Zoe's POV

Lately, Rafael and I have grown quite fond of one other. He does what most people can't, listen without judgment. Even when I could tell I was being selfish at times, he always listened.

Through my days of boredom, Rafael and I have become close.

Although I could talk to him about almost anything, I couldn't help but get the feeling that he was constantly hiding something from me. He had this whole mysterious cloud over his head and I'm not too sure it was a good thing.

I paged through this weeks tabloids to hear about any news from Alexander. He hasn't called and I'm starting to get worried. Obviously I won't call him to ask why he hasn't been calling, that would just make me look too desperate. So I decided on the next best option, to spy on him through the tabloids.

There were a couple of pictures of him in restaurants and bars, in every one of those pictures he had a smile. He almost looked happy, without me.

The magazine fell from my hands as I saw Cindy in one of the pictures. What was she still doing around him? I should have known that she would start to make her move the first chance she got. The worst part was the dating rumors. It couldn't be true. Alex didn't seem like someone capable of committing to anyone. Maybe Alex would have called and said something if they were in a relationship. After all, it was just that, rumors.

In another magazine was of Alex coming out of a jewelry store, there were rumors of him buying an engagement ring. I knew that couldn't be true. He was definitely not the type to get married.

I heard a knock on my door bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Just a minute," I yelled. Standing up was starting to get a lot harder.

I walked as fast as I could. I opened the door not worried about my appearance. I was still in my pajamas and I'm pretty sure I had some pop corn in my hair.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Alexander was here, right in front of me.

At first, I was relieved but then hit by the realization that I had magazines of him all over my table. If he saw any of it he would never let me hear the end of it. Not to mention how terrible I looked.

So I slammed the door into his face, for a moment I actually felt bad about it. I raced to the living room as fast as I could. I needed to get rid of all of the tabloids immediately.

I heard Alexander's footsteps approaching, this time he let himself in.

I quickly pushed all of the magazines underneath my couch. Maybe I should have stashed them somewhere else, I was only going to be able to get them back once this baby was born.

"What was that all about?" He asked confused.

I tucked my hair behind my ear.

"Nothin," I lied. I had just realized that I left the stove on, I didn't want to burn the house down." I said.

"And your stove is in your living room," He said.

I just pointed to the kitchen not knowing how to explain. I didn't owe him any explanations.

He settled himself in and sat on the couch. I was still trying to recover from my inability to lie.

"Zoe," He said. He had his eyes fixed on the floor. "You know you can talk to me about anything right?" He asked.

"Yes," I answered taking a seat.

"You don't need to spy on me through these magazines, you could just ask. You know that nothing they ever say is true, right?" He asked.

My cheeks flashed in embarrassment. I looked down at what he was staring at, I hadn't even managed to push them all beneath the couch properly.

"Oh," I said. "Those aren't mine, I had a friend here yesterday and I think she forgot them here. Maybe she is the one who enjoys secretly spying on you. I hadn't even noticed it." I lied.

I could tell he didn't believe me, I wouldn't either.

"Anyways, I've come with a proposition." He said.

I took a deep breath. I didn't like any of his propositions, it was never anything good. Maybe he had realized how much of a pain I was to him and no longer wants to see me.

"I know you always talk about expanding your business. I know of a couple of people who would love to invest in you. I'm hosting a ball tonight, it would be a great chance for you to meet everyone." He said.

"A ball?" I asked. I was in no position to go anywhere tonight, much less to a ball. I hadn't shaved my legs in a while and frankly, there were too many things that I'd need to do. This was just too short of a notice.

"Yes," He clarified. "I have been recently chatting with Steven Anderson and he mentioned that he wanted to start a new branch, in it he wanted to include a café, where people could enjoy a cup of coffee and feel a sense of home. I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for you considering your similar interests."

"Steven Anderson?" I asked.

"Yes, is your brain working well today?" He asked.

Only that Steven Anderson owned some of the most prestigious hotels. He had a way of bringing other cultures and designs into his hotels, just a visit there would make you feel like you were in another country. It was like visiting Italy without going to Italy.

"I'd be honored," I said. This was the perfect chance for me. I could end up becoming the Starbucks for rich people. This was huge. "What time do I have to get ready?" I asked.

"Seven-thirty," He answered. "I'll send my driver to pick you up. I have to leave now anyways."

"You are not going to stay, maybe for some tea or coffee?" I asked.

It's not that I was inviting him to stay because I missed him, I just wanted to show that I was grateful.

"No, I have a couple of things I needed to deal with." He said.

I nodded.

I walked him out the door. Without as much a goodbye, he left. I was finally feeling the same rejection I had given to him.

Anyways, I had a ball to get to. I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of my goal.

~ * ~

Initially I thought about online shopping but then I reconsidered thinking about the time they would take to deliver it plus it might not fit that well.

I called to inform my mom about it, we were on a video call as I tried on every single dress. Once I had found a dress, I went for a hair appointment. She even went as far as hiring a makeup artist. She was more excited about this than I. Apparently, she had heard about the ball through rumors. Some of the biggest names in business would be attending. I felt like just by going there, I was carrying my whole family name there, plus a baby.

Alexander's driver arrived on time, but I still wasn't anywhere near ready. I was exhausted from walking the whole day, my hair was being pulled while someone else was applying nail polish on my toe nails.

After nearly an hour late, I was finally done. I couldn't decide on whether I should go to the ball or to bed.

I wore a silk tight-fitting floor length purple dress. It had an open back and flashed my baby bump perfectly fine. I had my hair braided. The make-up perfectly complemented my dress. I didn't bother wearing heels because I knew I'd be tired quickly.

The driver was still patiently waiting. It took just over an hour before I finally arrived.

I had never been to this part of town, it was different and had a spectacular view.

The driver opened the door for me, I could already hear the sound of music from the outside.

As I walked into the venture, I had a strong feeling that things were never going to be the same after tonight.

It was being hosted in a hall, decorated in antics.

Violinists were playing some music and people chatting around the hall.

Alex was the first person I spotted as I walked in. He was dressed in a black tux. He had his hands in his pockets and his eyes on me the whole time as I walked in.

A few faces turned in our direction then whispered amongst themselves. I didn't know what they were going on about.

Maybe it was a bad idea coming here. I was definitely out of my league, I didn't belong here.

"I hope I didn't arrive too late," I said.

"Better late but beautiful," He said.

Once again, I found myself blushing.

For a moment I felt as if anything else mattered, not even the people who were staring at us. It was just the look in his eye that he had. He had such an effect on me.

"Alex," Cindy said walking up behind him.

She wore a silver, tight-fitting dress. With every step, she made a statement. With her wearing heels, she was a lot taller than I was.

'You do not have to feel insecure about anything,' I reminded myself. We weren't in a competition of any kind.

"Mr. Coleman would like to have a word with you." She said turning to Alex.

She wouldn't let me have five minutes with him.

She then looked at me and acted completely surprised as if she hadn't seen me.

"Zoe!" She exclaimed. "We are so glad to have you here."

She made it sound as if it was her party, maybe it was.

"I'm glad to be here as well," I faked a smile.

I don't know what about her, but I just didn't like her. I didn't think she was naturally that nice. I'm surprised Alexander couldn't see it through her as well.

"Sorry, but I am going to have to steal Alex away for a few minutes," She said.

"Just a moment," Alex said.

He was off rushing into the crowd. He seemed esthetic to be rid of me. Less than two minutes later, he was back but with his friend.

"Justin, could you please stay here with Zoe while I have a word with a few people," Alex asked.

"While I am thrilled that you finally learned the word 'please' I do have somewhere I need to be. I was just about to have a serious conversation with Chole." Justin asked.

"Come on, you and I both know that she doesn't really want you," Alexander said.

"That hurt," Justin said placing his hand on his chest.

"You don't have to babysit me." I interrupted.

"It's okay Zoe, I am honored to," Justin smiled. "Alex, aren't you worried that she might leave you when she discovers that I have a better personality than you? I mean, for the second time. She already left you once." He joked.

Alex glared at Justin who maintained his smirk.

It had come to my attention that Justin was a jokester and should not be taken seriously.

"Come on Alex, we have to go," Cindy said. I had almost forgotten she was still here.

The two of them disappeared into the crowd.

"Come on Zoe," Justin said leading me to a table. "I have fifteen years of friendship with Alex that I need to complain about. My therapist got tired of listening to me."

Talking to Justin was easy, I didn't even have to say anything. He did the talking for the two of us. I just kept refilling my glass of juice while he continued talking about his past relationships and how Alex ruin things for him. The two of them had some kind of weird bromance going on. Maybe if I got him drunk enough, I could get him to tell me some of Alexander's secrets.

An hour went by, Alex had still not returned.

With the baby sitting on my bladder, I urgently needed to use the bathroom.

Justin pointed the direction to the bathroom, by now he could barely stand without falling.

I held my dress and I rushed to the bathroom. I locked myself in one of the bathroom stools.

Minutes later, I heard the sound of heels clicking against the tiles.

"Did you see that cheap rag of a dress she was wearing? She has some nerves even showing her face here." I heard a girl say.

It was great knowing that rich people trash-talked about others in the bathroom too.

"She might have gotten pregnant to trap him with a child, but clearly money can't buy class. She could just go back to the rotting hole she belongs in. Alexander should probably get a DNA test down." Another girl said.

It took me a moment to realize that it was me whom they were talking about.

I wanted to cry. Knowing that you don't belong somewhere is already hard enough, being made to feel unwanted can completely break you. I held back my tears as I stopped myself from making any sounds.

I heard another pair of heels walk into the bathroom. For a moment it was dead silent.

"The two of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Don't you have anything better to do either than talk behind people's backs?" A voice said.

I knew I recognized it somewhere. It was Cindy.

"Come, everyone knows that trap doesn't belong here. I'm just stating what everyone else is already thinking." The first girl said.

"It's tramp not trap," the other girl whispered.

If she was going to insult someone, the least she could do was do it properly.

"Please don't let me start with you Florence, everyone knows that the only reason you've ever made it anywhere in life is my sleeping with old men," Cindy said. "And you Lina, the closest you will ever get to someone like Alex is in your imagination."

There was a brief pause, it was then followed by the sound of footsteps leaving the bathroom.

It took me a while to process everything.

Maybe Cindy was just genuinely nice. Maybe I was just being blinded by my jealousy that I couldn't get myself to see the real her. I wonder why she stood up for me. The two of us were not friends and I had made it clear to her that we would never be. I think I needed to thank her, it was the least that I could do. I never really had a real reason to hate her. I didn't have to confine myself to the stereotypes.

I finally gathered the courage to get out of the bathroom. It is hard knowing that you have to walk into a place where no one likes you and they are all just busy talking behind your back.

I might not remember how to do trigonometry from high school, but I certainly remembered how to deal with hateful people. If I showed them that' their words affected me then they would be wining.

I returned to the hall and tried looking for Justin. Alexander was probably still busy.

Cindy was now on the stage with everyone gathering around her.

"Thank you all for making it here tonight. While our mission was raising money for a Children's home, we do have some wonderful news to share with you all." Cindy announced.

That was the reason we were all here, to raise money for a charity. I thought that Alex was hosting and he had made it clear that he didn't care about children starving. Maybe he had changed his mind.

"I am pleased to announce to you all that Alexander and I are getting married." She said.

Just then, my heart dropped. I think it might have stopped for a moment.