don't even know what he looks like anymore, since the Paparazzi couldn't capture his face. And, there was one photo on the internet of him holding a child.

But his face and the child's face were not even showing.

For all I know, he could be married now.

Because it's been ten years, eleven years? Since I last saw him, even though I did meet him and he's still single, I'm sure that someone has already captured those beautiful eyes of his.

You're just saying that to yourself because you fell in love with another man.

Without looking twice and answering what Paulo had just reminded me, I took a deep breath.

I ended the call and went back to bed to lay beside Blue. Inside my head, I am just profoundly hoping that I will fall asleep and forget the man who had ripped my heart apart for the first time.

===

"Rise and shine, sister!"

My eyes immediately opened at the scream right inside my freaking ear!

Who would do it?

Oh, no one but the great Blue Sapphire.

You're getting me back after I screeched at your ear yesterday, huh?

Mentally rolling my eyes, I glared at her stiffly and stood up from the bed. She had this massive smile on her face and held her hairbrush up to her mouth as if it was a microphone and not a hairbrush.

I opened up my suitcase and began to take out my formal business outfit, not minding her. It consisted of a suit that fit me perfectly, and as I lay them down on the bed, I was astonished when Blue jumped on them.

"Blue! What the heck?!" I pushed her away and ignored the loud thump, and began to remove the crease she created in my outfit.

"Ugh, come on, Via, don't wear that ugly formal outfit of yours!" She groaned and tried to pull it away from me, but I was already sure that I would wear it, and besides, I had no time to look for a new outfit.

"Let it go, Blue, you're going to rip the fabric!" I snapped and tugged it from her, and she didn't let her hold loose and instead pulled it harder, resulting in both of us flying at both sides of the room with a loud thud.

"M-my suit!" With a horror look on my face, I snatched the fabric away from her hand and glared at her. She raised her hands in defeat, "What the heck am I supposed to wear now?" I angrily asked.

"Duh, let's go shopping! If I knew you loved suits so much, I wouldn't make one for you anymore." She stuck her tongue out and ran to the bathroom.

"Hey, I'm paying you for it!"

Blue peeked at me from the bathroom door.

"Come on, sister, and we're in a modernized era. Stop that boring suit because you're going to wear something that would make the world wish it never existed!" She said with complete determination before slamming it shut again.

Sighing, I placed my ripped business suit in the drawer and made a mental note to fix it because, apparently, I have a very crazy designer sister.

===

Arriving at the mall, I was starting to get bored as I just glanced at my crazy sister, who was peeking inside every store while hopping like we were in a park with birds and trees surrounding us.

People were throwing at her weird looks, so I decided to disassociate myself from her to spare myself the embarrassment of having such an excited sister who was supposed to buy me an outfit, yet nothing seemed to be perfect for her.

Well, I'll quote what she said, "Sis, you need to look glam and perfect. You might meet someone that could replace Paolò. And, the fabric here is ugh- not just exactly my type for you."

Crazy.

In front of a*****e, a dress somehow captured my attention. Walking inside without calling my sister, I asked the attendant if I could try it on and asked if they had a size that fitted me.

I felt elegant and very high-end inside the fitting room as the pearl-colored dress shone in the light. It was a deep neckline making the top of my breast show, but not too much to make it look like a hooker. A golden belt already designed for the dress made it more attractive, and pearls at the rim of the dress with diamond patterns are already embedded.

It fitted my curves.

Smiling at my reflection, I walked out of the fitting room to ask for my opinion. And it seemed like I had found the perfect outfit because the attendant gave me a big smile and helped me pick the right heels for the dress.

Walking out of the store, I didn't bother to look for Blue, knowing she knew her way around here more than I knew. Holding my bag with one hand, I continued to window shop, deciding to pass the time because I had no appetite to eat lunch for now.

In front of a men's clothing store, my eyes wandered around to look for those trendy clothes on the internet.

Nite, my youngest sibling, was now thirteen years old, wanted to go with the flow, and always wanted to meet the trends.

Entering the store, the saleslady walked up to me and greeted me.

"Buon pomeriggio signora, are you looking for something for your husband?" She politely asked with a smile on her face.

I shyly smiled and shook my head no.

Dang, do I look that old for someone to say I'm married?

Oh, for goodness sake, Ametrine, you are twenty-eight already!

"I'm looking for something to buy for my little brother. Do you have those cool denim jackets I could look at?" She led me to the corner of the store where the fitting rooms were.

As I looked around to see what my brother would look lovely at, I heard a sudden loud voice inside the store.

"Kristina? Where are the separate packages I asked you to make?"

It was a familiar voice, and I turned to the lady with me only to see her hurry off to the man who mentioned her name.

His back was turned to me so I couldn't make out who he was, but when he turned, I then went back to mind my own business and blushed like a tomato.

He might think I'm stalking him if he catches me staring at him like a freaking creep.

His voice sounds a little familiar.

I turned to take a peek again, and my heart then went frenzy when my face met with his chest. Standing like a post, I was getting nervous about what to do.

I didn't sense him near me?

"This would suit your husband."

His familiar deep sultry voice spoke in a low tone, bent his head down to take the jacket, and then handed it to me.

My heart was pounding against my ear, I wanted to correct him, but it was as if my mouth had tape on it.

He stared at me darkly before turning away and walking out of the store hurriedly.

I was left breathless on my own because of the Italian man who had suddenly made his presence known in my life. I shut my eyes, trying to forget those blue-striking similar eyes of his from the young boy I had met when I was younger.

===

"Why did you leave me?"

Blue whined in my ear as we began to walk back to our hotel. I found her arguing with someone I couldn't identify, and I didn't bother asking because I knew she would be in my ears for a long time if I started the talk.

"Get over it Blue, are you hungry?"

Changing the topic, I scrolled on my phone to look for delicious restaurants nearby for us to eat.

I didn't want to order hotel service and wait, and I preferred waiting inside the rest.

She then placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from walking. I confusedly looked at her, and when she pointed somewhere, my eyes immediately directed to it.

My eyebrows furrowed at sight. Is that who I think it is?

He kissed the woman on her lips and then dragged her away, leaving my sight.

I wondered, is that Paulo or I'm just hungry and still have those jet lag effects on me?

But it couldn't be because Blue spotted it before me.

"Dang, once a cheater, always a cheater is."

She mumbled beneath her breath, tore her eyes away from the scene, and glanced at her phone that suddenly beeped.

"Ugh s**t, have lunch without me."

She growled, and before I could ask her why, she sped off in another direction, leaving me confused.

Okay, so what's with people today that they keep on leaving me hanging?

Ignoring my thoughts, I decided to head back to the hotel to wait for Blue there.

While walking, I couldn't comprehend why I felt like someone was digging holes in my back. But when I turned, everything was normal. I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

Gosh.

I must be feeling drained.