5

Eleanor smiled when she saw that Regina Calloway stood frozen in place. “Who exactly are you?” Regina whispered. People were filming and watching. Nobody dared to interefere between these women, not even the security guards.

“It's none of your business. I'm here for Damian.” Eleanor shifted her attention to him. “I have something urgent to discuss with you. Could you come with me?”

Damian glanced at Regina before he nodded. “Alright. Shall we?” He asked.

Regina led the way. Her bodyguards parted the crowd like the red sea. No one stopped her or Damian from leaving. 

Once they reached the parking lot, Eleanor stopped walking and turned to Damian. He stood awkwardly, holding the broken necklace in his hand.

“You should be more careful,” Eleanor said, “People like her thrive on making others feel powerless. You shouldn't let her do that to you.”

Damian blinked. “I know. I've been married into that family for one year. This is just one of Regina's games. But, why did you help me? You don’t even know me.”

Eleanor smiled. "I know more than you think and I'll explain later." She looked at the necklace dangling in his hands. “That necklace is special, isn’t it?”

“It belonged to my mother,” he said quietly. He opened his palm, opening his palms. “Regina had no right to take it. It doesn't matter what has happened between us.”

Eleanor nodded. “I can help you get it fixed.”

Damian hesitated. He wasn’t used to receiving kindness from strangers, especially not powerful women like this. Before he could turn down her offer, he heard the sound of tires screeching as black SUVs pulled over.

A guard walked forward and opened the door for Eleanor. They were all waiting for her to get in. She looked at Damian, “shall we?”

***

Back inside the office building, Regina was angry. She looked at the security guards in anger. "You're all useless!" she screamed. “How could you just stand there and let him walk out with that woman? Do you have any idea who I am? She just humiliated me in front of everyone!”

One of the guards stammered, "Miss Calloway, we couldn’t just—"

“I don’t want to hear your excuses!” Regina snapped. “You’re all fired. All of you. I want you out of here, now!”

The guards looked at each other. They didn't know what to say. Regina’s phone began to ring in her pocket. She got it out and ber eyes widened when she saw the caller ID.

It was her sister, Bianca.

She answered the call. “Bianca,” she began to cry, faking victim as some of the crowd still watched.

Bianca was immediately worried. “Regina, what's wrong?” She asked, over the phone.

“You need to get here right now. It's Damian. I need you here.” Regina said

Bianca Calloway immediately left her office. The CEO she was supposed to meet hadn't arrived yet so she had to meet her sister. Her heels resounded on the tiles as she walked through the crowd with her chin raised. Most people left there recognized her.

“Regina, what happened?” Bianca asked, noticing that people were staring at her.

Regina pouted. “Damian hit me!” She cried.

“What?!” Bianca asked. Something about this didn’t sound right.

“Yes. He tried to assault me. He grabbed me and when I fought him, he slapped me, Bianca. Just look,” she turned her slightly reddened cheek at her sister. Bianca saw the proof. She couldn't deny it.

“I even tried to talk to him about the necklace he stole from our family and he just lost it! Your worthless ex husband slapped me, Bianca, in front of all these people!” She pointed at the security guards who were still waiting.

“Damian hit her?” Bianca asked in disbelief. She looked at them for agreement. The guards nodded, avoiding her eyes. One of them was desperate to get on the good side of his bosses so, he spoke up. “It's true, ma'am. He even attacked us when we tried to restrain him.”

Bianca crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes narrowed at them. That was impossible. She had always known Kendall to be calm and collected. He wasn't the kind of person to fight, especially not in public like this and with his sister.

“You see?” Regina said. She wiped the tears from her eyes, “I always told you he wasn’t good enough for you, Bianca. He’s nothing but a brute! He’s probably been seeing that woman for months now. That's why he needed an excuse to leave us. He wanted this divorce, Bianca. You’re better off without him.”

The story just wasn't making sense. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Regina was leaving something out of this story. Kendall wasn’t the type to act out like this. 

She knew him enough to know that. He wouldn't do that unless he had been provoked. In a way, she knew him better than anyone else did. Or at least, she thought she had.

But then again, people change. What grabbed her attention was the woman involved in this.

Bianca frowned. “What woman?”

Regina scoffed. “He’s already moved on and found another woman. I don't even know who she was. She just barged in with her personal guards and joined Damian to insult our whole family.”

Was Kendall already seeing another woman?

“I never expected anything like this from Damian. But if the guards are saying the same thing, maybe I’ve been wrong. I've been wrong about him all this time.”

“Of course you’ve been wrong! I told you from the start. That man didn’t deserve you and look at what he has done! He humiliated us both today, Bianca. Are you going to just let him get away with that?” Regina asked, escalating the matter.

Bianca’s eyes darkened. She had been rethinking her decision to divorce Kendall for weeks now. She kept wondering if she had been too harsh. But now, hearing Regina’s side of the story, she felt her like she had made the right decision.

No one really knew the true nature of a man.

“I’ll deal with Kendall,” Bianca said quietly. “He’s not going to get away with this.”