Chapter 1

Chapter One: The crowd was bubbling with distinguished guests who had made it their business to attend the birthday party of the only daughter of Albert Sutton. Alex kept on fiddling with his fingers while he made it to the hall and his eyes met the dark gaze of Mrs. Brenda in the crowd.

She was dressed in a red velvet gown that was laced around all its edges and a huge gold hung around her neck and wrist. Her makeup was carefully done and no doubt anyone could tell that she belonged to the class of the wealthiest in Forte Town.

With a disdainful glare on her face, she strolled over to Alex, her heels not hesitating to make a clunking sound while she walked and as she stood right before him, her eyes drifted to his clothes from his head down to his toes.

Alex was dressed in a plain shirt and black trousers. His shirt had a few patches on its side and his trousers although without patches had worn out. He held a tiny box in his right hand and on his left was a rose flower.

"What is this that you are holding?"

"It is my wife's birthday today and although I wasn't informed about this party, I still think that it is only proper that I come bearing gifts for her."

"And of all gifts that you could think of, it had to be something as cheap as this box you are carrying, perhaps the flowers. Why are you dressed so shabby, did you come here on purpose to humiliate Anna on this special day when she has guests from the entertainment industry that could boost her career"

"Mother! How can you say such a thing to me, you do know that Anna is my wife and I love her so much, all I have ever done was to encourage her career, I will never do anything to humiliate her"

"And yet your presence alone is humiliating to her! Look around you Alex, does this place look like where you belong, you do not belong here"

"Is that why you all failed to inform me of this party knowing fully well that I should be here? Because you think that the only thing I am born to bring to her is a disgrace"

"What else can we expect from you when we both know fully well that you do not belong to the elite class? Please leave now before I am forced to send you out of here!"

"I am sorry but I can't! I am legally married to Anna and have as many rights as you do to be here, unless Anna says otherwise, I am not going anywhere" He seemed so calm despite knowing the temper of this woman. Mrs. Brenda bit her lips hard trying to contain her rage while she watched him act all high and mighty.

Her husband Albert who was watching them the entire time could see that it wasn't going well and knew that they might end up causing a scene, with a glass of wine in his hand, he strode over there.

"Alex! What are you doing here? You do realize that today is a special day for our family and the last thing that we need right now is you ruining everything for us!"

"I am not here to cause any trouble Father, I only want to wish my wife a happy birthday that is all" He replied and started walking towards the crowd again.

Although Alex lives with the entire family, he was not aware that such a preparation was going on for his wife and only overheard it from the secretary at their office talking about how elaborate it was going to be.

Since he wasn't invited, he knew that getting in there wasn't going to be easy for him, but he already made up his mind. Mr. Albert forcefully grabbed his arm and with a dark glare he spoke. "If you dare ruin everything that I have worked so hard for today, I will make sure that I take everything away from you until you are left with just the pieces of your bones''

His eyes were dark while he spoke, Alex knew he could do with his threat but all he did was calmly nod his head and headed inside.

His eyes scanned around the large hall filled with various sophisticated lights and when they finally landed on Anna. He clenched his fist tightly in fury seeing his step-brother Seth wrap his arms around her like she was his woman.

"Anna hi!" He gently spoke as he approached them hoping that Seth was finally going to pull away from his wife, but he did not, rather he wrapped his arms around her more firmly as she bit her lips.

"Alex! What are you doing here?"

"It is your birthday, shouldn't I be here?" He asked but instead, she turned around to meet the eyes of the crowd, hoping that none of her friends had noticed the wretched-looking man that she was speaking to.

"Alex, you are not supposed to be here, go home now!" Her jaws had tightened into a frown while she whispered those words to him.

"Fine! I will leave, but Anna I just wanted to give you these and also wish you a happy birthday" He stretched out the box to her, With a frown still spread across her face, she accepted the box but as she unfurled it, there was a sarcastic glare in her eyes.

"Seriously Alex! Is this how low you think of me? To bring me such a cheap gift. Take a look outside, Seth here gifted me the latest Porsche car for my birthday and you who refer to yourself as my husband dare gift me something as cheap as this necklace, don't you have any shame in you"

"Calm down Anna, I might not be as wealthy as he is, but what is most important is my intention towards you, I love you so much as my wife and I wish you more fruitful years"

He expressed and Anna could not help but scoff, there were so many hateful words that she wanted to say to him right now, but today was a very crucial day for her and she did not want to ruin it.

"Hey brother, that is enough! I think that you should leave now before you make a fool out of yourself"

"Don't you dare call me brother!" Alex did not realize that he had raised his voice at him and was starting to draw attention to himself. Seth and his mother sent him out of the house with nothing to his name after the death of his father while they took over the company and every other wealth. Alex has always felt so furious about this but he knew how powerful they were and that there was nothing he could do about it.

But seeing Seth have his hand around his woman and still dare try to humiliate him only made him more furious while he recalled the past of how his mother had been treated wrongly.

"That is enough Alex, I knew that you were only going to cause trouble here which is why I did not invite you, you should leave now, did you even look at yourself in the mirror before stepping out? Dressed in a cheap and worn-out dress just to humiliate me."

"Anna….."

"That is enough" She waves her hand dismissively at him. "Go home Alex, I will speak to you after the party"

"Oh! Look who is here!" A tiny female voice interrupted them as Sasha walked up to them. She is the cousin sister of Anna, and also an actress who works for the Anderson group. She glared at Alex from head to toe disdainfully before she spoke.

"Look who we have here, Alex, we were looking for an extra hand in the kitchen to help with the dishes and you came right in time"

"What!"

"Yes Alex, make yourself useful and go help out in the kitchen with the dishes" Anna chipped in but before he was going to refuse, Sasha grabbed his hand and strayed walking towards the stairs. She did not let go of his hand until they were in the kitchen.

"Here! Instead of always forcing yourself on Anna who does not want you, you can make her quite busy here. Be fast with the dishes, there were so many guests so more will be coming up soon"

She explained and without letting him say a word, she handed out all the items that he was going to be needing to do the scrubbing. Alex was used to doing all the house chores for the Sutton family at home, but he did not expect that he would also be reduced to this level even on a special day like this while another man takes his position next to his wife.

Alex had no choice but to start doing the dishes, he did not want to get on the bad side of Anna or any of the Sutton family members so he kept on washing up the dishes for the rest of the night. He heard most of the guests leaving as the night faded into nothing and soon all that was left was the sound of a few guests left behind as they drank and chatted away while he was still in the kitchen with dishes that did not seem like they were going to end today nor was there an extra hand provided for him to speed up the process.

He had no choice because he knew that the Sutton family was his only means of survival and considering how much he loved Anna, he was trying all he could to get on her good side.

Once Alex was finally through, he was so exhausted and was hoping that he could sleep in one of the empty rooms at the venue since everyone was gone. But as he scurried upstairs hoping for an empty room that he could crash on, he came to a halt at the sound of a male and female voice that caught his attention.

"Yes, baby…. Rock me harder…. Don't stop baby…."

"Yeah… I am going to rock you hard until you come" The male voice that was so familiar moaned out the words, Alex stood before the room which had the door only shut halfway. A cold shiver ran down his spine staring at the couple having the moment of their lives, it was his wife Anna and his step-brother Seth whom he despised with a passion. Alex felt the color of his skin drained away while he froze there.