A party was held at the ancestral manor by his family to celebrate his ultimate takeover as the new CEO of his father's company.
She had went there against rules to give him the cake she had made for his birthday. Specifically and specially made matcha flavored because she knew that was the one he liked. She had called his assistant to confirm if he was in his office that noon. But the assistant told her that Ezra was on a business trip in Zurich and would arrive back in the country later that evening.
That had meant that he wouldn't be coming to their home that day. Or the next day, perhaps even a week after, and she really needed to give him the cake. So she made the decision to go there and surprise him herself.
Not a grand big gesture that everyone there would notice, she had planned to somehow get to him privately, give him the cake and return home like she was never there. She knew her way around most parts of the ancestral manor and had planned out how to hide from nosy guests and most of his family members who would most likely be there and cause her trouble. In her mind, it had been simple.
It had been around that time after she had a miscarriage and lost their child in a painful falling incident from the stairs of their home. When she had called Ezra to inform him about it, silence hung heavy on his part and then he had told her not to disturb him with trivial matters. The little thread holding them together snapped into nothing because of it.
Then came the endless talks and coercion into a divorce. To Ezra, their marriage was nothing short of an inconvenience. So when she lost the baby—his baby, he had been happy about it because it brought an opportunity for him to get rid of her. His dad and his grandmother would not contend it. He tried all he could but Callista was just way too adamant about divorcing and that made him loathe her even.
The party that night was extravagant and expensive. Once again highlighting the incredible opulence and status of the Greys. She had stood quietly by the balcony as she admired the glittering city lights below, trying to enjoy the peaceful moment alone, and also watching out for when Ezra would be alone without guests crowding him like ants on sugar. Alyssa approached just then with her usual fake smile and spoiled attitude.
She was and is Ezra's first and greatest love. He had told her, soul-crushingly time and again that she could never take Alyssa's place.
He loved her so much and would do anything for her. The memory of it never failed to make her chest ache each time she remembers it. Before that, she used to think that if Alyssa hadn't been Ezra would have loved her. But that thought later vanished.
Even without Alyssa in the picture, there might still haven't been a chance together with him given how much he doesn't like her.
"Look who's here." Her tone dripped with venom as she crossed her arms, staring at Callista mockingly. "Don't enjoy yourself too much.
We both know Ezra loves me way to the moon and back. If I asked him to get the stars for me he would. But you on the other hand. . ." She drawls,
"Is far below. Be satisfied with the scraps of his attention because that's all you'll keep getting."
Callista's blood boiled at those words because they were true.
Too true in fact. But she chose not to react, not wanting to ruin the gala. Not like she could stand a fair chance at Alyssa anyway.
She was already preparing to walk away, when she was dragged back by a furious Alyssa.
"Bitch, look at me when I'm talking to yo—" She abruptly stopped when she noticed Ezra approaching. In an instant, she threw herself onto the floor with a dramatic cry, immediately drawing not only his attention, but also half of the guests.
Within seconds, Ezra was beside her, glaring daggers at his wife.
"What the hell happened here?" he asked harshly, his voice rising as anger flashed in his eyes.
Alyssa buried her fake teary face into his chest, trembling dramatically.
"Darling, she pushed me... She is jealous that you love me even though she had stolen you." she said between fake sobs while gripping his suit tightly. Then she looks at Callista, her eyes shimmering with tears,
"I am not at all mad about how you have stolen him from me. I don't hate you, I only just want us to get along as friends. You could have just said that you didn't want to. There was no need for you to be so hostile." She ended with a dramatic encore of more fake tears. That performance cemented the notorious image of Callista in the minds of the guests.
Criticisms arose, cutting into her skin like sharp pins. She was about to protest when Ezra signaled for his bodyguards to grab her, not even bothering to hear her explanation. The box that she had put the cake in fell from her hands.
"Apologize to Alyssa."
His voice was commanding, cold, and merciless, as though she meant absolutely nothing to him. She tried to explain, panic rising in her chest. "Ezra, I didn't push her—" Her words were cut off when he spoke again, his expression darkening as he ordered for her to be thrown out of the manor.
The bodyguards did as Ezra ordered and in front of all the guests, she was taken out and thrown like dirt on the street.
Her poor heart feeling more crushed than ever, Callista had no idea how she had gotten home that day. She sadly went to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep. Ezra come home the next day to punish her for showing up there.