Defying Him
Amber woke up the next day with swollen eyes. She cried herself to sleep last night. She regretted why she accepted Devlin’s offer to stay in his condo unit. She thought he was just being nice to her. After all, their grandparents were good friends. However, she made a huge mistake in trusting him. Now, she regrets crossing paths with him.
She still remembers what she thought of Devlin the first time she saw him. She would not deny that she admired his looks. That was just a week ago. Now, everything has turned upside down.
“There you are! I thought you would stay in your room for a while. I can’t fault you. You can have all these comforts while it lasts.” Said Devlin who just barged into her room without knocking.
It is still early in the morning but Devlin’s insults are making her sick. She didn’t say anything to him.
“So, you are planning to ignore me, huh. You keep your drama to yourself. It is not going to change the fact that you are a gold-digger.” His taunting words cut like a knife in her heart.
“Why are you so angry at me? I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know what your grandmother did!” Her voice got louder, almost screaming at him.Text content © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Don’t you raise your voice at me! Anger is an understatement. And I hate you more for insisting that you are innocent from all of these. You may have fooled my grandmother but you can never fool me.” Devlin left while smirking at her. He slammed the door hard behind him.
The moment Devlin was out of her sight, she let out a deep sigh. She doesn’t know how she is going to spend the rest of her time with him. She still hopes that he will change his mind at the end. She doesn’t understand why there is such hatred from him. She already told him that she would willingly sign anything just to not have anything to do with his grandmother’s wealth. And the wedding? They don’t have to do it.
Devlin is losing his focus. Just today, he didn’t report to his company. He canceled all his appointments. He shook his head. He knows a better way to forget his problem.
He went home late that night heavily drunk. He went to his room staggering without noticing Amber who was waiting for him in the living room.
Amber waited a few more minutes before she decided to follow Devlin. She gently opened the door to his room. She saw him laying down, face flat on his bed. He is too drunk just like last night. Amber took a heavy sigh. She did the same thing last night. She carefully removed his shoes and socks. When she was about to leave to get a bucket of warm water, Devlin suddenly moved from his position. He was murmuring something that Amber could not understand.
She left and immediately took a bucket of warm water and proceeded to do her task. She removed his belt and pants, careful not to touch him there. She also removed his shirt. She started wiping his skin which was slightly warm to touch.
“Devlin, why are you doing this? You could have just let me go. That would have immediately solved our problem.” Amber’s voice came out as a whisper. How could he have quickly changed his attitude towards her? He doesn’t even want to believe her words at all. She was only telling the truth. And it hurts to take all the insults from him.
“Raven… Raven, please don’t leave me.” Devlin said while his eyes were closed. Amber clearly heard what he said. Even in his sleep, he still thinks of the woman he loves. She only shook her head. She does not want to live in misery like him. She will try to convince him tomorrow to let her go.
The next day, Devlin woke up covered with his blanket, just wearing his boxers. He could not remember what happened last night. He checked the time from his phone. It is 8:30 am in the morning. He saw several missed calls and messages from his secretary. He suddenly remembers he has a meeting at 9 am. His head is still hurting but he needs to take a shower to go to work. He finished quickly. He was putting his shirt on when the door to his room opened slightly. It was Amber, bringing a tray of food for him.
“Good morning. I hope you slept well. I brought you…” Devlin immediately cut her off.
“Don’t you know how to knock? And by the way, you are not allowed to enter my room. You are staying in my place but that doesn’t give you any right to come to my room readily.” He paused while looking at her angrily.
“Take your food away. I am not hungry!” Devlin yelled at her ruthlessly. She remained quiet and just stared down on the ground. She only wanted to check on him. She left his room immediately.
Devlin drove straight to his office. He immediately asked his secretary for a cup of black coffee. His secretary went to do his coffee. She does not want to trigger his dark mood.
“Mr. Wesley, do you need anything else?” Devlin only shook his head and started sipping his black coffee. It slightly relieved his hangover.
“Uhmm… Sir, Mr. Dickinson called a few minutes ago. He said he would be delayed to get here as he got into a minor accident.” Devlin simply nodded at her.
“Just informed me when he gets here. What time is my next meeting?” He casually asked her. He is glad that he could keep himself busy with work. He will deal with Amber later.
Amber, on the other hand, could not keep her cool. She received a call from the lawyer, Attorney Harrison. He wanted to meet her after lunch. She remembers that Devlin mentioned a certain Mr. Harrison, who is the lawyer of his grandmother.
Amber is not familiar with where she is right now. She had to mention to the lawyer that she’s at Devlin’s penthouse.
“I know that place. There is a coffee shop in the lobby area. We can meet there unless you have to ask permission from Mr. Wesley.” Amber thought for a few seconds before she replied to Mr. Harrison.
“I don’t think he would mind. I also have some questions for you, Attorney Harrison.” She politely said at the end.
They agreed to meet at exactly 1:30 pm. Amber forgot that she had no key to the penthouse. How is she going to get back without the key? She checked the time and it’s already past 1 pm. She tried calling the receptionist if they had a spare key to Devlin’s unit but they had none. She might as well have asked Attorney Harrison to come to the unit instead.
If Devlin found out about their meeting, then she would just have to tell him the truth.
“Hello Attorney Harrison? Would you mind if we could just meet here in Devlin’s unit? I don’t have any spare key to his place.” She hopes the lawyer would agree.
“Alright, that’s not a problem. I have been to his place a few times.” After a few minutes of waiting, Amber heard the light knocking from the door. She opened the door immediately since she had been expecting the lawyer. What she didn’t expect is to see Devlin as well with his stony face.
“Good afternoon Ms. Adams. I’m Attorney Harrison. Nice to meet you” The lawyer extended his hand to greet her. Amber thinks the lawyer is in his late 50’s or more. He looks serious but has a nice aura to his face. Amber opened the door wide for them. Devlin got in without saying a single word to her.
She wonders why he is here. Isn’t he supposed to be working in his company?
“Attorney Harrison, I am glad you informed me about this meeting. We need to finalize that wedding.” Devlin said without even looking at her.
“I am sorry but I have some questions before we get any further.” Amber quickly said, which made Devlin stare at her sharply.
“What are you talking about? Everything was already arranged. Whatever you want to talk about is not up for discussion.” Devlin’s deep voice sounded more like a warning to Amber.
“Calm down, Mr. Wesley. I am here to discuss everything in detail with Ms. Adams. It is her full right to know everything.” Amber was grateful to the lawyer.
“Thank you so much, Attorney Harrison.” She smiled gratefully at him. She saw Devlin pursing his lips.
“Uhmm– I just want to know if there is a chance that we could cancel the wedding? I don’t want any of these. Not the wedding nor the wealth of Grandma Olivia.” She said sincerely. She is hoping that by what she just said she could convince the lawyer to release her from all these madness. She heard Devlin make unnecessary noise but she ignored him.
“Ms. Adams, I fully understand your situation. However, my client, the late Mrs. Olivia Wesley had made that addendum on her last will. No one can contest that, not even her family members.” Attorney Harrison looked at the young, beautiful woman in front of him with full sympathy.
“I am not contesting anything. I am giving up whatever is my part of the will.” She said frankly, earning a smirk from Devlin. She didn’t mind him at all. She needed to convince the lawyer.
“I am not saying that there is no way out with the wedding. However, without your wedding together, you are still entitled to get your inheritance. In fact, you will get more if you don’t do the wedding. You will get half of Mr. Wesley’s inheritance from his grandmother. She made it clear from her will.” Amber could not believe what she just heard. No wonder why Devlin is acting horridly towards her.
“Why would Grandma Olivia do all of these?” She felt like her head started to hurt. She suddenly massaged her temple.
“Why don’t you ask yourself? You must have made her do this!” Devlin’s remark is too much to bear.
“Are you accusing me of something I never did?” Amber countered back. She has been receiving a lot of his insults and threats. It’s too much.
“And why do we have to do the wedding? It is crystal clear that you despise me so much.” It is better to say things out loud now.
“And what? Let you take off with the money easily? What a lucky bitch” Devlin’s booming voice is like shaking the whole place. Amber is fighting back her tears.
“That’s enough Mr. Wesley. As a lawyer of your late grandmother, I am only here to make sure that my client’s final will will be rightfully given to her heirs. Please, you both better sort it out with the wedding. And by the way, your wedding date is tomorrow at 3 pm. A judge was already reserved to officiate your wedding.”
“Thank you so much, Ms. Adams for your time. It is a pleasure meeting you.” With that, Attorney Harrison excused himself and left the place.
There was a deafening silence the moment Attorney Harrison left. Amber stood up and went to the kitchen to drink some water. She felt like something just blocked her throat. She stayed for a while in the kitchen until she came back to the living room. She saw Devlin who was in deep thought. He was staring at basically nothing.
She cleared her throat before she spoke up. “Aren’t you exaggerating things? Please, let’s not go through with the wedding. I am sure we can find a way to settle the inheritance thing.” Amber said with a serious tone. She is still not giving up.
“Don’t you get it? It is not only about the money that we are talking about. It is about fooling my grandma and letting her into your filthy games.” With his determined voice, Amber would never be able to convince him.
“And what about your grandmother? What is she going to feel from what her innocent granddaughter has done?” Amber looked at him with disbelief.
“I never thought of you as this heartless and ruthless. Remember this, I am going to do that wedding because I don’t want my grandmother to worry.” Amber said with anger in her voice.
For some strange reason, Devlin felt calm after he heard what Amber just said. He met her grandmother. She was nothing but nice to him.
Probably, he can start punishing her right after the wedding. He is angry at her. He hates her very presence. He just wants to punish her so she knows where she stands. He will make sure that she learns her lesson well.
“Glad to hear that. See you tomorrow then, Mrs. Wesley.” He left but not before Amber saw his loathsome smile.