Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

Her eyes scanned the studio and the moment her eyes landed on mine and we locked eyes from a distance, the corners of her lips twisted upwards into smirk and her eyes gleamed with a knowing look. Amusement danced in her green eyes as she sauntered over towards me, the sound of her heels clicking against the wooden floor reverberated in the place as if to taunt me.

She stopped right in front of me as she clicked her tongue.

"Well... well... well..." She drawled, savouring every syllable like it was a delicacy. She leaned in closer towards me, our faces were now barely a few inches apart. "Look who we have here? Guess we meet again. Did you not know I own this place?" She taunted as the smirk on her face grew wider this time.

Serena who was standing beside me had her brows knitted together as a frown crept onto her face. Her eyes flickered over to glance at Evelyn before she turned to face me with a puzzled expression that masked her features.

"Aurelia, you know her? Who is this?"

I didn’t budge an inch as I kept my gaze steady. "Yeah, I know her," I sneered with a disdainful scorn.

Evelyn glanced over to look at Serena and her two kids she was still carrying in her arms. A soft scoff left her parted lips within the next second. "I take it that she and her two daughters were the ones causing a nuisance here at my studio?" She snarled, her voice carrying a sharp edge to it.

The same man butted in, clearly agitated as he added fuel to the fire.

"Yeah, it’s them!" He yelled, his deep voice was heavy with accusation as he jutted out his finger to point at us with a frown resting between his brows. "They were the ones screaming and crying, we couldn’t even paint here in peace!" He continued to complain.

I snapped my head around to glare at the man with displeasure. "There’s no need to yell or point fingers," I deadpanned. There was a brief pause as silence stretched between us for a moment. "I pity your wife if you have one. The lack of empathy for mothers and their children is appalling. What would happen if these were your kids? Are they also a nuisance then? Or is it different because we are talking about your kids?"

I watched as his eyes grew wide with anger as he gritted his teeth. "Don’t you dare bring my wife into this! Who says I lack empathy? Do you think that I am some uncultured person with no EQ?! Mind you, I have a PhD. You don’t even know me." He turned to meet Evelyn’s eyes. "Am I the type of person she is making out to be?" He asked with an arched brow.

I held back a snicker. What does a PhD have to do with this?

She let a smile graced her lips as she walked over to rest her hand on his shoulder. "Of course you aren’t," she confirmed in support of her friend, putting a smug smile on the man’s face. "In fact...I think you were more than understanding and reasonable."

"Exactly," the man answered with confidence as he crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head up slightly as if to look down on us.

"You know..." she continued, her voice trailing off with an amused smile plastered across her face. She slowly walked over towards us now and she halted her steps right in front of Serena, her eyes swept across her body in one look. "Not everyone deserves your understanding and sympathy," she hissed as she stared at us with a smirk morphing onto her lips.

"Especially people like..." She raised her finger up, smugness radiating from every inch of her skin as she leaned closer towards her. "... them," she finished her sentence, shoving against Serena’s shoulder with her pointed finger.

Serena hadn’t even had the time to react as she only held onto her kids tightly. Without a single warning, I immediately grabbed Evelyn by her finger, shoving her back slightly. Everyone present in the studio collectively sucked in a gasp of air through their teeth as they watched with anticipation swirling in the depths of their eyes. I too watched as she stumbled a couple of steps but quickly regained her balance. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"You!" Her shrill voice pierced through the tension that was brewing in the air between us. She raised her hand to point at me as she opened her mouth, wanting to say something. But before she could utter another word, I slapped her hand away.

"You better stay away from her," I warned fiercely as my face darkened visibly and I tightened my jaw. My voice dropped to a hush whisper as I glared at her with a serious expression. "If you touch her one more time, I will –"

"You will what?" She taunted with a smirk on her face as she butted in, cutting me off rudely. "What can you do, Aurelia? This is my studio, my dad bought this place for me," she bragged with an arrogant smile etched onto her face.

"You and your friend don’t belong here," she continued to mock, the words that left her lips were laced with malice.

I stepped forward. "What do you want, Evelyn? Her kids have stopped fussing and crying, haven’t they? Besides, it is perfectly normal."

Evelyn’s entire demeanour shifted in a split second. Her lips broke into a huge grin that was stretched across her face. She started cackling, throwing her head back as her hand covered her lips, peels of laughter escaping from the gaps between her fingers. She raised her perfectly groomed brow at me.

"What do I want?" She repeated, tossing my words right back at me as her eyes were filled with arrogance and a smug look was stretched across her face. "This is my studio you are in and I want you along with your little friend and her daughters out of here. I don’t care if they stopped crying or not," she spat the words out like they were poison in her mouth, arrogance evident in her tone.

"Just because you own this place doesn’t mean you can just throw us out for no reason."

"This is my place, I make the rules," she retorted with defiance glistening in her green eyes. "So, get out," she demanded.

The atmosphere was tense when the man butted in, punching his fist into the air. "Get out!" He yelled. "Get out of here, no one welcomes you here!"

Serena who was typically more soft spoken and timid finally spoke up this time as she placed her kids back down to stand on their own.

"You can’t kick us out of here," she remarked as she looked up to match Evelyn’s gaze, her eyes darting around but I could hear that her voice was shaking slightly as she was overwhelmed with anxiety.

But the words barely left the tip of her tongue when Evelyn interrupted with a snide remark. She glanced over at Serena with disgust and disdain written all over her face as she scrunched up her nose.

"I wasn’t talking to you, darling. Who are you even?"

"Don’t speak to her like that," I demanded through gritted teeth.

"Why not?" She challenged with a raised brow. "I can speak to her however I want," she retorted smugly.

"You –"

"Are you going to leave or what? Or should I be calling the cops on you?" Evelyn interrupted before I could get my words out. "Also, didn’t you just miscarry? You should be resting at home and not out here painting your stupid paintings," she mocked crudely in front of everyone else, as she grabbed my canvas and threw it onto the ground.

Her harsh words stabbed at my chest as the memories came rushing back into my mind to haunt me. I could never forget the pain, it felt like it was just yesterday.

A loud gasp rose from the crowd that surrounded us. I was supposed to be angry but instead, I froze. For once, I didn’t know what to do or say.

It was at this moment when Serena took a step forward towards Evelyn on my behalf. Unexpectedly, she raised her arm and slapped her across her cheek without a single warning, the sound of the impact echoing in the studio as gasp erupted from the crowd once again.

"How dare you talk about her child like this?!" She yelled. "I guess you are just like that man over there. Both of you lack empathy, you should be ashamed of yourself," she snarled, the words that left her lips were dripping with poison as her voice remained unwavering.

Evelyn snapped her head back around, glaring at Serena with wide eyes as anger spread within her like a wildfire. She held onto her red cheek, staring at her intensely, her face full of disbelief and surprise. "Did you just..." Her voice trailed off.

Serena added as her lips curved upwards into a slight smile.

"Yes, I just slapped you across your face. Do you have something to say?"