Lies, Lies And More Lies✔️

80(Part I): Ghost Of The Past

"Hi, I'm Jordan James." He introduced. "I'm Tiara's fiancé."

My eyes widened in utter disbelief as I heard Jordan's words but the anger rising in me overtook my initial shock. How dare he introduce himself as my fiance when he had abandoned me five years ago?

"Actually, I don't deserve that title at all. Not after everything I've done to Tiara." Jordan glanced at me with what looked to be remorse. I looked away from him to Derrek who looked pretty pissed off. He was deliberately trying not to glance at me.

"Our engagement was broken off the moment you decided to run off to France five years ago without an explanation." I told Jordan, not bothering to spare him a glance. "Let's go, Derrek." I side stepped Jordan and continued further into the airport.

"I've got quite the story to tell!" Jordan called from behind me. "I've also got an even better apology!"

I was pissed off for two reasons:

Firstly, I was pissed that Jordan had showed up out of nowhere after all these years and just when I was in an amazing relationship with a man who truly loved me.

Secondly, I hated that for the briefest moment when I saw him, I felt my heart skip a beat.

Once I was sure Jordan was far enough from us, I stopped walking and took in a deep breath to calm myself. I couldn't believe this was happening.

The moment Jordan had left for France, he had cut off all contact with me and even his friends. No one ever heard from him again and I had spent months in denial, believing he was going to come back to me like he had promised but once it was clear that he wasn't coming back, I became overwhelmed with anger and sadness and I would imagine giving Jordan a hot slap or a punch to the nose if he ever appeared in front of me again. Now, however, I didn't think he was worth my time or energy. He could go on with his life and we could both act like we never crossed paths. As far as I was concerned, Jordan James was a ghost of the past. He was dead to me.

"Tiara?" Derrek called and my head snapped up at him. For a brief moment, I had forgotten he was here.

"Derrek, I'm so sorry about that. Jordan is someone from my past who I have long forgotten about. He was—"

"I don't care." He cut me off. "I don't care about who you dated or almost married in the past. This is our present and I refuse to let anymore exes come between us."

I felt tears sting at my eyes as I listened to Derrek. I had expected him to be pissed off and demanding to know who Jordan was but he was calm and he had looked at me with so much love in his eyes that it melted my heart. I was reminded once again of how much I loved this man. I loved him even more in that moment.

"You're right. This is our present." I smiled at him and he placed a kiss on my forehead.

"I love you, Tiara. Never forget that." He said as he pulled me into his arms in a warm hug. I melted into his chest and took in a deep breath, inhaling his lemony scent. Derrek was the perfect man for me and I was so fortunate to find him.

"I love you too, Derrek."

*

It had been two weeks since Derrek left and I had spent the better part of everyday in the drawing studio. I had decided to enroll in an art college to further better my skills. I was very passionate about art and there was nothing else I wanted to spend my life doing. I was going to bring great art pieces into the world and I didn't care how long it took, I was going to make a career out of what I loved. I also wished to inspire other struggling artists like myself. Dreams did come true and I was going to prove it.