Ex Husband's Best Friend Is Mine Now

When the party began in full swing, no one was surprised to see James Clinton and Layla Blakewood re-enter the party together, after all everyone knew Layla was the new heiress to the Blakewood family and them leaving together might have been just to talk business in private since the Blakewoods have long since been investing in the Clinton stocks, however the re-entrance that made people's heads turn was Lorian's, particularly because of the woman by his side. Gasps and murmurs of gossip began to swing in the air. "That's Christina-no last name attached. Wasn't she thrown out and blacklisted from high society by the Blakewood family? How did she even get into this event?" A woman with high arrogance in her blood, known for her popularity in the high society was the first to speak. "If it weren't for her friend, Veronica Scott who got an invitation, a blacklisted woman would have no way of entering this event." Another replied, all eyes trained on how she walked with a soft grace to her steps, her arm linked with Lorian's. "Che! Who would still make friends with a blacklisted woman? Isn't that model afraid her choice of friends will lead her to becoming blacklisted too?" "Didn't you notice earlier, James Clinton seems to be getting along really well with the new heiress, what if...he plans to take her as a second wife?" The woman who said this spoke in a whisper but it was audible enough to the people around her. "It's nothing new for our high society influential men to take two wives, but the scandal that would cause. I'm sure an heiress like Layla would never settle for being second wife." "All that doesn't matter, the main point is, Christina-no last name attached is ruined. She used to go around acting like a princess, now she's just a nameless orphan trying to make connections, look at how friendly she's being with her husband's friend. If I didn't know any better about how strictly Lorian Axton picks his women, I would think she's trying to charm him." "Well all she can do is try, it's not as if she can succeed anymore. A great man like Lorian will pick an equally worthy woman, not some no name trash abandoned by a wealthy family." This elicited mockery filled giggles from the women. A cold smile made it's way to Christina's fair face, she'd overheard every word. The women made no effort to keep their words silent. Christina wanted to laugh at the irony, these same women in the past would flock around her. Complimenting every word, and every action she takes. They emulated her, every piece of clothing she wears becomes a trend they all follow, every new gesture she makes becomes something they all pick up too. They looked up to her like a queen, all that fame, all that adoration was now gone along with the name Blakewood that had gotten her that position from people. A few days ago she wanted to pay for something but her card declined, George Blakewood had deactivated all her cards, every penny she got from the Blakewoods gone along with the name they gave her at birth. Yes, those people were right. She had become abandoned, a no name woman blacklisted from high society. The whole world considered her ruined but they didn't know any better. If it hadn't been for that mysterious person a year ago who led her to start her hidden business Bloom, she truly would have been ruined without a penny to her name. James always used to tell her that her jewelry designs were too amateur to be sold as a brand, he told her she had a lot of improvements to make before he would help her start her line when she was ready. "Listen honey, designing jewelry is a lot more than just sketching cute things, once you're fully ready, I'll be the first to invest okay? For now you can keep playing with your little pencil and water color sketches, those designs will never be manufactured as it is." Thinking back she realized she'd been stupid to have felt gratitude towards him for those words, gratitude because she thought he was being honest with her and business required honesty. Two days later someone mysterious had sent her a letter, that letter had pushed her to have belief in her work but she wasn't confident to share it with James. That mysterious person became her secret investor and the first batch of Bloom jewelries were created. Christina hadn't expected anything when she put out the pieces to the market on an alias name of Fairy, if they failed to sell she would find a way to refund her secret investor. However every batch had sold out and those pieces blew up in the market, their worth rising sky high. She hadn't used a penny out of the Blakewood family's money, she'd wanted to do something from scratch and prove to herself that her business was worthy of success on its own. To be honest she never cared about the Blakewoods money, all she'd wanted was their love but they never gave that to her. The three years she'd spent securing deals for the Blakewood Enterprise was enough to pay for all they'd done for her all these years. After her launch, big jewelry companies began to search tirelessly for this designer called Fairy but no one knew who she was. Perhaps James never really paid any attention to her designs in the first place because even after the brand blew up he had no idea it was his wife, in fact he was among the companies searching for the designer. Christina had thought about telling him it was her but she decided to wait, she wanted him to be proud of her, she wanted her business to grow so much it would be a surprise for him when she revealed her true identity as Fairy, hence she'd kept it a secret from him. That secret was the only thing keeping Christina afloat. If that mysterious investor hadn't come to her at the time, Christina would have been totally ruined to the bottom now when the Blakewoods have abandoned her. No one knew that beyond being the fake heiress of the family she had wealth of her own amassed from her business. If these women calling her trash knew that she was Fairy, the designer sought after by multi-billion dollar companies, would they eat their words and swallow their tongues? "James, it's not polite to leave your beautiful wife all alone at an event like this." Lorian remarked when they approached James and Layla. His carefree yet seductive voice drawling with an edge. James' expression turned dark. He glanced at Christina momentarily, a small frown pulled his brows together. Something about this wife of his felt different but he couldn't decipher exactly what. "Tina is an adult now, despite being my wife she can go wherever she wants. Isn't that right honey?" James hated the fact that he still had to pretend in public that they were still husband and wife. He was so eager to divorce her already so he could fully be with Layla, but the scandal could ruin the launch of their company's new collection so he had to wait until after the launch before their divorce could be handled. Christina merely showed a fake smile and said, "Of course." "Well, since you're evidently preoccupied, you wouldn't mind if I asked your wife for a dance would you?" Lorian's eyes twinkled with something mischievous as he raised Christina's knuckles to his mouth and kissed them. James suddenly felt like he didn't like the sight of what was happening in front of him. It irritated him for no reason he could pin point. To him, comparing Christina and Layla side by side, Layla totally out weighed Christina in beauty, elegance and grace, even though Layla was raised in a poor family. What he failed to acknowledge was the fact that Christina was once named the most beautiful woman in swan city before their marriage but his years of abuse had worn her beauty leading his eyes to stray to other women, specifically his secretary. Countless sleepless nights, worrying and fretting over her own husband's love had done a lot to dampen her natural beauty. James cleared his throat and replied, "Of course, my wife is a lovely dancer." James swallowed the rising irritation, an unattractive woman like her couldn't possibly catch Lorian's eyes. As his best friend he clearly knew what type of women Lorian would go for, so he wasn't worried that there could be anything between them. The same thoughts went through everyone's minds as Lorian began to dance with Christina. Lorian had been the best man at their wedding, perhaps he was just being polite asking his friend's wife to dance with him. "Your husband was right, you're a lovely dancer." He whispered to Christina over the music. "He was just taunting me. I'm sure he doesn't believe that you could ever find me attractive when he himself doesn't." Lorian merely smirked, a devious tilt to his lips that made him look like a fearsome beast, a roguishly handsome fearsome beast. "Then he is the biggest fool earth has ever seen yet." He whispered. Christina raised her eyes to meet his, surprise swirling in her light grey eyes. "Why do you say that?" A reply was already on the tip of Lorian's tongue but the screeching sound of the mic interrupted and the music suddenly came to a halt. Both Lorian and Christina looked to the stage at the same time. Layla, her beautiful dress glimmering with a thousand sequins, looking like the perfectly dainty heiress carrying the adoration of many stood on the stage next to the mic. "Please forgive me for interrupting but I'd like to make an announcement." As she said this, her gaze flitted towards Christina who had stopped dancing and a hint of mockery hid behind her eyes before she focused on what she was about to say again. "I know this doesn't seem to be the right event but I've kept myself hidden for long enough. Tonight I've decided to come out and announce my identity. It has been a great pleasure for me seeing my designs soar and being sought after by so many that I was scared of revealing my identity, however I believe that collaborating with a company that can bring more exposure to my work will be the best decision. I'm here to tell everyone that I am Fairy, the main designer of Bloom jewelry brand." This announcement made awed gasp seep through the hall, everyone's eyes went wide and jaws dramatically dropped open.