MY REVENGE WITH THREE BILLIONAIRES [cheated on by my husband]

CHAPTER FIVE

The world around Alisha was alive in flashes of sharp lights, laughter, and gossip. No one, except from herself, Manon, and her cheating husband Kyle and his mistress Charlie knew what she was feeling.

And they couldn’t find out. At least, not right now. She had to put on an air that everything was fine, even though she wanted to scream at the world and cut her husband off.

Said husband was by her side waving at the crowd of people. And flashing them his smile. Alisha watched as the women in the crowd reacted to him, and she realized with horror that she had been just like them; enamored by the beauty on the surface and forgetting that he could hold darkness inside him.

She had not only forgotten that he could hold darkness; she had turned a blind eye to it too. And he had used it to strike her in the back where it hurt.

She was yanked out of her head when someone touched her.

“Hey Alisha! Congratulations. I can’t believe it’s been five years already. How time flies,” It was Kara Jonah, an A-list actress Alisha had gone to college with. Kara and Alisha had maintained a friendship between themselves, and that relationship had benefited them both several times.

Kara was wearing a little red dress that accentuated her dark skin. Her make-up was soft glam, and it brought her sharp cheekbones into focus. Her hair was in an Afro updo that was drawn away from her face and packed backwards.

“Gosh Kara. You look stunning! And thank you. It feels surreal to me too.”

“It was just like yesterday watching you and Kyle be infatuated with each other. We all thought it would fizzle out, but we’re glad it didn’t.”

Another friend of theirs, Emily, butted in. “Yup. Whenever I want to tie myself to anyone, I remind myself that I have Alisha to look up to.” Emily was a Grammy award-winning musician, and she was petite. She was wearing a green silk gown that fell down her body like water and still managed to bring her curves out.

Alisha felt horror envelope her. Her friends were standing here praising her marriage, and they had no idea everything had turned on its head. Her husband was a cheater, and her marriage was nothing to aspire to, but she couldn’t tell them now. She had a plan.

“Thank you guys. I hope you’re having a great time? Is the food to your taste?”

“What silly questions, Alisha. Of course, we’re having a good time. And the food is simply phenomenal. Thank the Lord that I have to put on a little weight for my next film. I can’t imagine depriving myself of all this goodness.”

Alisha left Emily and Kara to it, and for the next twenty minutes, she was receiving well-wishes and congratulations from friends, acquaintances and people she knew in passing.

Alisha was about to go and meet another one of her friends when Manon signaled her over.

“I can’t believe that b***h,” Manon exclaimed. “She’s smiling and acting like the world is her stage with her ugly ass face. I can’t believe that Kyle would cheat on you with that.”

Alisha laughed at her friend. “I thought we agreed that men are unpredictable bastards. I can’t believe it either, but the truth is the truth, Manon.” She turned away from Manon and found her husband in the crowd. Sure enough, Charlie was beside him, and as if she had been waiting for Manon to notice them, she flashed a grin at her and ran her hand all over Kyle’s arm.

Alisha waited for the anger to envelop her at the display of disrespect, but there really wasn’t much that would get on your nerve if you'd already seen your husband f*****g someone else.

She turned away from them and signaled to her assistant. “Get the stage ready. I want to make the announcement now.” With a nod, the man walked away from her to make the arrangements.

“What announcement?” Manon asked, and Alisha just smiled at her. Manon narrowed her eyes.

“You’ll just have to wait for it. But I promise you it’s a good one.”

The assistant signaled to Alisha that the stage was ready, and Alisha walked to it.

As she climbed onto the stairs, she felt relieved that she had something to focus her energy on now. She had been quietly working towards this milestone for months now, and she was glad it was time to reveal it to the world.

When she got to the top of the stairs, a man handed her a microphone, and with a nob, all the staff were dismissed, leaving Alisha alone at the top.

She tapped the microphone, and the feedback finally drew everyone’s attention to her.

“Are you guys having a good time?” Alisha asked, and the crowd roared their answers. She flashed them a smile, and it brought even more hoots.

“I’m glad that you are. Thank you all for coming out to celebrate with us. Five years married is no small feat, especially for people like us. Isn't that right?” Everyone laughed at that.

“And because today is a special day, it is only fair that I reveal something special too. I've been working on something quietly for a couple of months now, and though it was hard and grueling work, I’m happy to announce that The Black Corp is opening an orphanage!”

The hall was quiet for a minute, and then it exploded into applause and hoots. Alisha smiled at the crowd before her, glad that they understood the importance of what she was doing.

“Thank you, thank you. For years, I’ve always thought about what I could do to give back to society, and then it came to me; the children we have are the owners of tomorrow. What if we gave the ones who were stuck in the foster system the tools to be able to take charge of the future? That's why The Black Foundation is not going to be just another orphanage. It is going to be a community by itself with dorms to handle over two thousand kids at once. There will be schools from the foundational level up to a university.”

“Woah Alisha, you are insane!” A voice shouted out from the crowd, and everyone laughed.

“That was the same thing every single team in The Black Corp told me. We're estimating employing up to nine hundred people, with some staff dorms for those who want to live on campus. Because we want every single kid to be cared for. We have already acquired land for the project, and construction begins soon.”

Alisha was interrupted yet again by applause. She flashed a grateful smile at everyone.

“If you have plans to gift us for this anniversary, please, donate to the project. That is all I ask of you. Thank you all for coming. Eat, feast, and let’s have a great night!”