Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

My eyes widened in shock and surprise as I stared ahead, helplessly watching as my once proudly displayed painting was now ruined beyond recognition. Pieces of the canvas and frame were scattered across the ground, causing a mess. It was basically unsalvageable at this point.

"Stop it!" I yelled again as everyone else only watched with anticipation and some in shock, but no one did anything or even tried to step in to stop it.

The woman ignored my yells, as she continued to hit and scratch at it like an animal gone savage, and the guards were still nowhere to be seen up till now.

"Hey! We told you to stop!" Xavier’s loud voice boomed loudly, reverberating in the spacious exhibition hall as he clenched his jaw tightly and his features hardened in anger.

This time, the woman finally stopped, dropping the hammer that was in her hand, letting it fall onto the ground with a loud thud that could almost shatter the ground. She turned around to meet my gaze, a cold yet angry expression masked her features. Almost immediately, recognition crossed my face as I was jolted back to reality.

I was staring right into Estella’s eyes. Her eyes were filled with satisfaction and a smirk was tugging at the corners of her lips before a low chuckle left her parted lips.

"Who are you to ask me to stop?" She retorted, her tone carrying a sharp edge to it. Her light green eyes were gleaming with defiance and narrowed into thin slits as she glared at me. She took a step forward, keeping her gaze steady. "Forgotten about me already? We just met yesterday, darling," she reminded with a slight smile etched onto her face and the memories from yesterday rushed back into my mind.

I scoffed.

"Forget about you?" I repeated, tossing her words right back at her as I remained unfazed by her mocking. I only walked forward so that now I was standing right in front of her while everyone else’s attention was now fixed on us. "How could I? You made quite a scene here yesterday," I taunted as my lips curved upwards into a slight smirk.

I watched as anger flashed past her eyes in an instant and her cheeks were now tinged red. "You!" She snarled with a disdainful scorn, a frown quickly made its way to rest between her brows. "Your art doesn’t deserve to be here!" She spat the words out like they were poison in her mouth and her fists were balled up tightly beside her as her face darkened.

I took another step forward, closing the gap between us, unbothered by her. "You don’t get to decide whether my art deserves to be here."

She let out a loud scoff, anger clearly written all over her face. Her voice dropped to a hush whisper as she leaned in to murmur beside my ear and I could feel her hot breath fanning the nape of my neck. "You destroyed my husband’s reputation, his career and his life."

She leaned back, an angry expression masked her features as her eyes captured mine. There was a brief moment of pause as she stared at me without saying a word, letting silence enveloped us. She inhaled deeply, sucking in a deep breath.

"You destroyed my life!" She yelled out loud this time, her shrill voice slicing through the tension that was brewing in the air between us. "It’s only fair that I destroy your art. An eye for an eye," she commented with a smirk that was starting to morph itself onto her lips.

Xavier grabbed me by my shoulders and quickly pulled me back. "You stay away from my wife," he warned through gritted teeth as he glared at her, rage evident in his dark eyes.

She only let out a laugh. "Stay away from your wife?" She repeated, echoing his words with a hint of mockery. She then tilted her head slightly to match my gaze. "Isn’t that sweet? Your husband is here to protect you," she mocked with a bitter smile that stretched across her face.

"It is sweet, yeah. Don’t you wish that your husband would be here to do the same for you too?" I questioned and silence stretched between us for a moment before I opened my mouth to speak again. "Oh wait... I heard that your husband was arrested yesterday. It was all over the news. He is in jail. Isn’t he? So I doubt he could come save you now," I taunted as my lips curved upwards into a knowing smirk and I relished with satisfaction.

Rage spread through her body like wildfire and I watched as her eyes widened, they were filled with nothing but disdain and contempt for me and possibly Xavier.

"You!" She snarled. "You better watch what you are saying! He will be out of jail before you know it. He is innocent!" She yelled loudly, so much so that her voice even began to crack towards the end of the sentence.

"Ahhh!" She screamed in frustration and I watched as she picked up the hammer from the ground and flung it right onto my painting once again.

I couldn’t hold back the snicker that escaped from my lips.

A frown appeared on her face as she knitted her brows together, displease written all over her face. "What’s so funny? What are you laughing about?!" She shrieked.

"Nothing," I quickly said with a smile that was stretched across my face. "I just had a thought..." I said, letting my voice trail off as she continued to glare at me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well..." I began as I folded my arms over my chest, amusement twinkling in my dark brown eyes. "I’m just guessing you would really love to join your husband... in jail, don’t you?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"Oh, no. I’m not threatening you, I don’t do that. All I’m saying is that if you do something like destroying someone’s artwork in an exhibition, don’t you think that there would be some consequences you need to face?" I taunted with a slight smirk. "Or were you just too impulsive and reckless that the thought didn’t even cross your mind?" I asked as I arched an eyebrow at her.

She scoffed loudly as she tried her hardest to maintain a calm demeanour. "Impulsive? I’m not impulsive," she said as she inhaled deeply. "I was simply doing what I thought was right!" She snapped, her voice shaking with rage as she spoke, unable to hold back the anger swirling inside of her any longer.

I turned to face Xavier and we locked eyes, he seemed to understand what I meant without me needing to say a word. He simply nodded and picked up his phone to call for security.

It didn’t take long before the guards came rushing in from the doors that lined the sides of the exhibition hall, something they should have done long ago.

"It’s her," I said, jutting my finger out to point at Estella whose eyes were darting around anxiously when she finally realised that the guards were here for her. "She was the one who barged in here and destroyed my artwork and terrorised everyone here," I announced and watched as the guards rushed to grab her by her arms.

"Let go of me!" She screamed and struggled in their tight grip. "I didn’t do anything wrong! I was just getting justice for my husband! I’m innocent!" She shrieked, her shrill voice piercing through the air as people in the crowd continued to watch, with some even whipping out their phones to record a snippet of it.

Her protests and yells fell on their deaf ears as they continued to drag her out of the hall, leaving her kicking and yelling. Soon enough, she was taken away and the place felt eerily silent now as an uncomfortable silence engulfed us and the atmosphere still remained tense from before.

My eyes glanced to look at my painting that was already destroyed and despite my calm and unbothered demeanour, I felt defeated on the inside. All my hard work, just gone in a matter of seconds. As everyone else turned away and went back to what they were previously doing, I lowered my head and I couldn’t hold back the soft sigh that escaped my lips.

Seeing the look on my face, Xavier wrapped his arm around my shoulders and looked down at me and I let his eyes hold mine captive. "I’m sorry this happened..." he muttered under his breath with an apologetic look etched onto his face. Silence lapsed between us for no more a second, he then gave me a light squeeze on my shoulder and his lips curled upwards into a reassuring smile. "But you know this isn’t the end right? The Aurelia I know would not let this get to her."

As soon as the words left the tip of his tongue, something clicked inside my head and a thought popped into my mind within the next second. My eyes flashed with my newly found determination and I looked up to meet his eyes. A slight smile tugged at the corners of my lips. "You are right... I cannot let this get to me."

Before I knew it, I found myself saying the next few words.

"Everyone!" I called out and all heads turned around to look at me within the next second.

"I have an announcement to make."