The CEO's Little MistressChapter 3

It was a photo of him and Heather at a trendy new steakhouse, all sleek decor and Western cuisine.

The caption read: “Love at first sight, and still falling for you every day.”

In the picture, Nathan was smiling, actually smiling, as Heather fed him a piece of steak. The irony was so thick I could have choked on it.

Nathan hated Western food. He’d told me it was his least favorite thing in the world. His father had been seduced by a foreign woman and had abandoned him and his mother when he was just three. The trauma had left deep scars. He avoided anything and everything foreign, even turning down lucrative overseas business deals.

On our first date, I had no idea. Wanting to do something special, I’d spent a month's savings to take him to the fanciest steakhouse in the city. The moment the expensive steaks arrived, his face had darkened. He flipped the table, sending the scorching hot steak sliding onto my lap, and stormed out without a word, leaving me to be stared at and ridiculed by the entire restaurant.

He gave me the silent treatment for a week. The incident was only "forgiven" after I knelt on the living room floor for half a day and transferred him a small fortune as an apology.

And now, here he was, happily eating a cheap, frozen-and-reheated steak from Heather's fork, without a hint of disgust. I guess love really is the best medicine. It can even cure deep-seated trauma.

Our colleagues were fawning all over the post. Usually, it was just Heather dropping ambiguous hints, but now that Nathan had made it official, they were all tripping over themselves to offer blessings and pledge their loyalty. And Nathan, usually so stern and formal, was actually replying to them with smiling emojis.

I knew he was doing it to get to me, to provoke me into begging for his forgiveness like I always had.

But this time, I just smiled and closed the app.

My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn't eaten all day. I sent a text to my best friend, Maya.

[Late-night grill spot?]

Her reply was instantaneous: [I'm there!]

…

At the restaurant, Maya was halfway through a skewer when she glanced at her watch. "Hey, doesn't your control-freak boyfriend have a 10 PM curfew for you? It's getting late, aren't you going to head out?"

It was laughable, really. Early in our relationship, Nathan had claimed he was insecure and paranoid about me cheating. He’d imposed a strict set of rules. I had to be home by ten, reply to his texts instantly, and answer his calls within three rings. If he video-called to check up on me, even if I was in the middle of a client meeting, I wasn't allowed to decline.

I’d put up with it, telling myself it was because of the trauma from his childhood. But the rules never applied to him. He would disappear for days, sometimes not even coming home at night. Once, worried for his safety, I’d video-called him. He had exploded, sending me a barrage of texts accusing me of being a controlling psycho who didn't respect his privacy. He’d frozen me out for a month after that.

He thought he was being so clever. But I already knew the truth, thanks to the "accidental" photos Heather would send me. His late nights weren't for work. They were for her.

And I, like an idiot, had played along, strictly adhering to his curfew, turning down countless nights out with friends until they just stopped asking. My world had shrunk until he was the only thing in it.

What a waste.

I bit into a piece of grilled meat with a vengeance. "Don't worry about him. He can't tell me what to do anymore. We broke up."

Maya stared at me for a second, then broke into a huge grin, clapping me on the back. "Monica! It's about damn time! That guy never deserved you. Tonight’s on me. We're not leaving until you're good and happy!"

I smiled, and we ordered two more platters, eating and talking until the early hours of the morning.

When I finally got home and opened the door, a pillow flew through the air and hit me square in the face.

Nathan's cold voice followed it. "What time do you call this? Did you decide to come home, finally?"