Chapter 45: The Midnight Pair I have gone through every door in this house, and I have yet to find his room. I neared it, my heart thrashing heavily in my chest, making my nerves skyrocket. Taking deep breaths, I gripped the doorknob and turned. It was locked. Ares’ personal space was everything to him, and his room seemed to be the highest level of them all. I huffed and walked away. I should have known. On my way, I grabbed my plate from the credenza and went downstairs to the kitchen to wash it. Ares wasn’t back yet, and it was almost noon. I must have slept in late and pondered whether I should get ready for work. However, the minute I opened the fridge and found a tub of Ice cream, that thought went out the window. Smirking, I took it and grabbed a spoon, about to swoop in when a voice made me jump. "Heyyyyy!" "Jesus!" I backed away, catching Athena poking her head from the wall before fully emerging. "Oops! Did I scare you?" I slammed my spoon down on the counter and glared daggers at her. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Athena shrugged, walking to me, her heels making sharp noises as she seized my spoon in my place and dug into my ice cream. "I was waiting for you to wake up. Did you have a good rest?" When she dived in for another, I yanked the tub away. "Every time I wake up, I see you, and that is not healthy." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎 "Would you have preferred to see Ares instead?" My cheeks tinted red, and I quickly cleared my throat and turned away, using my hair as a shield. "W-Where is he? I just wanna know before I get ready for the office." I took another spoon from the rack. "Oh, there’s no need. He went to New York for business." I whipped my head to her, a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. And he left without me? Feeling a twisted feeling, I took the spoon out of my mouth, the ice cream suddenly having a bitter taste. "When will he be coming back?" "He didn’t say, but he did say we should hang out. Shopping!" I winced when she screeched, settling back into my foul mood. After he touched me like that last night, he travelled to another city. How very Ares-like. "We’re meeting family this weekend." "W-What?" "Yes! So you have to look your best." S-So soon? It’s only been a month since I signed the contract. I thought we were gonna first make the entire city believe how genuine our union was, but we only attended one social event. "Nervous?" Athena asked me. "I’m too..." I can’t believe he left me with her. But then I recalled what she did with those men; if it weren’t for her, I’d have been in God knows where. "About yesterday... thank you." "I’m sorry... I didn’t hear." I pinned her with a look, and she grinned widely as if waiting for me to say it again. I went back to my ice cream, shoving more into my mouth and reeling how this day was gonna go. ~☆~ I wasn’t even a bit into this, but I just played along for the public. The moment she stepped into the shopping mall, there were far too many eyes on us; everything about her commanded attention. I was thankful that most of the malls we entered were exclusive, so there were little to no people there, and because Athena was a star customer, they cleared it out for the rest of the day. This was far more tiring than when we shopped for the equestrian. I have tried out more outfits than I have ever had, and at this point, I feel like a mannequin rather than a person. Along the way, Athena got carried away, and I finally found peace in a spot, a glass of wine to sip on, and my phone in hand. It’s been a while since I went on social media, and when I did, the first thing that popped up was the wedding photos that Ares and I took. "Oh my god...!" I mouthed, scrolling through, it was everywhere. Apparently, to the bloggers, it was a leaked photo of the CEO’s secret marriage, and they ate it like hungry lions. The juiciest news of the century. So that’s why we took that photo. I’ve been wondering why I haven’t seen that thing hung up in his penthouse or something. I opened a page and went to the comment section. UserXX: Can you believe the infamous Ares King is married? To his secretary, no less. I’m shocked! UserLL: Lucky bitch! It should have been me! UserPP: Geez! Who knew the impenetrable CEO could wife someone up? I still don’t believe it. UserKK: Better believe this is true, didn’t you see the picture of them at the gala a few weeks ago? They were oozing s****l energy! Can you see the way he looks at her? *Internally screaming* I hurriedly tapped on the image attached to that comment; it had a million likes! My heart skipped a beat, my lips coming apart when the image loaded. Ares’s hand was tightly on my waist, and I was waving to the crowd. I swiped more, and I saw that the entire time, from the red carpet to when we entered the ballroom, his eyes were only on me. How come I never notice this? Anyone who saw this would really believe we were a thing, and the chemistry was off the charts. We looked perfect together, like the kind you only see in magazines and wish you had this kind of life. "The Midnight Pair." That was the name trending now. But it wasn’t real, none of it was. I didn’t know how long I stared at these pictures, and even clicked download. I read through the following comments as a sinking feeling doused me. UserAA: This is fake! I don’t think they are an actual couple! There’s something fishy about this. UserOO: She doesn’t deserve him, I mean, she’s not even pretty! Of all the hot models he could have, he chose this one. Ew!