Chapter 73

~ Octavia ~

Victoria and I, along with our colleagues, headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. We found an outdoor table and settled in. A waitress came to take our orders, and after she left, I thought about how perfect my life had been since last night. I smiled absent-mindedly.

"What’s making you smile and be in such a good mood since we left the resort?" Victoria whispered in my ear.

"Oh! Nothing," I blushed.

"It’s something. Spill," she cajoled.

"You are always nosy, Vic," I sighed.

"I can’t help it. You should know that it’s in my nature," she said.

"It’s just that Franklin and I have reconciled," I told her.

"Reconciled how?" Victoria asked.

Our conversation piqued the interest of our colleagues, though they kept up their own separate chatter.

"It means that I’ve forgiven him for cheating on me as soon as we opened up about our feelings for each other," I told her.

"Hmm," she said.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you sure he loves you, or does he just want you to forgive him so you won’t leave again?" she asked.

"I know that he loves me, Vic. I feel the love now—unlike before. He loves me. I want to come back to him," I told her.

"Are you sure that’s what you want?" she asked, concerned, as she placed her hand on mine.

"I do. I love Franklin, Vic. I really do," I told her.

"Just know what you’re doing, okay? Make sure that’s what you truly want. I really don’t want you to get hurt again, and I still can’t forgive him for cheating on you," she said.

"That’s what I want, and I appreciate that you care about me. If I can forgive him, Vic, so can you," I told her.

"I will try—just for you. I just want you to be happy, okay?" she said.

"I know. Me too," I told her, and we reached out to hug.

"What’s with the sentimental feelings?" Ava asked from across the table.

"None of your business, Ava," Victoria scowled at her from behind her glasses.

"Whatever," Ava rolled her eyes.

Our lunch was brought to us, and soon we dug in.

"Stop taking pics of your meal and eat up," Sarah said to Tina, who was snapping photos of her food.

"Not yet. I have to post this on my Instagram page," Tina said, still taking pictures.

"Hey! Has anyone noticed that Bella hasn’t come to work for a while?" Tina spoke up as she began eating her meal.

Victoria and I exchanged a look. Victoria only shrugged, then continued eating.

"Yeah, we all noticed that," Sarah nodded.

"Why do you think she isn’t coming to work? Did something bad happen to her?" Tina asked.

"I wish something bad happened to her," I said quietly—loud enough for only Victoria to hear. She chuckled softly.

"Maybe she quit her job to find greener pastures," Ava shrugged.

"Or maybe she’s gone missing," Sarah snapped her fingers.

"Yeah, maybe," I said, and Victoria snickered before bursting out laughing, surprising everyone except me.

"Why are you laughing, Victoria? It isn’t funny," Sarah said.

"Yeah, we’re worried about her," Tina added.

"How can you be worried about the devil’s favorite demon, guys?" I said casually as all eyes turned to me.

"Remember how she made all our lives miserable," I began, taking a forkful of my Caesar salad. "Remember how she locked you in the restroom for hours, Tina, only because you reported to Mrs. Lawson that she stole some documents from the company server to get answers and nail the upcoming presentation we had?"

Tina looked down.

"Or you, Ava—remember when she framed you for breaking the photocopy machine? Mrs. Lawson was so convinced that she told you to get a new one for the office. Remember how you complained that it was expensive and almost finished your salary for that month? And what did you do to deserve it? You accidentally stepped on her foot in the crowded elevator. How evil she was," I said, recalling all the terrible things Bella had done.

"What about you, Sarah? You thought she was your friend, so you told her your little secret—that you and your boyfriend had made a sex tape. She asked for it, and you innocently sent it to her. Only for her to make it go viral at work. Everyone in the office—the interns, the employees—saw it. Luckily, you were only suspended for months and not fired because we all pleaded with the board that it was a mistake. All caused by that spawn of Satan called Bella," I said.

Then I turned to Victoria.

"And lastly, she shredded your project file—the one you intended to present in the conference room the next day—after she saw that your ideas were better than hers."

"And I had sleepless nights making that project. I can never forget what Bella did to me," Victoria sighed.

I patted her back. "It’s okay, Vic. It’s over now."

"And then there’s me," I continued. "She made my life a living hell at work because she felt I was better than her. So ladies, I’m so glad Bella is no longer with us. She’s probably paying for her sins now—who knows? I don’t care."

"So don’t feel sympathetic toward her. The storm is over. The bitch isn’t with us anymore. Instead of worrying about her, we should celebrate her absence from the office. At least now we can live in peace and harmony," I told them.

They were quiet for a moment before speaking up among themselves.

"You’re right, Octavia. That’s true. Bella is indeed evil," Tina nodded.

"Yes, she is," Ava agreed.

"She’s absolutely the worst person I’ve ever seen in my entire life," Sarah spoke up.

"She’s like a possessed person—possessed with maybe four or five demons," Victoria said.

We all laughed at her comment about Bella.

"You all know me. I obviously hate her. Calling her Satan is an insult to Satan," I said.

"Octavia!" Ava gasped, then laughed, and the rest of us joined in.

"Goodbye, Bella!" Victoria exclaimed.

"A toast to wish Bella Washington goodbye," I said, raising my glass of water—even though it wasn’t a celebratory drink.

"Cheers," Victoria said, clinking her glass against mine.

"But wait! What if she returns?" Sarah asked.

"I don’t think she would return," Victoria said.

"I know, but let’s be realistic—what if she does return?" Sarah pressed.

"Then nothing happens. Just that if she tries to make any of our lives miserable again, we give it back to her in full force. The bullying stops," I said firmly.

"I love the sound of that," Victoria said.

"Cheers," they all said as their glasses clinked with mine.

Then we continued eating, no longer talking about Bella. Her memories were now firmly in the past.

Dusk arrived, and we headed back to the resort. When I got to our suite, Franklin wasn’t there. I received a text from him saying he was having a meeting with one of his company executives at a restaurant downtown in Long Island and that he would be back in a few minutes.

I went out to the balcony of the suite and rested my arms on the railing as I stared ahead. The view of the beach was breathtaking from up here. I sighed as the wind furiously blew my hair into the air.

I thought about everything Bella had done to each of us at the office. Maybe she had learned from her mistakes and decided to stop showing her face there. If that was true, I was glad.

I heard the door click open and turned to see Franklin walking in. When he saw me, he smiled, and I smiled back.

"Hey, baby," he said.

I loved how he now had an endearment for me.

"Hey," I said, turning back to stare at the ocean.

He walked out onto the balcony and hugged me from behind, his arms wrapping around my waist. I could feel his heartbeat against my back.

"How was lunch with the ladies?" he asked.

"Good," I replied with a nod.

"How was the meeting with the executives?" I asked.

"Good too," he shrugged as he pulled away and sat on one of the deck chairs.

"Come here," he said, outstretching his hand.

I slowly took it, and he guided me to sit on his lap.

"You love this position, don’t you?" I teased.

"It’s the only way I can see how beautiful you are," he said, then smiled. "Don’t blame me," he added.

I reached up to touch his cheek.

"I don’t want this phase of love to end," I told him.

"Me either. I don’t want it to end too," he shook his head.

He leaned in and kissed me.

"I’ve already made the reservation at the restaurant. We leave at 7 p.m.," he said.

I glanced at my wristwatch. "It’s heading toward six now. We should start preparing, right?"

"Yep. Come on—let’s go take a shower," he told me.

We got up and headed back inside to our room.

"I’ve been meaning to ask," I said. "Is your grandfather aware that you want to go public about the true nature of our marriage?"

"He doesn’t know yet. I haven’t told him. Though I will tell him when we return from the trip," he said.

"Okay," I nodded.

"Come—let’s go take a shower."

He held out his hand, and I took it. He led me to the bathroom so we could shower together.

Once we were done showering, we got dressed. I wore a white lace dress—I hadn’t brought any outfits specifically for a fancy dinner because I never predicted I’d be going on a dinner date with Franklin. I left my hair down and slipped into a pair of black heels. Franklin wore a suit.

When we left the resort, Walter was waiting for us in the limo. We hopped in, and he drove us to the restaurant.