Love Over Everything — Chapter 22

The reception was an indoor reception, beautifully decorated and press free. It was sort of a private reception with only family members, business partners and close friends.

Food and drinks were served, Toasts were made, the couple had cut the cake already and speeches were made by close friends of Chris and Vivian.

Andre and Ruben gave small talks about Christopher while Vivian had about six friends who made speeches.

Right after the final toast was made to the couple, Chris set his eyes on someone familiar. It was Luis, Naomi’s brother. He was just seeing him so he assumed he only came for the reception.

Luis eventually sighted Chris, shot him a glare which was followed by a look of disgust.

Christopher was aware Vivian invited him to the wedding but he wasn’t sure If Luis was going to show up because of what he put his sister through.

Aside from that, he had been trying to talk to Luis in camera but Luis had been stylishly avoiding him. Christopher knew there was a probability that he would be leaving the reception soon which was why he wanted to talk to him. At least to ask about Naomi. He was dying to know how she was doing.

From afar, Chris saw Luis greet his parents after which he brought out his phone from his pocket and went towards the garden.

Christopher walked as fast as his legs could carry him to catch up with Luis. He gave Luis space to receive his call after which he walked closer to him.

“What??? Are you stalking me now?” Luis demanded.

“I... I’m not stalking you, please just listen to me.” He pleaded.

“I don’t have time to listen to you Christopher, if you know how much I detest you, you would not even dream of coming near me.”

“How’s Naomi?” He blurted out.

Luis folded his arms and looked at the man who was his age mate with disbelief in his eyes. He couldn’t believe he had the nerve to ask about Naomi after what he had put his sister through.

“You have to be kidding me!” He chuckled.

“Look Luis I know I fucked up but I’m also suffering here. Do you know how hard it was for me to move on these past days without hearing from Naomi? I tried calling her cell, I sent her countless voicemails but she wouldn’t even return any of them. I’m really worried about your sister, Luis. How is she doing?”

“Stay out of my family’s business.”

Chris sighed and tucked his hands in his pocket. “Why are you even here? I didn’t think you would come after everything.”

“I think it’s none of your business why I’m here.”

Truthfully, Luis came to Miami to close a deal. He had been here for two days now. He had no intention of attending the wedding but he met Vivian’s father who persuaded him to come. He couldn’t refuse the old man’s plea because he was like a mentor to him in the business world.

“I only agreed to marry Vivian because of my child but I still love Naomi and I’ll never stop loving her.”

“I don’t believe you a bit Christopher. Stay away from Naomi and also stay away from me throughout this reception. If you keep stalking me I promise I’ll tell Vivian and your parents about what you did to my sister.” He warned before placing his hands in his pocket and walked back into the venue as if he did not just have an argument with the groom.

As soon as Luis left his sight, Chris made his way to a nearby bench. He sat on it and buried his face in his hands.

He felt someone take a seat beside him and place a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze of assurance.

“It will be fine Chris.” She whispered.

Christopher raised his head and looked at her with teary eyes. “I think Luis is hiding something from me and that is making me more worried.” He said with a broken voice.

Susan sighed then intertwined her hands with her brother’s own. She was sad because her brother was unhappy. She was not used to seeing him like this. Chris was always a happy guy even when he was a playboy but things were no longer the same for him since the day Naomi left him in bed.

“I pray I don’t regret this decision I made.” He said with guilt.

“You’re doing this for your child, sacrificing your happiness for him or her just so he will have his Mom and Dad together. I’m so proud of you and I’m sure your baby is proud of you too.

“I really don’t want you to think too much Chris, this is something that is beyond your control. Please take it easy and let things fall in place. Since Luis refused to tell you anything about Naomi, so be it; let it go.”

Chris looked at his Sister and spoke sincerely. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get over Naomi.”

Susan managed to pull her elder brother into a hug and she whispered to him. “This is one of the times I wish I had some sort of superpower to make things fall in place.”

.................

“My Dad bought a house for us as our wedding gift. It has everything we need including the furniture, we just need to move in.” Vivian said as she played with her fingers which were settled on her lap.

She was no longer in her wedding dress. Before the reception, she changed to a short white dress and her makeup artist retouched her hair, putting it in a high ponytail.

Vivian looked at Christopher’s face for any reaction but his face was plain, with his attention focused on the road. He was driving with his right hand and the left one was on his lap, only using it when necessary.

It was not Christopher’s intention to ignore her, he was thinking of what to say without sounding disrespectful. He was a billionaire for crying out loud and he can afford to buy the most expensive house in the continent without breaking his bank account.

“He wanted to give us an all-expense paid trip for our honeymoon to Italy but I told him not to since I wasn’t sure if you would want us to have a honeymoon.” She said softly.

“In that case, I think the house was a better idea.” He replied immediately without looking at her.

The rest of the drive was quiet, Vivian did not bother herself to make any more conversation. He was already angry about today’s wedding, She didn’t want to provoke him further.

Unconsciously she placed her right on her belly, something she had been doing a lot lately and rested her head against the headrest. Her eyes were focused on the road, looking at nothing in particular until they arrived at Christopher’s apartment.

Vivian had only set foot in the building but she had never been inside his apartment. No matter how she tried and blackmailed him, he never let her in.

Chris was the owner of the luxurious four-storey building. He occupied the top floor whilst he rented out the rest.

She knew he would never come open the door for her so she helped herself out and went to meet Chris who was offloading her suitcases from the trunk of the car.

She was almost lifting her pink suitcase when he stopped her. “You’re not supposed to carry anything heavy, I’ll take care of them.”

Vivian swore she saw sincerity and kindness in his eyes when he spoke but he quickly covered it up with his usual unknown expression. She smiled inwardly and prayed they got along.

She had been in love with him since she was ten years old. She was so obsessed with him to the extent that she decorated the wall of her room with his pictures. She spent days and nights dreaming of getting married to him and it eventually happened today. Even though it wasn’t the way she had visioned it, She was still glad she had him.

The marriage she visioned was him having feelings for her, him proposing to her and treating her like a Queen. Sadly, that was not the case. She threw herself on him but he never seemed to notice her which hurt her so bad.

Until she thought of drugging him and having her way with him. She started planning for that night when her father announced that he was going to throw a birthday party at the mansion.

She had prepared herself, followed a diet and had taken vitamins given to her by a doctor just so she could get pregnant that night because She knew she would never find such opportunity again to be close to him.

Vivian was the happiest person on earth when she found out she was pregnant. Even though she knew Christopher to be Florida’s very own number one playboy, she had always known him to have a soft spot for children. She had witnessed him interact with Sophie, his best friend’s daughter and she has no doubt he was going to be a good father.

She did her research well, she knew he would end up marrying her if she got pregnant and that was exactly what she did.

One of the security guards approached them, he greeted them before lifting two of Vivian’s Suitcase while Christopher carried the remaining two and they made their way to the apartment.

Both Vivian and Chris thanked the Security guard before he took his leave.

Vivian was in awe at the sight of Christopher’s apartment. It was more beautiful than she imagined it to be. Spacious, sparkling clean and beautifully decorated with expensive furniture. She loved it.

“This is where we will be staying until we decide what next,” Christopher announced.

“Feel free to help yourself with anything you want. I’m going to take a shower.” He was almost walking away when she stopped him.

“We will be sharing the same room right?”

“NO.” He replied firmly.

Vivian was shocked, she opened her mouth to say something, closed it when no words came out of it, opened it again to say something and ended up shuttering.

“B...but why? We... We are married and we are mea...nt to share the same room.”

“I know we are married but I think it’s best we have our separate bedrooms. I’ve taken all your suitcases to the second room by your right, make yourself comfortable.”

That was when Vivian noticed her luggage was no longer by the door. She hadn’t even seen Chris carry them to her so-called room. She was so engrossed admiring his apartment.

Christopher heaved a sigh of relief as soon as he stepped into his room. He made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. As he showered he thought of the day’s event; the reception, his encounter with Naomi’s brother and the drive with Vivian to his apartment.

He couldn’t let Vivian share his room with him, most especially his bed, the place where he and Naomi had made love. He never allowed anyone into his personal space except Naomi.

Allowing Vivian into his room, more so to sleep on his bed was not an idea he found comfortable. The space next to him will always be for Naomi and nobody else.

He felt guilty enough about all what he did to her, Sleeping on the same bed with Vivian would make him feel more guilty. Almost like he was cheating on her.

About thirty minutes later Christopher walked out of his room in his comfy sweatpants and a matching shirt, he made his way to the kitchen; he was hungry so he made a sandwich for himself. While doing that, he thought of Vivian, he remembered her saying her appetite had increased and he noticed she didn’t eat much at the wedding because she was busy chatting away with friends and well-wishers.

He didn’t want to but he did it for the sake of his child, he made an extra sandwich, got a glass cup and poured some orange juice in it, placed it on a tray and took it to Vivian’s room.

He rested the portable tray on his left hand and raised his fist to knock on the door with the other hand.

“Come in.” He heard Vivian say from inside.

Chris found Vivian comfortably seated on her bed, She was already in her nightdress and her laptop was directly in front of her. He couldn’t tell if she was working or paused a film she was watching.

“I assumed you might be hungry so I brought you this.”

Vivian’s heart melted, even though she knew he did that only because of the baby, she was happy he still cared.

She placed her laptop by her side and collected the tray from Chris, careful not to let the juice spill. She placed the tray in front of her where her laptop previously was and thanked Chris.

“Thank you!” She said sincerely.

He took a seat on a couch that was right beside her bed and watched her eat.

“How have you been since the Doctors’ appointment?”

“Fine, I try to follow the meal plan she gave me but the only thing I noticed after the checkup is that I get tired easily.” Christopher listened to her intently as she ate and nodded at her reply.

“So when is the next checkup?”

“26, That’s two weeks from now.” She replied before raising her glass of juice to her lips.

“Are you planning on going to work on Monday?” He asked.

“No. I’m on leave even though we are not going for a honeymoon. So I might just work from home since I won’t be going to the office.”

Chris cringed internally at the sound of her calling his house her home. He tried not to feel guilty with the fact that she was on a honeymoon leave and because of him, they couldn't go for one. But honeymoon was for lovers, right? And they weren’t one so he didn’t see the need for them to have one.

Vivian finished her sandwich in no time, She reached for her vitamins on her bedside and gulped them down with some water.

Chris frowned at Vivian; She took the vitamins as if they were regular pills and she was used to them.

“Why are you giving me that look?” Vivian asked as she placed the glass cup on her nightstand.

“Do they not taste awful?”

Vivian tried not to make him feel embarrassed by laughing at him. She knew he was never a fan of medicines and hospitals.

“I honestly don’t focus on how they taste. I just take the prescribed tablet and flush it with water.”

“Thank you for the sandwich.” She said sincerely with a genuine smile.