Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours!

Since Athena came back from the hospital, she hadn't been able to give a hundred percent focus to her work; Victoria's whiny laugh resounded in her ears at intervals, ruining her concentration.

Even while going through the remaining files on her table; even while seeing the patients who were on her list, to check if they were recovering as they should, the question kept ringing in her mind: what was Ewan doing with Victoria?

She just couldn't understand, couldn't wrap her head around that imagery. She would have discarded it, but for the fact that she had seen it with her own eyes—had seen Victoria laugh, head thrown back, hands tapping the table as if Ewan had spoken the joke of the century.

Then she had seen Ewan's face—at peace. That's what he had looked like.

Had he and Victoria been friends at one time?

At the moment, she sighed and closed the file she was working on, running her hands across her hair, which she had forgotten to tie up in a bun.

She picked up her phone, for the fifth time, to reach Sandro and Zane, but put it down again, just as before. She didn't want to seem like a desperate chick, like she was still hung up on Ewan.

Yet, did Cedric know that his fiancée was meeting her ex-husband? What could possibly be the purpose of their meeting?

Another sigh. Another opening of the file. Another attempt at scanning the important contents. Another failed attempt. She shut the file, reclined deep into her seat, and let out a soft exhale.

What am I doing?

She tried to push the image from her mind, but it wasn't working.

Frustration started in her guts, building up with every passing second. Why was she so hung up on this matter?

In annoyance, she grabbed her phone, needing to be done with this once and for all, and googled "Ewan and Victoria" tagged together. But there were no results indicating any form of prior entanglement between them.

Had they dated in college? Had they been friends?

She asked the questions, but received no reasonable answer. Could it be that this entanglement was recent?

Athena cursed loudly when she felt her heart clench in uncertainty, a numbing pain.

She got to her feet, suddenly restless, and strolled to the window, looking down from her tall position to the bustling city below. The people who had moved away during the spread of the Grey disease were now returning in droves. The news was filled with it, just as the roads were.

Why couldn't she let this go? Her mind returned to the matter at hand.

What could possibly bring these two together? It couldn't be work, because Victoria was as dumb as the word went. It had to be something else for Ewan to dine with her—something intimate.

She shivered in distaste, jerking when her phone rang out.

Who was calling? She hurried back to her table, palming her forehead when she saw it was Susan: they had an appointment with the therapist today. She had forgotten.

"Oh God," she muttered, answering the call.

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the V intersection..."

She immediately fired a message to Rodney, in case he was using his break as she had advised him to.

"And how is it, being back at work?" she asked.

Just like her, Susan had returned to work at Nimbus Operations, at the new branch in the city, as assistant head of operations, seeing as the moles had been rooted out already.

The new branch had been opened because the happenings of the Grey disease and all associated with it were taking place in the city. Considering the far distance of headquarters—which was in a totally different country—it was a good idea.

Silence greeted Athena's question at first.

"Not bad, I guess. I'm just trying to get out of my feelings."

"Great. One step at a time. See you soon."

Susan echoed the same, then hung up.

Work for today is over then, Athena mused, looking at the files on her table. For a second, she wished she hadn't gone out with Herbert, or maybe had gone out with him to another restaurant. Now she would have leftover work to carry over to tomorrow, which would make tomorrow's work more tedious.

A weary sigh escaped her lips as she arranged her desk, packed her bag, and left the office.

"Are you coming back, ma'am?" her secretary called out as she strode past the secretarial desk.

Athena paused, brows furrowing, momentarily spaced out before recovering.

"No. I'm done for the day. Communicate that to any of the doctors who come up. And do take care, Ciara. Thank you for keeping the fort in my absence."

Ciara blushed, receiving the praises humbly. "You're welcome, ma'am. Enjoy the rest of your day."

"And you too," Athena echoed with a smile, turning away to start the short trek to the hospital's garage.

"Where to, ma'am?" Rodney asked, slightly nervous as Athena stepped into the car and shut the door after her.

During his break, he had ruminated on his actions, even calling his sister for advice—the latter had laughed him to scorn at first, then bashed him for being quite stupid, before giving any advice: to stay cool unless his boss mentioned his misdemeanor again.

Seeing as she rattled the directions to him without any abnormality in her voice or tone, he knew he had escaped being sacked—unscathed. He was lucky.

He wouldn't be trying that risky mission again either. Better to stick to women on his level; he'd take his sister's advice.

"We're here, ma'am," he announced–after about twenty minutes of driving–right at the intersection.

Silence greeted him, and he looked around the vicinity, wondering what was happening here. Then a knock sounded on the passenger seat's window.

His neck snapped at an uncomfortable speed, and he saw the most beautiful girl he had seen in his life—a redhead.

Color rose to his cheeks and ears when she opened the door—his boss must have unlocked it—and stepped into the car, bringing in warmth and sunshine. And when she gave him a soft smile, he felt himself fall into an unending hole, one he could stay in forever.

"Hi…" he stuttered, blushing even more when Athena chuckled softly and shook her head.

"Just drive, Rodney."

Rodney cursed himself mentally before tearing his eyes away from the newcomer and starting the car. He knew what he must have looked like to his boss: telling her he liked her in the morning, then communicating to her friend with his eyes that he fancied her in the late afternoon.

He looked like a playboy—and he wasn't one. He just loved beautiful women.

A double curse flitted past his lips, barely a whisper, when the partition was raised. He had long accepted that his boss was enigmatic—a mystery—probably why he had been drawn to her, and yet he hadn't gotten used to it.

However, as he drove to the next location she had given him, he suddenly remembered that he had seen the redhead before—or rather, just her red hair—on the first day he had driven Athena, the day his new boss had smelled like blood and death.

"You know I would have to side with Ewan… I would daresay he had gotten the kids on his side too… your driver can be quite interesting. Are you sure he's not a creep?" Susan asked, just as Rodney parked the car at the location—a cabin-like apartment sitting on a beautiful plot of land with a garden by the side. Chelsea really had gone all out to make this doctor comfortable.

"Well, you lot should trust my decisions then. Rodney is just a sweetheart who expresses his feelings instead of letting them fester."

Susan's laughter was the only response Athena got before the latter opened the door and stepped out of the car.

"Are you ready for this?" Athena asked, taking in the beautifully cultivated and well-tended flowers and plants. She actually praised the real estate developer who had made this train of houses possible; she didn't think such places existed in this part of the city.

Susan shrugged. "I have no choice, neither do I have any expectations. I'm just doing this because you believe it will help us get past the pain, the trauma." A pause. "I don't sleep at night anymore, since you told me."

Athena shut her eyes, partly in pain for what the younger woman was facing, and partly in relief that she hadn't told her the details of Scarlet's death. That would have been a new level of catastrophe.

My cross to bear alone, she muttered, inhaled deeply, and stepped onto the porch.

Two knocks on the door, and finally an answer.

"Who is there?"

"Athena," she answered. "Athena Caddels."

The door opened, revealing a handsome young man, most likely in the same age group as her—tall, blonde, with sharp grey eyes.

"I'm Damian. Doctor Damian. Chelsea told me about you, and your friend," the man spoke, his eyes flicking to Susan too, who stood beside Athena with a bored expression. "Please come in."

"Thank you," she said with a smile, stepping into the apartment—her smile instantly disappearing when she saw who was sitting on one of the sofas.

Ewan.

Again?