DISASTER (SIXTEEN)

Ivy Pov

Good grief! I thought yesterday was my worst day, today turned out to be much worse. I start my day with something really not good. The first thing Rachel saw was me cuddling with Jayde in his room. Then Axel came along and made things worse. Axel threatens me! Damn that guy. How dare he threaten me. Even Axel is very smart to get support from dad. He really is a two-faced man. He can be a good and bad guy at the same time. I should be careful with him.

"Ms. ivy? It's time to go home. Are you going to work overtime today?"

"No, Ana. You can go home now. I'll be home after this too."

"Okay. See you tomorrow morning."

Anastasia gave me a small smile and slowly closed the door to my room. Today she did not irritate me as usual. That's good. I don't need more anger for today. Throughout the day Anastasia managed to maintain a good attitude. She did all her chores as I asked. After that she bought me lunch, a tuna sandwich and orange juice. I hope she stays that way and doesn't give me a headache tomorrow morning.

I glanced at the laptop that was still open in front of me. All those numbers look so boring. I'm not focused on doing the monthly report to be submitted to my dad next week. Well, there's no point in me hanging around with those stupid numbers anymore.

I closed my laptop with a bang and put it in the drawer. No office work to take home today. I'm going to be lazing in my room and watching my favorite comedy series tonight. I deserve a reward for all this energy-draining patience. I'm going to fully have fun without any disturbance from anyone.

Wait. My phone rings. I took a quick glance at the screen and found Axel's name there. Why is that damn man calling me? He couldn't possibly be apologizing and trying to persuade me who was angry right? Axel is not a romantic guy like Jayde. I couldn't expect anything special from him.

After five minutes, my phone kept ringing. Axel has called me ten times and this is the eleventh time. I'm starting to get annoyed with the ringing sound that doesn't stop since earlier. I had to pick up the call to stop my phone from ringing loudly.

"Halo?"

Axel should be able to hear my very flat and cold tone of voice. But if he were an insensitive man, he definitely wouldn't notice my anger.

"Ivy, thank goodness you picked up my call. Where have you been, honey?"

Good grief. What kind of sweet words are those? Did he expect me to forgive him that easily? Huh, big no!

"I'm busy Axel. There are some documents I need to prepare. My dad would be angry if I was late to hand over the documents to him. So I can't talk to you right now. Bye."

"Ivy wait!"

Before I could turn off my phone, Axel screamed frantically on the other side. My thumb is even two inches above the red button, in a moment I really will end this call.

"Ivy, I'm sorry. I know you're mad at me."

What? An Axel Krueger apologize? Is hell freezing right now! This is unbelievable.

I quickly pulled my thumb off the red button and pressed my phone to my ear. I'm still a little angry at him, but I'm intrigued by the word sorry he just said.

"You know I'm angry?"

"If you weren't angry, you would have answered my call quickly. You're obviously angry because of the trouble this morning. Please forgive me, Ivy."

"You were so annoying this morning. I've been holding back my anger for you for a long time. Since you suddenly disappeared and didn't give me any news."

"We talked about it earlier, and you know what my reasons are. I'm sorry, ok. It was completely my fault."

"You are wrong, Axel."

I sulked even harder. Let him feel guilty on the other side. I'm still annoyed and hurt by his superior style this morning.

"Please forgive me. We can't go on like this, hmm? We're both adults."

"I know. And it's not like I'm a toddler for acting childish like that."

Axel's laughter boomed across the line. I can imagine his really satisfied face because he managed to melt me ​​who was sulking. Yeah well, I'm a girl who is easily persuaded.

"No, you're not a toddler, honey. You are my future wife who is very beautiful. By the way I'll pick you up tonight for dinner."

"Dinner? Why suddenly?"

"My mom and dad invited us to dinner at their favorite restaurant. We must come."

"Oh so that's why you're apologizing to me. You want to show a good image in front of your parents?"

"Dear Ivy, why are you making things worse between us? I already apologized to you, you should respect my apology to you and there's no need to cause such ridiculous trouble."

Tsk, who is really ridiculous here? A few seconds ago he had just laughed out loud, and now he was suddenly angry. He should be the one being ridiculous, not me.

"I'm not ridiculous."

"Well whatever. Tonight at seven I will pick you up. Get ready and dress up beautifully."

"But I already have a plan."

"Cancel your plans. This dinner is very important. My parents want to know you deeper. My mother wants to talk about a wedding dress she ordered from a famous designer in Paris."

Well, that's none of my business. I didn't order that dress!

Dammit. If only I could tell Axel that and not just keep it in my mind. It's annoying when you have something to say, but can't say.

"Ivy? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here. Ok, I will get ready as you wish."

"Very nice. I believe you can become the woman I wish you to be. See you tonight. Love you."

"Hmm... See you tonight."

I quickly hung up the phone and slammed my phone on the table. It's a really bad day. Can't Axel be gentle and truly sincere, not just for his personal gain. He's the craziest man I've ever known. I regret ever admiring him and want to have a relationship more than just colleagues with him. Obviously now I know that wasn't a good idea at all.

I lay my head down, resting my forehead on the cold surface of the table. Hopefully this method works to cool my brain which seems to boil any minute because of my anger at Axel.

One by one my tears fell from my eyelids and dripped on the table. Oh God, how long do I have to live this life I don't like. I'm getting fed up day by day. My wedding plans with Axel caused me so much stress that I started to panic because my wedding day with Axel was getting closer. I really haven't had the idea to cancel the wedding yet. I don't have anyone who can help me out of this problem.

Wait!

I quickly wiped the tears off my cheeks and started rummaging through my desk drawers to find what I was looking for. I guess I still have someone who can help me. It was foolish for me to think that I was just fighting alone. In fact I still have someone who will help me to get out of this problem.

"Ah! I finally found you, little paper."

Such a stupid girl. I hugged the shabby little paper to my chest and smiled happily because I managed to find the address I was looking for.

-00-

Ivy Pov

Knock knock

Oh no! Is that a sign? Two more seconds I will definitely hear the maid say something.

"Ms. Ivy, Mr. Axel has arrived."

I already guessed. My nightmare has finally come. Axel was waiting for me downstairs. Maybe now he's chatting with dad. Oh God, what should I do? I'm not ready at all. Even the clothes that are still attached to my body are my office clothes this morning.

"Ms. Ivy?"

"Tell Axel to wait another ten minutes."

No time for re-makeup. I had to use my makeup this morning and fix a few faded components to make my appearance fresher. Look at my slightly reddened eyes and nose. I have wasted my two hours watching a sad movie until I unconsciously cried because I was touched by the happy ending in that film. What a romantic love story. If only my love story was the same as theirs, Beauty and The Beast. Even though the Beast is ugly and rough, but he hides a softness inside him. Unfortunately I can't see that in Axel. It's obvious that Axel isn't a Beast and I'm not a Beauty.

After coming home from work, I decided that I had to cool off my very hot head. I quickly went into my room and locked the door. Then I watched the saddest Disney Hotstar movie to get carried away in that movie. For me, the Beauty and The Beast is very sad because Beuty is forced to separate from her dad who loves her so much. Hmm.. almost similar to my life story. Unfortunately it was my dad who actually encouraged me to leave him and marry the man of his choice. And because I was too busy watching movie, I completely forgot that tonight I had dinner with Axel and his parents.

I quickly darted to my wardrobe and opened it wide. My eyeballs roll right and left, scanning all of my collection of dresses to find the one that is most suitable to wear tonight. But damn, I can't choose in a hurry. I have no ideas. All the dresses look ugly and unsuitable for dinner with Axel's parents.

"Oh God, what should I do?"

I frantically pulled on one of the dresses that I thought was appropriate enough to attend dinner with Axel's parents. An olive knee-length dress with long sleeves. I'm going to tie my hair so I don't have to think about a hairstyle for tonight. That saves me a huge ten minutes of time.

After I put on my dress, put some accessories on my neck and hands, I polish my face with a little makeup. I put red lipstick over my faded orange lipstick. Then I put on mascara to make my lashes prettier. No need for eye shadow or other make-up, I think my look tonight is decent enough.

I glanced at the clock on the wall in my room, three minutes left! I quickly took my stilleto and put it on my feet in a hurry. I almost forgot my tiny black purse. I grabbed it from the top of my bed before I jogged towards the door and out of my room exactly one minute from the time I promised Axel.

This is crazy. Really crazy. I do everything super fast. I jogged down the circular staircase in my house. I vaguely heard the voices of Axel and my dad talking about the fishing tournament. Ahh... that was the only thing my dad loved besides business. Once a year my dad would take part in a summer fishing festival. It was the only moment I saw my dad quite normal.

"I'm ready."

Dad and Axel turned to look at me quickly, almost at the same time. My dad, who first saw me, looked proud that I was doing what he wanted me to do. However, my dad wanted my and Axel's marriage to continue.

"You are so beautiful, Ivy."

"Thank you. Let's go."

Axel stood up from the couch and walked over to me. Ax's right hand reached out to grip my palm.

"My parents are waiting for us. They will be very happy to see you later."

"I'm also happy to meet them."

This nothing. How hypocritical I am! The truth is I wasn't at all happy to meet Axel's parents. They weren't that different from Axel. They are very business oriented and they will not do something without giving them an advantage. In other words they do everything insincere Oops!

"Dad, we are leaving."

"Behave like a good girl, Ivy."

"I know. Good bye."

I lowered my face to avoid dad's eyes and let Axel lead me to the front door. I am like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse. There is no desire in me at all to attend today's dinner. After I walked past my dad, I was back to being Ivy without the mask of fakeness on my face.

"You okay? Why are you so quiet?"

"No need to pretend you care about me."

I pulled my hand from Axel's grip and got into the car without waiting for Axel to open the door. Besides, I'm not a spoiled woman who will wait for a man to open the car door. Tch, I have hands and I can do it myself.

"Why are you so rude to me?"

"You know why I'm acting like this. There's no need to ask anymore."

I roughly pulled on my seat belt and strapped it on my body. I was still reluctant to look at Axel's disgusting face and kept staring at the window. But suddenly Axel grabbed my shoulder roughly and gripped my jaw so I turned to him.

"Don't mess with me. I've tried to be gentle with you. So don't make me angry."

"Let me go! You hurt me, Axel."

"Huh, this is nothing. I can do more than this. So don't try to challenge me again, Ivy. Or you will regret it."

Axel let go of his hand from my jaw, half threw my chin so that my head almost hit the window.

So this is Axel's true identity. He thought by threatening me I would become afraid of him? Tch, not at all. I'm actually going to be more ambitious to cancel our marriage. I'm not going to marry a rude jerk like Axel.