Chapter 6

• Alexander
• ~•~
• I left Olivia alone at the table to welcome my friends and some of the other guests. I was gone for a while but I knew she was good when I looked over and saw she had company.
• Her best friend and sister were seated with her. I spent a few more minutes and when I finally decided to go back to meet her, I saw her walking out of the hall with Sandra.
• Olivia looked so upset and I couldn’t help but wonder what the reason was. I tried holding her back but she ignored me. I let her go outside because I didn’t want to cause a scene.
• Confused, I walked over to the table, and luckily enough her sister, Amanda, was still there. “What’s going on with Olivia?” I asked Amanda but she remained silent. “Is she okay?” I added.
• “I don’t think so,” Amanda responded and I narrowed my eyes.
• “What’s the problem?” I asked curiously. Olivia had agreed to act like everything was okay at the party and she seemed fine when we first came in.
• “She found out your ex-girlfriend is in town.”
• “What?” I asked with a puzzled expression on my face. “My ex-girlfriend is in town? Tricia?”
• Now I understood why she was so upset. She was probably thinking I gave her the divorce papers because Tricia was back in town.
• I honestly had no idea she was in town and she didn’t even reach out to me. “Thank you,” I said to Amanda and walked over to a quiet place outside the hall.
• I pulled out my phone from my pocket and called Olivia several times but she didn’t respond. I also left her multiple texts asking her to come back to the party.
• Even if she wanted to leave, she could have waited until after the couple's dance. People were going to start asking questions because of her absence.
• Frustrated, I put back my phone in my pocket and walked back inside like everything was okay. It was time for the dance and I pleaded with my sister, Caroline, to fill in for Olivia.
• “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mrs Olivia Burke had something urgent to attend to, so Caroline Burke is going to be representing her.” The MC announced as I had instructed him to. I had to come up with a quick excuse or the media were going to blow the story out of proportion.
• The hall went silent and the music started. Caroline and I danced together as we received cheerful praises from the guests.
• “Why did she leave?” Caroline asked in the middle of our dance. Caroline was a few years younger than me but she was like my best friend. She was my only sibling and I always talked to her about my problems.
• I sighed heavily, my voice barely audible over the music. “I gave her divorce papers yesterday,” I said as I spun her around. Caroline had a confused look on her face when she turned back to me.
• “Why did you give her divorce papers?”
• “Just like I’ve told you severally, I don’t think she loves me,” I responded. Olivia always accused me of being in love with Tricia, no matter how hard I tried to reassure her that I wasn’t.
• “Did something happen recently that triggered it?” Caroline asked, raising a brow at me.
• “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but when she didn’t say anything about our anniversary a few days back, I realized I couldn’t stay with her anymore.”
• Caroline nodded. “So you are a single man now?” She asked and I shook my head.
• “She was about to sign the papers but I asked her to hold on until after the party,” I responded. “She didn’t even fight against signing the papers after everything we have been through.”
• I wouldn’t lie. I was hurt about the fact that she didn’t even put much effort into trying to protest against my decision. It was like she had wanted it all along. I wasn’t happy about divorcing her but we felt like strangers even though we lived under the same roof.
• Caroline’s expression turned playful. “So you’re mad she agreed to sign the divorce papers you gave to her?” She asked, giving me a nudge on my shoulder.
• “Yes.” I nodded. “If she actually loved me or cared about me, she wouldn’t have agreed so easily.”
• “Wait, but if she agreed to wait until after the party, why did she suddenly walk out in the middle of the party?” Caroline asked and I explained the whole Tricia situation to her.
• Caroline was about to say something else when the music stopped. The dance was finally over and everyone started cheering for us.
• We both waved at them and made our way back to the table. Amanda was still seated there. She exchanged pleasantries with Caroline.
• Even though Olivia and I didn’t have the best relationship, our families still treated each other with respect. “Can you call your sister?” I asked Amanda and she agreed.
• She was definitely going to pick up her sister's call even if she was ignoring mine. Unfortunately enough, the call went straight to voicemail.
• I needed to explain to Olivia that I had no idea Tricia was in town. Since she wasn’t responding, I had no choice but to enjoy the party and act like everything was okay before people started getting suspicious.
• “Are you good?” My close friend, Arthur, asked when I left the girls to mingle with some other guests. He must’ve noticed how worried I looked.
• I had already told him about the whole divorce situation when I visited him earlier, so I just filled him in on the Tricia part.
• “Have you tried calling Sandra?” Arthur suggested and I facepalmed myself because I hadn’t thought about it earlier.
• I pulled out my phone and called Sandra. It rang multiple times but she didn’t respond. Olivia must’ve told her to ignore me. I sent Olivia another text, telling her how disappointed I was.
• After that, I went back to enjoy the party. I was going to deal with Olivia later in the morning.