Chapter 12 Annulment #2
"What are you doing here?"
Alexa took a slow breath before forcing a pleasant smile onto her face. Despite the irritation burning inside her chest, she maintained her composure and gracefully walked toward the desk.
Stopping directly in front of him, she tilted her head slightly and studied his face.
"What happened?" she asked lightly, her voice carrying a teasing note. "Were you expecting Juliet?"
As she spoke, she placed both hands on the desk and leaned forward slightly. The movement caused the neckline of her blouse to dip lower, revealing more skin than before. Her eyes widened innocently as she looked at him through her lashes.
"But I understand," she continued with a soft laugh. "You have been friends with her for so many years. It's only natural that you'd miss her sometimes."
Her gaze never left his face.
She carefully watched every subtle reaction, every twitch of his expression.
"I'm honestly surprised, though," she added casually. "She never seemed particularly interested in you. She always looked so indifferent, yet you seem to think about her quite often."
Vincent's jaw immediately tightened. The muscles along his face became rigid. A trace of annoyance flickered through his eyes.
"It's nothing," he replied flatly.
His voice sounded colder than before.
"Just a slip of the tongue."
Leaning back slightly in his chair, he looked away for a brief moment before continuing.
"We've known each other for years. Sometimes her name comes out automatically."
His expression remained indifferent as he added, "Besides, she used to come here constantly. It became a headache after a while."
"You're right. That's what I expected."
Alexa's smile immediately widened.
Satisfaction sparkled in her eyes.
Straightening her body, she casually shrugged her shoulders before crossing one arm over her waist.
"I know exactly how difficult she could be," she said. "Honestly, I always thought she misunderstood the situation. She treated you like some close friend, but then she forced a marriage onto you. That couldn't have been easy for you."
Vincent shifted slightly in his chair.
For some reason, the conversation made him uncomfortable.
His brows furrowed deeper.
"It's fine."
His response was short and clipped.
Clearly unwilling to continue discussing the topic, he lifted his gaze toward her.
"So why are you here?"
The moment he changed the subject, Alexa's smile brightened again.
"Oh, right."
As though she had suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit, she picked up the folder she had brought and slid it across the desk toward him.
Her eyes gleamed with excitement.
"I brought you a gift."
Vincent glanced down before reaching for the folder.
His expression remained indifferent as he opened it and scanned the first page.
Then suddenly, his eyes stopped.
The words Engagement Annulment Agreement stared back at him from the document.
His entire body froze.
The office seemed to fall silent.
Slowly, very slowly, he lifted his gaze toward Alexa.
His expression had darkened considerably.
"What is this?"
Alexa immediately pointed toward the signature at the bottom of the page.
"Look closely."
Her smile grew wider and wider.
"Juliet signed it."
Vincent's fingers tightened around the papers.
The crisp pages crumpled slightly beneath his grip.
A dangerous look briefly flashed through his eyes.
Whether Alexa genuinely failed to notice or simply chose to ignore it, she continued speaking excitedly.
"You weren't happy about the engagement anyway, right?" she said. "So today I went to see her personally."
A smug expression appeared on her face.
Lifting her chin proudly, she folded her arms across her chest.
"I helped her understand the situation."
Her tone carried undisguised satisfaction.
"I told her that you're an important man and deserve someone better. After everything you've done for her over the years, she shouldn't keep making things difficult for you."
Alexa nodded as though she deserved praise for her actions.
The smugness on her face only grew stronger.
"So she finally agreed."
Her smile widened triumphantly.
"She looked me right in the eye," Alexa continued softly, her voice dripping with false sympathy as she carefully observed every change in Vincent's expression.
Tilting her head slightly, she clasped her hands in front of her and sighed as though she were genuinely troubled by what had happened.
"Then she signed the papers and handed them to me. "
She slowly shook her head, disappointment written all over her face, though the faint satisfaction lurking in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.
"I tried to make her understand," she continued. "I told her that you're an incredible man and that you don't deserve this. I told her that any woman would be lucky to marry you and that she shouldn't throw everything away without even trying to talk things through with you first."
Lowering her gaze, Alexa released another dramatic sigh before lifting her eyes back to him.
"But she wouldn't listen."
A look of helplessness crossed her face.
"No matter what I said, she had already made up her mind."
Her voice softened even further.
"She said she doesn't want to marry you anymore."
Vincent remained silent.
The muscles in his jaw tightened visibly.
Alexa watched him carefully before delivering the next blow.
"She said she's no longer interested in you."
A heavy silence settled over the office.
The air itself seemed to grow colder.
Then Alexa hesitated for a moment as though she was debating whether to continue before finally speaking again.
"And..."
Her voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"She said she doesn't think you're good enough for her."
The effect was immediate.
Vincent's eyes snapped upward.
The temperature in the room seemed to plummet.
The hand holding the documents tightened so violently that the papers crumpled beneath his grip, deep creases appearing across the pages.
For several long seconds, he simply stood there staring at Juliet's signature at the bottom of the agreement.
His expression was unreadable.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Confusion.
All of it flashed across his face in rapid succession.
It was as if his mind refused to accept what he was seeing.
Juliet's signature.
Juliet agreeing to end the engagement.
Juliet walking away from him.
Then suddenly—
He shot to his feet.
The chair behind him slammed backward and crashed into the wall with enough force to make the entire office shake.
"What the fuck?"
His furious roar exploded through the room.
The sound was so loud that it seemed to vibrate against the glass walls.
The veins along his neck bulged visibly as his chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.
His face darkened with rage.
"She's known me her entire goddamn life!"
The papers were thrown onto the desk with a violent smack.
"She's the one who agreed to marry me!" His eyes burned with fury. "And now she's pulling this kind of nonsense?"
His voice rose even higher.
"Canceling the engagement out of nowhere?" A harsh laugh escaped him, but there wasn't the slightest trace of amusement in it. "What exactly does she think she has to offer?"
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became.
He began pacing around the office like a caged predator, running a hand through his hair before turning sharply.
"She spent years following me around." His voice dripped with frustration. "Years acting like she was hopelessly in love with me."
His jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles twitched.
"And now suddenly she wants an annulment?" He pointed toward the papers lying on the desk. "What the hell is wrong with her?"
His furious voice echoed throughout the executive floor.