Chapter 14 Augustus #2
“Rose is upset with me,” he explained, as though the answer were obvious. “I'm going to arrange the wedding and surprise her with it. She's angry right now, so I thought a surprise wedding might—”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”
Maria roughly tossed the bag in her hand onto the couch beside him.
Her expression was furious.
“Ivan, what exactly are you planning to do?”
“Ivan, she’s not getting married to you. You broke up. She told me clearly that she has no intention of marrying you and that she wants nothing to do with you anymore. So what wedding are you talking about?”
“I told you, she’s angry with me because I hurt her. I know it was my fault, but I’m not going to accept that this is the end. I’m going to fix it. Everything will be fine, so don’t worry about our relationship.”
Maria nearly lost her mind.
She stared at him in disbelief before throwing her hands up.
“You’re acting crazy! Don’t you realize Rose has already refused you? What are you doing now when she has already made it clear she doesn’t want to marry you?”
Her voice rose with every word.
“When it was the right time, you didn't even bother apologizing to her! I told you a hundred damn times to go and patch things up with her, but you were too damn stubborn to even talk to her. And now, after all this time, you’re suddenly arranging a wedding without even having the bride!”
She pointed toward the racks of wedding gowns.
“Have you lost your mind? Have you even talked to her? And now you're here picking out a wedding dress?”
Ivan didn't look the slightest bit bothered.
He rose from the couch and straightened his jacket, his expression stubbornly confident.
“She wants to marry me. You know that.”
Maria stared at him.
“I’m not acting out. This is what she wants. Once she sees that I'm giving her the wedding she really wants, she'll be happy.”
Maria's jaw dropped.
Then her anger exploded.
“Are you seriously still thinking like this?”
She stepped closer, her eyes blazing.
“You slapped that poor girl! You hit her, Ivan! Do you even understand what you've done?”
Ivan's expression hardened.
“Her father isn't even willing to speak to me because of what you did to her. Oswald is furious. I was so ashamed standing in front of him that I couldn't even lift my head.”
She shook her head bitterly.
“And he isn't the only one. He has already made it clear that he wants nothing more to do with you. They've canceled all the deals we had with them.”
Ivan's expression finally shifted.
Maria continued before he could interrupt.
“Every time I go to a party, people know. Do you understand that? Everyone knows why you and Rose broke up. They know you raised your hand against her.”
Her voice cracked with frustration.
“People have started distancing themselves from us and from our business because of it. Do you know how humiliating that is? I can barely hold my head up when I walk into a room anymore because of what you did.”
She pointed toward him, her eyes filled with anger.
“And after all that, you're standing here choosing a wedding dress as if Rose is going to magically forget everything and walk down the aisle with you?”
Ivan's jaw tightened, but his stubborn certainty remained.
“She'll come back.”
Maria stared at him as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
“Ivan, for God's sake, she already told you she doesn't want you.”
Ivan's jaw clenched, and his entire body went rigid for a moment. Yet even then, he refused to accept what Maria was saying.
“I know things have been difficult between us. That happens between couples. She loves me, and I love her. Nothing is going to change that. I'm telling you, everything is going to be fine between us. You're overreacting.”
Maria's anger finally reached its breaking point.
“She is not coming back!”
Her voice rang through the store.
“She has already married someone else. There is no going back between you two, Ivan!”
Ivan fell silent.
For a brief moment, shock flashed across his face.
Then he let out a disbelieving scoff.
“Mom... you didn't fall for it too, did you?”
Maria stared at him.
“She’s trying to make me jealous,” he continued stubbornly.
“There is no other man. She's just angry with me.
She always uses these little tricks whenever she's upset.
I'm telling you, she's only acting this way because she's hurt this time.
Once I give her the wedding she wants, she'll be happy and come back to me.”
Maria stared at him in disbelief.
Then, without saying another word, she pulled out her phone.
Her fingers moved furiously across the screen before she found what she was looking for.
She shoved the phone directly in front of his face.
“Look at this picture.”
Ivan's eyes dropped to the screen.
It was a photograph of Rose kissing another man.
His expression froze.
“Do you see it now?” Maria demanded. “She married someone else. That's her husband.”
Ivan's eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
“Oswald himself showed this to me and gave it to me when I tried to talk things out with him. He told me Rose is already married and living happily with someone else.”
Her voice softened slightly, but the frustration remained.
“She married him the day after you hit her.”
Ivan's fingers slowly curled into fists.
“And Oswald is so furious that he told us to stay away from Rose. He doesn't want anyone from our family disturbing her ever again.”
Maria lowered the phone.
“She has moved on, Ivan. You need to accept that.”
Ivan’s anger only intensified as Maria’s words sank in. His eyes burned as he stared at the photograph of Rose kissing another man, his chest rising and falling heavily as shock gave way to fury.
“What the fuck?” he breathed.
He looked at the picture again, as if staring at it long enough would somehow make it impossible. Then he turned on his mother, holding the phone out toward her with a shaking hand.
“She can’t do this to me. We have—she’s my girlfriend. How can she kiss someone else?”
Maria stepped forward and caught his arm before he could storm away. “I just told you. She married someone else.”
Ivan ripped his arm from her grip, his face hardening.
“I’m going to track her down and drag her back to my side if I have to. She can’t just leave me. We’ve been together for a year. We’re in a relationship. She can’t simply go off and marry someone else because she’s angry with me.”
He turned and stormed out of the shop.
“Ivan!” Maria hurried after him. “Where are you going?”
He didn’t even look back.
He strode straight outside, climbed into his car, and drove directly to Rose’s house.
The moment he reached the mansion, he stopped at the gate and looked through it. Rose’s car was parked outside.
A surge of relief immediately washed over him.
‘She lied to me.’
He drove through the gates and headed straight for the house. Maybe his mother had misunderstood. Maybe Rose had never married anyone at all.
Ivan pushed through the front door without bothering to announce himself.
Inside, he found Rose standing beside several cardboard boxes while a helper carried another one toward the entrance.
“Please help me put these in the car,” Rose was saying. “And if I realize I’ve forgotten anything, I’ll call you. Please have someone send it over, okay?”
Troy stood nearby and nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everything is loaded into the car. If you need anything else, just call me.”
Ivan stopped dead.
Relief spread across his face.
‘She really did lie to me.’
Rose was still here. She was in her own home. She hadn’t gone anywhere. Of course she isn’t married.
For the first time since seeing the photograph, Ivan felt certain that everything Maria had told him had to be some kind of misunderstanding.
Then a man appeared behind Rose.
Ivan’s relief vanished.
Maverick stepped close to her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her back against his chest in an effortless display of possession.
Troy immediately looked away, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden intimacy, and quietly walked out of the room.
Rose startled for a brief second before relaxing against Maverick. She tipped her head back to look at him, her expression softening.
“Maverick, you scared me,” she murmured, drawing a breath as his arm remained securely around her waist.
Maverick leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “Sorry,” he whispered against her skin.
His hands slipped down to hers, and his gaze dropped to the faint marks around her wrists. His expression immediately softened.
“I’m sorry about these bruises,” he murmured. “Next time, I’ll be more careful. I won’t tie you to the bed so tightly.”
Rose’s mouth fell open as she realized what he was talking about.
“Stop it,” she hissed, glancing toward the doorway. “We’re at my house. Someone might hear you.”
She lightly smacked his arm, trying to hide her embarrassment.
In her other hand, she was holding a piece of candy. She quickly unwrapped it and held it up between them.
“Here. Do you want one? It’s strawberry flavored.”
Maverick rarely ate sweets, but when she brought it toward his mouth, he opened it without hesitation.
Just as she was about to feed him, Rose pulled her hand away.
Maverick frowned down at her.
A mischievous smile spread across her face.
She brought the candy toward him again.
Once again, he opened his mouth.
And once again, she pulled it away.
This time, she burst into laughter at the annoyed expression on his face.
“Rose.”
She only laughed harder.