“Ah? Then I guess it really wasn’t meant to happen.”
“I even wanted to give her an invitation…” Imogen let out a fake sigh, then laughed and leaned into Freddie’s arms.
Cindy, with huge, round eyes, stared at her. “This woman has no shame at all!”
I watched Cindy turn her sadness into eating and I laughed, handing her a glass of water so she wouldn’t choke.
Cindy grabbed my arm. “Bella, my ship is actually sinking!”
“You really can’t end up with Freddie?!”
She tightened her jaw and stared at Imogen.
I laughed. “It’s not like we never dated before.”
Cindy’s mouth fell open in shock and even her eyes were shaking.
I looked at Freddie, waiting for him to confirm it. “You agree, right, Freddie?”
Freddie’s brow moved slightly and he nodded to show it was true.
“Seriously?!” Cindy jumped up quickly, suddenly way too excited, like she’d eaten bad candy.
The whole room reacted.
After all, during the seven years I chased Freddie, everyone thought he couldn’t stand me.
Even the thought of being physically turned off was mentioned by them.
Imogen’s fixed smile stopped in place.
She hadn’t expected me to admit I’d dated Freddie in secret and she definitely hadn’t expected him to confirm it.
“So Freddie’s ex-girlfriend was actually Bella!”
“Then I should thank Bella even more. Thank you for stepping back and giving me the chance to be with Freddie,” Imogen said as she picked up a glass to toast.
One glass of orange juice, one glass of liquor.
I pushed the liquor aside, my expression cool and said, “Sorry, I can’t drink.”
“How can you not drink?” Imogen didn’t give up and moved the glass closer to me. “I remember when you were the sales director, you could drink a lot.”
“Didn’t you show me how to build up my drinking back then?”
In our last year of college, Freddie started his tech company.
At that time, I turned down a job my family arranged for me and went to support him.
His startup company could hardly survive.
Freddie’s natural pride kept him from lowering himself for a small amount of money and in the end, I was the one who gave in.
Every deal, every partnership, every round of funding was secured by me, after countless drinks at business dinners.
Back then, Freddie was truly thankful for what I did, so he asked me to marry him.
After seven years of hiding our relationship, we had a secret marriage that lasted three years.