2 Chapter 2- The Other Woman

"Polly, Polly, listen to me! Hold on!" Andrew followed the young woman who was already in the living room in his suite. She grabbed her purse from the couch and was heading towards the exit when Andrew snatched her wrist.

"POLLY!"

"Don't yell at me." She met his eyes, her green ones seething with the tsunami that threatened to roll out of her like a tempest, "and get your stinking hands off me."

She wrestled her wrist free from his grasp, not willing to be touched by the hands that pleased another woman. She cupped her forehead with one hand, letting out a startled laugh as her tears rolled freely.

The weight of tonight's revelation nearly made her suffer from a nervous breakdown, yet she marveled at her ability to stay collected in the face of it all.

"It's nothing serious." Andrew exasperated. "You caused all this. Why didn't you tell me you were coming??"

Polly couldn't believe her ears. She just caught him making out with the same woman he claimed was his cousin, and all he cared to know was why she didn't drop some stupid notice??

He was her fiance for goodness sake!

"You lied to me." Polly's pain was evident in her tear-stricken eyes. "You told me she was your cousin! Your parents stood to it and now… who is she to you, Andrew??"

The silence that followed was thick. Polly knew the answer, but she needed to hear it from the horse's mouth. Fear clouded her heart, awaiting what he would say, and all her resolve crumbled when he spoke.

"She's my lover." He confessed, and Polly's eyes closed depressively. She released a deep breath and opened them up, wiping her tears away.

"Well, congratulations." Her response was laced with bitter irony, and she feared if she lingered here for much longer, she might do something she might regret making afterwards.

Polly turned around to leave, but her wrist was grabbed for the second time. Andrew seemed somewhat flabbergasted by her unmoved reaction, and it made him doubt if she truly loved him like how she always proclaimed she did. The Polly who was in love with him would probably shed tears and scream at his face, but this Polly, she was looking at him with nothing but pure rage in her eyes.

"Are you not going to say anything?" His bewilderment was palpable, and Polly couldn't believe he was asking her such a stupid and very unnecessary question. She guessed he expected a different reaction from her, and she was glad she never gave him that satisfaction.

Instead, Polly pressed her naturally long nails into his chest, her voice quivering with hurt as she asked, "what do you want me to say? Should I comfort you? Shower you with praise for betraying the love and trust I had for you? Should I stroke your ego and tell you how much of a good boy you are for tearing my heart apart? Tell me, which one is it? What should I do?"

Polly's green eyes were glazed with tears. Her gaze instinctively shifted to the blonde who emerged from the room, wearing a nightie. The appearance of the lady only spiked her sizzling fury, the betrayal playing out in her mind like a cruel loop.

She was familiar with the blonde. The last time she caught her in his suite, Andrew told her to her face that she was his cousin, and now, she felt even more stupid to have believed his sweet lies. That was because she trusted him to the point she wouldn't mind entrusting her life and safety to him—she was not someone who does those types of things, and when she finally gave love a chance, she got mercilessly broken.

"I came all the way here to surprise you." She admitted. She felt dizzy, her emotions were churning inside of her like a tornado, but she got a good grip on herself and said, "I thought it'd be a good idea, considering our lack of time together after your return. I even went as far as rearranging my busy schedule just to see you today, and this is how you repay me? By… bringing another woman into your life?"

Polly would have never believed in a million years that the only man she trusted with her heart would be so cruel. After everything she's done for him, he made her come out as the fool. His silence broke her heart into irreparable fragments, but she would not let him see the devastation he'd caused.

Breathe, Polly.

Breathe.

The blonde shamelessly approached Andrew, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a peck on the cheek. Polly eyed the blonde with indignation, and she just wanted to squash the disgrace of a woman like a bug.

"You know the truth now," the lady, who's name was Clara, turned to face Polly with a twisted smile. "Andrew has always been mine, Pollyanna Zendelle, kindly take your leave, and don't embarrass yourself further. You look pathetic enough as it is."

Polly wanted to laugh, and she did.

It made the smile on Clara's face falter, and the red-haired woman simply proceeded to get her bag, then she said, "I won't take advice from a woman who loves simping on used products. You can have him, in fact, I'm glad I came here today, else I would have made the biggest mistake of my life by getting married to the sorry excuse of a man."

For the first time since they were together for three straight years, Andrew witnessed the affection in her eyes morph into a chilling emptiness. It discomforted his heart to see her love for him die in that instant, yet he could not explain the apprehension behind it.

"You are the one who's supposed to be labeled as an excuse." Clara snapped, "you never deserved Andrew and you were never the right woman for him! Look around you sweetie, you're a lonely bitch who is just desperate to be loved, and unfortunately, you never will! No one wants to be around a woman who has demons trolling around her, so get out of here before I call security!"

"Oh! You—"

"That's enough, okay?!" Andrew interjected Polly before she could say anything to Clara. "Wasn't marrying me supposed to be the fulfillment of your dreams? Don't cast yourself as the victim when it's clear you're not! Polly! And yes, I admit, so what if you're the other woman?"

Andrew threw the question at her, making Polly go completely speechless. The gentleness in his eyes whenever he looked at her, the way he always pronounced his love to her.

Had everything been just a sham so he could gain her assets? The thought of it left a heavy pang in her chest.

"Clara is right, and you should be grateful to me." Andrew uttered through his teeth, his tone devoid of compassion as he pointed a finger at her, "no one would want to date a woman from a family who is cursed, cause people like you are the reason our city is in chaos. I refuse to be with a woman who is said to be the cause of her own father's death, and I certainly believe that no man out there would want someone like you for a wife! Better think twice before ditching your engagement ring, else you're going to regret it!"

"Andrew?" Polly's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. Was he threatening her right now? "You stand here pointing fingers at me for your lack of control and… what did I ever do to you to deserve this treatment? I loved you!"

"I never loved you for goodness sake!" Andrew spat, "my heart wholefully belongs to Clara, and you know why, cause she is more deserving than you! She doesn't try to compete with me, she is obedient, she listens, and you? You're searching for equality where there's none! Do you think because you're Zendell's daughter, I would be afraid of you?"

He laughed, "you are nothing to me but a broken toy looking for a new master to–"

'SLAP!'

"Not a word from you!" Polly jabbed a finger at his face. Andrew had frozen from the hot slap that was served on his cheek. It was so unexpected that even Clara gasped in shock after witnessing Andrew get slapped.

"Hope he treats you better than he treated me." Glancing at the shocked lady, Polly did not bother to exchange words with a weak soul and stepped out of Andrew's suite.

"Polly! Don't you dare walk away when I'm talking to you! Polly!" Andrew raged, not sure why he was upset about her leaving since a part of him always wanted that. Since he couldn't go after her in just his boxers, he brushed past Clara like she was some fly and went to put on his clothes.

Meanwhile, Polly stepped into the elevator and headed for the first floor. Her demeanor drew gasps from onlookers when they witnessed the chill in her green eyes. Gone was the vibrant woman who had entered the building exuding joy.

She departed as though her heart had been mercilessly shattered by someone, and the employees could already guess the one responsible.

"Isn't she the late Zendell's daughter ?" A worker whispered to her co-worker, "did she find out?"

"I've always hoped a day like this would come, when she learns of boss's affair." A man amidst them added, but everyone went silent when Andrew emerged from the elevator, going after Polly.

The young woman had already stopped a taxi and gotten in. When she said absolutely nothing about where she had to be, the driver simply started the car and began driving.

"Fuck!" Andrew threw a tantrum when he saw the taxi disappear into the distance, and he knew for sure his parents would kill him.