Taming Mr. Cold And Arrogant

Sophia's POV:

"Are you sure you want me to come with you instead of Aira?"

I asked Bryan for the third time as he invited me to attend one of his clients' party. 

"Belle, how many times do you have to ask me that question? Yes, I'm sure of it. Aira couldn't come with me as she has a modelling show in Las Vegas tonight."

"Ohh... okay." I said nodding. 

"Anyway, I've already hired new bodyguards for you and they will start tonight."

I walked over to him and hugged him from behind. 

"Thank you, Bry."

"Don't mention it, I'll do it even when you're already married."

I bite my lower lip and sigh after hearing what he said. It's been two weeks since I left Daniel's house, and I admit, it's not easy to wake up every morning when his face was the first thing that came to my mind. And I had to make myself busy every day just to avoid thinking about him. 

Craig came to see me twice here when I told him that I would take a temporary leave from work. I also didn't respond to Rian's, and Nanay Emily's and even from my mother-in-law's calls. 

"Let's go, we'll be late if we don't go now."

We used Bryan's car with a bodyguard and a driver in the front seat. 

~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~

My mouth formed an 'O' shape as we got off the car. Paparazzi are all over the venue with camera flashes everywhere. I gripped Bryan's arm and as we entered the hotel entrance. 

"Relax, I'm here with you." He said looking at me. 

I just smiled nodding at him and bit my lip as we entered. I couldn't help but think of the 90% possibility of seeing Daniel at this party. At first, I wanted to refuse to come with Bryan, but I realized that this is nothing compared to what he has done for me over the past years. 

"Do you think he's here?" I asked as I tried to roam my eyes around the venue. 

He chuckled lightly as he shook his head. 

"I was right, you're thinking of him that's why you agreed to come with me. Do you expect him to come?"

"Even if I don't expect it, I know he would come!" I rolled my eyes but he just raised his eyebrow. "This is a birthday party of one of the top businessman in the country, and almost all the prominent businessmen are here, so I wouldn't be surprised if I saw him here."

"Really? Do you think you won't be surprised if he came with another woman in his arms tonight?"

I looked at him but his eyes were not on me, so I frowned following his gaze. And my breath hitched when I saw where he was looking. 

There he was, Daniel Kelley, standing in all his glory with a familiar woman next to him. What is her name again? Ahh... Chloe, the same girl he kissed in the parking lot and the woman who claimed herself as his girlfriend at the party we attended last time. I was right, he will also attend this party. 

He was talking to some of his colleagues while the girl was simply flaunting her cleavage to all of the men in front of them. 

"She's Chloe Enriquez, the sole heir of Enriquez empire and the ex-girlfriend of your 'husband'." He said emphasizing his last word. "Oops! I forgot to mention, she's also a current business partner in some of his projects around California."

"Why are you telling me all this?" I looked at him only to find him smirking at me. 

"You're jealous."

"Of course, not!"

"Okay, as you say so." He shrugged. "I just want to give you some information so you won't think or expect anything worse in your mind."

"Tss! I wasn't thinking anything like that." I said avoiding his gaze and looked back at the two. 

Actually, after seeing him with her, a lot of questions occupies my mind right now. Does all the cares and sweet gestures that he showed me were real or not? Or maybe they were real at that time, but after his brain had been twisted and manipulated by Joseph's lies, they had all changed. 

I sighed and decided to look away from him. But my eyes caught someone familiar in the crowd and a smile crept on my lips as I remembered that even our first meeting was at the party. 

"Look who's here, the great JM Saavedra of Saavedra Industries." Bryan let go of my hand just to greet him. 

-'They know each other?'-

"Bryan!" He greeted him back and they hugged each other. JM doesn't seem to notice me yet as they continue to talk about business. 

"Anyway, I came with my sister." Bryan said holding my elbow. 

JM's eyes widened when he finally noticed me. 

"Whoa! Is she your sister?" He asked, as if he couldn't believe that I was Bryan's sister. 

"Yes, she's Belle, and Belle this JM----"

"Actually, we know each other." JM and I looked at each other as we blurted at the same time. 

"How do you know each other?" Bryan asked confused, his eyes were moving from me to JM. 

We both smiled and I just let him explain how we met. 

"Anyway, why aren't you with your husband, Mrs. Kelley?" JM's question that made me speechless for a few seconds. "I saw him earlier with ----"

"With a business partner."

My head snapped at Bryan when he interrupted him. 

"Ohh, business partner." JM smiled, nodding. 

I sighed inwardly when he no longer ask about Daniel, instead, they talked about business and Bryan's agency. I just shut my mouth as I don't want his attention to turn to me again. I don't know how they met or how they became friends, they didn't tell me about it. 

I excused myself and walked towards the wine sections. If it's not for Bryan, I will never attend to this kind of party. It's boring and nothing to write home about. I'm sure most of the people who attended this party has their own purpose why they were here. First, to gain exposure, secondly, just to say that they belong to the elite society and of course, to promote their business and to get new business partners and colleagues. 

I was about to get my second glass of wine when someone stood next to me. 

"Look who's here, the one and only Mrs. Kelley."

I raised my eyebrow when I recognized her voice and the shit smell of her perfume. 

"Hi, Miss Enriquez." I smiled as I took the glass of wine from the tray of the waiter who passed by in front of us. 

"Are you still together?"

I take a sip of wine before facing her and answering her question. 

"Yes, Miss Enriquez, we are still together. Why do you ask?"

"Because he asked me to be his date tonight instead of his wife. Actually, I couldn't believe it, he asked me instead of you?"

I almost poured my wine on her dress when she giggled but I remained calm and smiled at her. 

"Really? Well, he has no choice because my brother asked me to accompany him tonight, so I told him to pick someone from his friend. But I didn't know he would choose his ex-girlfriend." I smirked when she smiled disappeared. "Excuse me, Miss Enriquez, but I have to use the bathroom."

I brushed past her with a smirk still playing on my lips. But I was just taking my fourth steps when she speaks again. It's a bit loud so it caught the attention of some of the people around us. 

"Your nothing compared to me, Sophia Del Mundo! Who are you again? A dancer, a choreographer, a dance instructor, who married a certain Daniel Kelley to achieve this kind of popularity."

I formed my fists and let out a heavy sigh before giving her a fake smile. 

"You don't know what you're talking about, Miss Enriquez, and for your information, I'm not competing with you." I said trying to calm myself. 

"Ohh... really?" She asked raising her eyebrow and started walking closer to me. "I know what kind of woman you are, Sophia. We were okay before you came between us. You stole him from me!"

I heard gasps from the people around us watching her little act. I don't know why she's doing this. If it is to humiliate me in front of everyone, well, she's the one humiliating herself on her behavior. 

"I didn't steal anything from you, Miss Enriquez."

"Liar! I believe you only married him for his money!"

-'What the hell?'-

"You're fake and a gold digger! You seduced him ----"

"Chloe!"

A loud voice roared over the venue that made her stop talking. We all turned from the owner of the voice and I gulped when he took three long strides to get in front of her. 

Suddenly, I lost all the strength when he held her elbow. But after a few seconds, I heard him talking to her, not the kind of way I expect him to talk to her. 

"You don't have the right to talk to my wife that way! And to clear this up, we broke up two years ago before she came into my life! And I married her because I love her and we got married because we loved each other!"

I stiffened when he suddenly looked at me and then turned back to her. 

"And by the way, what is it with you if she married me because of money? She deserves all of it and everything I have because she's my wife! And I don't care if she spends all of them for herself or for whatever she wants! I'm willing to give everything to her and you have no right to question it! You're just my business partner and nothing more! Do you understand?"

If this situation had happened a few weeks ago, I'm sure my heart would have jumped with excitement. He just screamed to everyone that he loves me that's why we got married, even though it's not true. But of course, since it happened tonight, I have no right to feel joy and excitement since we were no longer husband and wife. I'm sure he just did it because we haven't filed a divorce petition.