Playing Married

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"Thirty years old and on the cover of Times for the third time. How does that make you feel?" The interviewer asked as Nathaniel Storm shifted in his seat.

"I think I have a lot of backing from my family. And therefore, I do not feel that I am fully deserving of that praise." Nathan replied confidently. His eyes went back to his watch. He had somewhere else to be.

"In a world where everyone wants credit for everything, you say that you are not deserving of all the praise that you get for your work. It is very rare to see something like that."

"I believe that one should only accept the praise that they fully deserve. Besides, I don't think I have any shortage of praise even if I take away the ones I receive due to my family."

"Bullshit!" Violet rolled her eyes as she popped a slice of tangerine into her mouth. "People actually believe in all that s**t? He is clearly faking it! He knows he is a nepo-product and he somehow wants an identity of his own while enjoying his nepo-benefits."

Camilla, Violet's mother, slapped her shoulder as she looked over at the bystander of the woman on the bed next to her. The eighteen-year-old college student looked like she was ready to murder Violet while her mother nodded in agreement with her.

"Exactly, you tell her, Vee. Day in and day out, she just obsesses over all these people as if they are real celebrities!" Melanie, the other patient in the room, said.

"He is a real celebrity. He is the sexiest man alive!" Freye, the kid, replied in indignation.

"Last time I checked, that was David Beckham." Violet rolled her eyes as she passed all the fruits to her mother and turned to Freye. "Or maybe V of BTS. But I won't agree with anyone else to be that."

"This is a real-life billionaire!" Freye replied, animatedly moving her fingers as she spoke.

"And this is the real cold world, where you don't get accidentally married to a real-life billionaire so focus on your studies!"

Freye sulked and went back to watching TV while Camilla chuckled. "Let her be. There was a point in life when you used to be just like her."

"Well, that time is long gone and I am a realist now. You all weren't smart enough to show me the right path then so now I spend my time showing the right path to the kids who actually need it." She stuck her tongue out at her mother while she gave her another slap on her shoulder.

Violet chewed on her lips as her eyes went back to the man on the screen. She had conveniently retained the information from everyone that this said nepo-product was actually her boss.

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Punctual to a fault, Nathan did not like it when others were tardy. So when it was he himself who was three minutes late to the quarterly reviews, his mood was sore. And it showed on his face. All the employees were walking on eggshells, breathing every time like it was their last breath.

"Nate, you are scaring your team." Tatum Storm rolled his eyes at his son as he tossed a crumbled piece of paper at him.

"Dad, we don't have time for chit-chat." Nathan knew that if he let his father be, then he would change the meeting to a team-building session.

"Oh come on, you are way too hard on these people. If you want good results, then you should also make sure that everyone is having a great time!"

And his father did what he always did. Granted, the tension in the conference room immediately diffused and everyone was immediately having a great time as they talked over the last quarter of the year. But it was also taking too long.

And he had somewhere else to be.

He had promised to meet his fiance at their apartment before she left for a shoot in the Maldives and drive her to the airport.

He sighed as he typed in a text for his fiance, supermodel Dianne Alcrez, that he could not make it. That his father had prolonged the meeting.

He got a reply after seven long minutes and it was nothing more than two sad emojis. He knew he would have to make it up for her. He would do anything for her.

As soon as the meeting ended, Nathan made a call to her, to ask if she reached the airport safely but the call went straight to voicemail. So he called the driver that he had assigned for her.

"Ms. Alcrez has not left the apartment yet, Sir." The driver informed him and Nathan was relieved. He needed to see her one last time before she would be far gone from him for two very long months.

Nathan was a disciplined man but he was willing to break laws for his lady love so he raced to their apartment.

Parking the car, he climbed the stairs to the third floor because he was too restless to wait for the elevator.

Pulling at the emergency stairs door handle, he froze at the sight in front of him, the smile on his face morphing into shock.

In front of his eyes, his best friend was fiance were attached to each other like they needed one another to breathe and they were kissing in the middle of the corridor without a care in the world.

His best friend and fiance - both of them - had cheated on him.

He stood there, numb, trying to process the cruel reality in front of him, his heart ached and silent tears trickled down, every moment stabbing at his heart, sharper with every turn.

These two were the ones he trusted the most in this world. They were his emergency contacts, his medical proxies, and the major beneficiaries in his will. The three of them had been the best of friends since they were six years old.

Since when had these two had this going? And why could he not see this when he was the hawk-eyed business magnate who knew everything?

He couldn't breathe. He felt as if someone had placed a rock on his chest and was suffocating him.

And yet he gathered himself back up. Just like he always did. It was the only way he knew to survive.

They were still oblivious to his presence. So, after wiping away his tears and composing himself, he took a step forward, letting the door go behind him.

The clicking of the doors was enough to grab Dianne and George's attention, and the two of them jumped apart, their eyes on the man they had betrayed.

Nathan's eyes burned with hatred and betrayal.

"Nathan..." Dianne took a step forward, her voice trembling. "I can escape."

"What is there to explain?" He asked and his eyes landed on George. And he immediately knew that George wanted him to know this. He did not look the least ashamed by this. He wanted this. He wanted to snatch Dianne from him.

But there was nothing to snatch. The fact that Dianne willingly went to George was proof that she was never his, to begin with.

"All I want is to remove every single article that belongs to you from my apartment. And hire a crab or ask your lover to drop you off at the airport, where you will not be taking my private jet. Oh wait a minute, you bagged this shoot because of me in the first place so say goodbye to it."

"Wait... what? Nate, please don't do this!" She begged, the reality hitting her that everything that she was, was all because of Nathaniel and his family connections and if she lost that, then she would not have anything else.

"You don't need him, babe," George spoke up though he too seemed like he was intimidated now that he learned what it could do to Dianne's career.

"Exactly. And you won't ever have me again."

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