The Last Wife

one

• perfect parasite •

Erik

hours earlier,

Mistresses.

I hate mistresses.

They are home-wreckers.

They wreck families. They break bonds. They rip apart marriages. They ruin homes.

A mistress ruined my home. And ruined my mom.

Another mistress ruined my heart. And took me for a fool.

I watch as the mistress walks down the aisle, her gaze fixed on the ground. She's about to be someone else's wife. Rage consumes me at the thought of another man becoming her husband. That was supposed to be me. She was mine. What we had was special. Until she ruined it... like all mistresses do...

Now I will ruin her.

As badly as she ruined me...

"Dude, are you okay?" Steph leans closer to whisper.

"Yeah," I growl.

"Well, your man down there doesn't seem okay..."

Her eyes travel down to the bulge in my pants. I glare at her and cover the front with my hands.

"f**k off."

"You've been staring at the bride since she stepped in," Steph continues. "Sorry dude, she's taken."

"Who said I'm interested?"

"Your eyes." She mocks. "And of course the bulge in your pants."

"If you don't shut up, you might get yourself fired you know..."

She rolls her eyes.

"You know you can't live without me."

That's kind of true. I can't imagine life without Stephanie. Through all the recent storms, she has been a ray of sunshine. She has helped me get through a lot with her kindness and goofiness and terrible humour. She has helped me run the company and make it thrive. With her tailored pantsuits and tight buns, you would take her so seriously at first but she's nothing close to that. I mean, she's serioua when it comes to business but she's also very funny and keeps cracking jokes. Even at inappropriate times. Like this time...

A time when a woman I hate so much is making me have an erection. At her f*****g wedding...

God! I hate her!

I hate Ruby Rey.

I watch as she exchanges her vows with Harvey. That should be me up there. Smiling at her as she says all those sweet words.

But there's something in the way she says the vows that doesn't seem genuine... it's like she doesn't mean it... she doesn't seem happy. I can see it in her eyes. Maybe she doesn't want to marry him. Maybe she's being forced to do this...

Fuck it!

Why do I care? This woman didn't give a single f**k about me when she cheated on me. She didn't give a s**t when she deceived me. She betrayed me. Through that brief relationship, she took me for a fool. God! I was such a fool! A fool for her! A fool for her love and her touch...

Now I'm not the fool anymore.

Harvey is.

And it's so clear that she just wants money from him. She wants to milk him dry and dump him when she's done with him. A true depiction of a gold-digger. An opportunist. A perfect parasite.

A couple of minutes later, the guests are buzzing around with glasses of champagne clutched around their hands. Steph is busy dancing and laughing with her sweet girlfriend. I watch the bride from a distance, throwing forced smiles at the strangers. She looks lost. Like she's trying to find something. Something that's out of reach...

A tap on my shoulder takes my gaze away from her.

I turn around to see, "Harvey?"

"Erik."

"Congratulations!"

"So glad you could make it, son. Wish your grandfather was here."

He takes a sip from his glass and clears his throat.

"I'm not here for small talk." He pauses. "I'm here to talk business with you."

"At your wedding?"

"Yes. It's the main reason I invited you and your assistant." He throws a look at Steph who is kissing her girlfriend. "She seems quite busy so I guess we'll have to hold this meeting without her."

"A meeting?"

He clears his throat and digs a hand in his pocket.

"I have a proposal."

"What kind of proposal?"

"The kind that will make you the youngest billionaire in the world."

"I'm listening."

"I know I'm still too young," Harvey says proudly. "But I want to retire and focus on my new wife and the family that we are going to build."

My heart breaks a million times when he says that. Does he want to settle down with Ruby? She was supposed to be my woman. She was supposed to build a family with me. She was supposed to be mine forever. And now he has taken my place just like that? He's planning kids with her?

"Are you listening to me, kid?"

That question pulls me away from my thoughts.

"Call me Erik."

"Did you even hear a word I said?"

"Please repeat the proposal if you don't mind."

He repeats himself. And again, I don't hear a single word he says. I find myself sinking in a sea of thoughts. Thinking about a woman I lost. A woman that will never be mine again. Rage consumes me again and I feel like smacking Harvey for stealing something that belonged to me.

Wait...

Does he even know that she was once mine? I don't think he does... I think he's just a victim. A victim of that devil of a woman. Just like me. I feel so sorry for him...

A grin spreads across his face, forming creases at the edge of his lips.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea." I lie. "Could you please send me the proposal to my email? I need some time to think about it first."

"Sure! But don't take too long!" He laughs. "I'm a very impatient man."

I watch as he walks away boastfully, one hand stuck in his pocket. I know he's not to blame for Ruby's cheating. I know he's not the one I should be angry at. But I just can't help myself from hating him as much.

"Look at you making friends with the groom!" Steph pats me on the shoulder. "Did you tell him you were drooling over his wife just a few seconds ago?"

"f**k off!"

"What does he want though?" She asks with a serious tone.

"He's trying to sell me a proposal."

"What kind of proposal?"

"A stupid one." I lie because I wasn't listening. "We're not taking it."

"You said no!" She hisses.

"I told him I'll think about it but I won't. I won't even check it when he sends it to my email."

"Yes, you will, brat." She says sharply. "It's a privilege that Harvey Ford thinks you're worth his proposal. So stop being a b***h and think about our business."

"I'm not being a b***h!"

"Yes, you are! He took your girlfriend! Get over it and-"

"Who told you?"

She rolls his eyes.

"Nobody had to. It's so clear that you're into that girl. You were always talking s**t about Ruby Rey ever since she got engaged to Harvey. Did some digging and found out she was your girlfriend back in college. Before she went for a richer dude."

I grit my teeth and glare at her.

"Stay out of my f*****g business!"

"You know I can't do that. I work for you."

I take a huge sip of the drink.

"Never mention her name again!"

"Noted."

From a distance, I watch as some short girl throws the bridal bouquet back at the bride. I wonder if she stole her boyfriend too. Wouldn't come as a surprise honestly. Ruby is left stunned and confused by the little dramatic incident...

"This wedding is getting more and more interesting by the minute," Steph says as she stands next to me. "Why would someone throw the bouquet back at the bride? Shouldn't she be happy that she'll be the next bride?"

Steph shakes her head and goes back to dance with her girlfriend. They are having a great time. But I'm not. Another person that doesn't look like she's having a good time is the bride...

Standing from a distance, her eyes find me. An electric feeling flushes through me when those dark eyes look back at me. A feeling I hate to feel...

She quickly looks away as her husband approaches her...

A few minutes later, I write a little note and hand it over to a little boy. By the time the note is delivered, I'm already standing in the washrooms.

Waiting for her...

It doesn't take long for Ruby to come running to me. For a split second, I'm disgusted by her. She's doing to Harvey what she did to me. Cheating.

And I hate her even more.

But that hate doesn't stop me from grabbing her waist and locking her up in one of the stalls. That hate doesn't stop me from kissing her and biting her neck and unzipping her dress and stripping her naked. That hate doesn't stop me from tasting her and burying myself deep inside her and stroking her. That hate doesn't stop me from sweating and salivating and swearing with every stroke. That hate doesn't stop me from thirsting with every thrust...

I've never felt so much hatred and yet so much hunger for someone...

As she stands naked in front of me, I lift her and pin her to the wall. With my eyes sinking into hers, I ask a desperate question.

"Will you please leave him?" I pause. "Please leave him for me. For us..."

She hesitates for a moment.

"After what you did to me, you owe me." I remind her.

****

The next morning, I find all these missed calls and texts from my assistant, Stephanie.

She's blown away by Harvey's proposal. She read the email early this morning and she wants me to say yes to it.

On my f*****g dead body!

I'll turn down the proposal and explain it later at work to Steph.

A text from Cole pops up. He tells me they miss me in the band. And I miss them too. I miss singing and playing the guitar. But I don't do that anymore. I don't talk to my bandmates anymore. Especially not to Cole...

I crawl out of bed, wishing I didn't have to do this. Wishing I didn't have to leave for work. But Steph would kill me. And I have a very crucial meeting today.

This is not how I thought my life would turn out. I have all the money in the world and living in one of the finest mansions in Foxton but it still feels so lonely... empty...

Maybe I made the wrong decision. Maybe I shouldn't have taken over the company. I feel like I'm losing myself day by day...

This is not me.

The breakfast table is set. Sandwiches, eggs and tea. Mindy makes the best sandwiches and she knows how much I love them. I always ask her to join me for meals because it gets lonely sometimes. But she's always busy dusting or doing the dishes or making dinner. She's a sweet woman though and I love having her around the house.

I peruse the newspaper as I take my tea when I come through a shocking headline.

'BUSINESS TYCOON, HARVEY FORD, FOUND DEAD IN HOTEL ROOM WHILE ON HONEYMOON WITH HIS THIRD WIFE'

What. The. f**k.

The shocking news takes a moment to sink into my head...

I need to call the police.

I know who killed him.

****

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