SHAMELESS

-An action considered wrong, conspicuously, or obviously offensive…

“Ms Rutherfurd! Ms Rutherfurd! Please stop!”

Nova Rutherfurd strode into the five-star hotel, which had the sickening sweet music chiming in the background. This music should have made their clients calm and cozy, but all she felt was something cold and violent ripping through her heart.

She had been aware of her husband’s dealings, but she was always labeled the crazy one who never kept her emotions in check. There were times when Nova met the women her husband was unfaithful with as business associates and personal assistants to his friends. She knew them by the perfumes they wore. As a perfume freak, Nova was good at matching scents, and several times when she was out of town on business trips, her husband would have parties at their home.

When she returned, her entire bedroom would be reeking of the events of the previous night. Nova had to make sure that the housekeeper cleaned up well before her arrival because her rage kept on growing with every day that she spent time with that rodent.

“Ms. Rutherfurd! Please don’t go up there.” The manager of the hotel ran behind her, begging Nova not to do anything stupid but that woman had no idea the amount of energy, time, and effort Nova had invested in that man for him to treat her the way that he did. “I’ll lose my job.”

“As you should!” Nova hissed and turned to the blatant woman who had the audacity to duck her head down in shame. “You knew, Katlin. All this time, you knew what he was doing and you did nothing about it.”

“But this is a place of work and everything that happens here is confidential.” She muttered, wringing her hands together nervously.

“When did it become confidential, Katlin? Was it before or after you slept with my husband?” Nova knew all of them.

They were from all walks of life which made it even worse especially since she was the one who stopped talking to her family because of him. Her mother hated that man from the moment she laid her eyes on her but back then, Nova was head over heels in love with him.

Her father assured her that their backgrounds were very different and that he would not understand what it meant to be married to someone with the Old Money tag but Nova was adamant that she would teach him how to assimilate into their world.

The argument was so big between her and her family especially since she was the one her father looked up to when it came to running the family businesses but Nova stubbornly defended the snake and decided to keep her family at bay. She met her parents at work and was strictly professional with them. It had reached the point where she no longer went to the family dinners and events to prevent any further damage to her relationship with them.

Nova took time to integrate her husband into her society. She warned him that he would be surrounded by people with so much money in their bank accounts that they didn’t know what to do with it. They were the kind of people who had everything they wanted to the point a lot of events, outings, and parties were quite boring for them. They were searching for the next best thing so he had to be careful. Nicholas was from a middle-class family and his parents adored Nova. She didn’t know where everything went wrong.

In the course of five years that they had been married, what started out as simple compliments here and there to the women he met turned out to be full-blown affairs. Nova suffered two miscarriages during that time possibly because of the dread and stress that she received from her husband.

He no longer hid his affairs and Nova heard it in every place that she visited, whether it was at the luxurious salon where she styled her hair, or at a meeting that she was holding. The information must have gotten to her parents but they didn’t say anything. Nova had her pride to keep so she’d rather swallow razor blades than run back home and admit her mistakes.

No, she was the ‘I’ll fix this myself’ sort of person. That was how she was raised as the first-born daughter of a conglomerate president. It shouldn’t have shocked her parents how she turned out because she had learned everything from them.

“Pierre, take the key card from Katlin please,” Nova instructed her personal assistant who also happened to be her bodyguard.

Pierre gave Nova a curt nod and yanked the key card from Katlin’s death grip. Katlin’s shoulders trembled but her eyes were fixed to the floor and Nova could tell that she was crying but that didn’t do anything for the fires of hells that were brewing deep inside her.

Nova had known Katlin since she started working in that hotel because that particular string of five-star hotels was owned by a close family friend. Nova felt sick to her stomach that the person she thought would make it big in the management business would do something like that because Nova had always seen herself in Katlin.

Katlin was a hard-working woman and she came from the working class. She was smart and determined to get to the top. With her sheer determination and discipline, Katlin was able to climb up to the managerial position. However, it seemed that was not enough for her. Greed must have deterred her from her dreams and caused her to have an affair with Nicholas.

The worst part of it all was that Nicholas was using her money to make the women think that he was wealthy.

“You need to prepare yourself for anything, Katlin because I will not let this slide. Maylene will learn about what happened today and I doubt you will have a job after that.”

Katlin sniffed as large splotches of tears fell onto the floor but she nodded. “Yes ma’am. And I am sorry for everything that happened—”

“Do you know what I am really sorry for, Katlin? I am sorry for having so much hope for you. I am sorry for trusting you enough to recommend you for a promotion every single time Maylene complimented your hard work and achievements. I never thought you would turn out to be one of those greedy little opportunists who didn’t care about their reputations and only saw the bags of money.” Nova felt her heart heavy but she felt like she needed to say that to Katlin so that she knew just how much she hurt her. She turned to leave but then paused and gave Katlin a side glance. “I dare you to call Nicholas and warn him that I am on my way up. Trust me, you don’t want me as your enemy, Katlin.”

Pierre escorted Nova into the elevator and as they ascended, Nova’s heart thundered painfully in her chest. That was it. There was no turning back from what she planned to do. She gave her PA a side glance and saw how his chiseled face was taut with concern. She knew that he was concerned for her and there were many times that he tried to look for an alternative way to end things but Nicholas was as slippery as they came.

He never showed up for any of the marriage consultation sessions, always having an excuse that he was too busy with work but Nova knew that the only thing that kept him busy was the dick between his legs.

“Did you remember the papers, Pierre?” Nova asked him.

“Yes, ma’am,” Pierre replied patting his breast pocket.

Nova turned to the digital numbers that counted the floor and when she heard the ding sound that announced the arrival of her floor, she took a deep breath and stepped out after Pierre. The silence in the corridor was deafening. As she passed across the room doors, she wondered how many other women were going through exactly what she was going through. The doors hid behind deep secrets and allowed people to be who they were flagrantly.

When they arrived at the presidential suite, Pierre looked down at her as if to ask her if she was sure about what she needed to do. Pierre stood at least a head taller than her. He was an ex-military who had to drop out because of a shoulder injury but when he went into private security, Nova never saw him lacking. He had a great family, two kids, and a loving wife and he continued to work to support them. Nova knew that if anything went wrong, he would back her up.

Nova sighed and nodded.

As Pierre pressed the key card on the door and it beeped before the door unlocked and swung open, Nova unzipped her handbag and reached for the cold and heavy object inside. Nova was greeted by the bland scent of a hotel room. There was nothing homey about it. It was detached just like the activities that were happening inside it.

Nova didn’t wait for Pierre to make sure that it was the right place and briskly walked towards the moaning sounds coming from the bedroom. That suite was luxurious and quite expensive because of the international standards. Nicholas was a regular there and the hotel staff protected his infidelity. She corked her gun and aimed just above Nicholas’ head where he sat relaxed with the expression of euphoria while a woman was blowing him.

“Nova, no!” Pierre exclaimed but Nova pulled the gun and the bullet whizzed across the room before it chipped at the headboard above Nicholas’ head.

Nicholas screamed and pushed the woman away from him before he tried to crawl under the bed but the space was too small. Nova corked her gun again and pulled the trigger the second him, smashing the beside lamp. Nova knew how to shoot a gun because her father felt that there would come a time when she needed to defend herself. Moreover, Nova loved the hunting trips she had with her family.

The naked Nicholas crawled on the floor on his hands and knees, tears coming down his eyes and his cries echoing through the room. His girlfriend dashed into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

“Nova!” That was the first time Pierre called her by her name because of the shock.

“Stay out of this, Pierre.” Nova approached her sniveling husband. How humiliating it was seeing him in that state, yet how satisfying it felt to let out her anger. “You disgusting son of a bitch! You have no idea what I sacrificed to make you who you are today but don’t worry, honey—everything ends here and today.”

“Nova, honey—sweetie…” Nicholas begged but Nova shook her head.

“No, that is not going to work today, Nick. I have endured enough from you and all the time I have been quiet wasn’t because I couldn’t do anything about it. It was because I was researching how to get away with murder, you dumb fuck!” She gestured for Pierre to come forward and he placed the brown envelope in her hand. She threw the brown envelope at Nicholas and said. “I’ll make sure you are not welcomed in any of the Rutherfurd Conglomerate estates and properties or any of the family friends’ assets. You will return to that little old life you had before meeting me.”

“I have a share in the properties and assets, honey.” Nicholas’ fiery eyes flashed up at Nova. “We are married, remember?”

There he was. The cunning and sly fox disguised himself as a wolf before marrying her.

Nova bent down and smiled sweetly at Nicholas. “Just because I went against my parents and married you, honey, it didn’t mean I was stupid.” She straightened up and her smile fell. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer soon. I suggest getting yourself the best lawyer you can afford because I will bleed you dry Nicholas Jeffery Holland.”

“Nova,” Nicholas called for her but Nova turned towards Pierre and said.

“Make sure you get good photos for evidence. Break down that bathroom door if you have to but get that cunt as well. I’ll let Maylene know that she can bill me for the damages.”

“Yes, ma’am, now give me the gun.” Pierre stared down at her trembling hand.

Nova took a deep breath and tried to smile and shrug it off, saying, “I just wanted to scare him a little. I wasn’t going to kill him.”

“I know.” Pierre’s eyes molten with remorse and Nova felt her cold demeanor chip off little by little.

Nova bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling and placed the gun in Pierre’s hand before saying, “I’ll leave first. Take care of the rest.”

“Of course, ma’am. I’ll call for the car.” Pierre replied.

Nova nodded and though Nicholas kept calling for her in the background, all Nova heard was a buzzing sound. All the events of that evening came weighing down heavily on her shoulders. Her throat hurt because she was holding back her tears and her body quivered because she had so much pent-up anger for her husband.

She thought that catching him in the act and scaring him would have given her the satisfaction she deserved but that only lasted for a few seconds. Disappointment and regret welled deep inside her instead. All the taunts, the mocks, the snickers, and the badmouthing she had endured because of him were still engraved deep inside her. Everyone talked about how she couldn’t satisfy her man because she was always up and about but truth be told, Nova was always the one to initiate intimacy. Nicholas was never interested in her as a woman. He was just interested in her background.

Well, Nova was about to give him a rude awakening. She was going to fight him tooth and nail and make sure that he didn’t get anything from her.

That was a promise.