Chapter 5

Matilda

I manage to fall asleep and wake up a little early than usual. I remain in bed and now stare at the window. It's drizzling outside and thank God I don't have to go to the office today because it's a weekend.

I check my phone and I see two missed calls from mom and none from my dad. My dad's probably hiding his face after forcing one daughter to leave her husband for the sake of his other daughter. But then again my dad never feels guilty of anything, especially when it comes to my case.

If I confront him, he'd definitely tell me how this was already meant to happen even before Michael and I got married. He'd tell me that Michael was never mine in the first place and that I only had to temporarily fill in Seraphina's place.

I choose to stay longer in bed and when the rain stops, I feel it's lingering chilled aftereffect. I have no choice and pull myself up from bed to reach the bathroom. After emptying my bladder, I come out and walk to the window to close the curtains, pulling me into darkness which I gladly welcome.

It's now eight in the morning and I hear a knock on the door. “Good morning, may I come in?” Michael's mother, Grace peeks her head through the door as I now sit up on the bed.

“Good morning, yes, please come in,” I smile. “What brings you here so early, did you come to see Michael?”

“Hey, why is it dark in here?” She says as she fully enters the room, walks across to the window and draws up the curtains, letting in light that almost blinds me. “I didn't come to see my son, not now. I came to get you, my dear.”

I confusely look at my mother-in-law. “To get me? Where are we going?”

“We're going out to exercise, my dear. It's a good day for some meditation, yoga and jogging to clear your head and release all your chakras.” Grace replies and it's now I only see that she's wearing a sports outfit.

“What?” I blink as I honestly don't feel like leaving this room, let alone step outside. “Do I have to?”

“Yes, dear.” she nods as she closes the door. “Did you sleep well, although I don't think you really had the proper hours of sleep and I worry for you my dear.”

“You really don't have to worry about me, Grace.” I smile, grateful for her concern. “But I'm fine.”

“How can I not worry about you, dear? You're my son's lovely wife and my daughter-in-law. Plus, I've known you since you were little so the bond goes deeper.” she replies before she now sits next to me and holds my hand. “I also know about the divorce.”

I look at her shocked. “How did you...”

“Oh, the maids in this house gossip a lot.” she replies as she waves her hand dismissively. “I know my son has made his decision, but I want you to know that I am with you and I support you, Matilda. You're a wonderful woman and I'm sad that my son isn't able to see what I see.”

“But... didn't you always want Seraphina to become your daughter-in-law instead?” I ask.

“Not at all if I'm to be honest. I only accepted her back then because she was very insistent on marrying only her. My son said he loved her...”

“And he still loves her, Grace.” I don't mean to interrupt her but I don't want us to lie to ourselves. The truth is Michael still loves my sister or he wouldn't have asked me to sign on our divorce papers inorder to end our marriage.

“My son is stupid atimes but I know him more than he knows himself, and I can see that he's not in love with Seraphina, in fact I know he was never in love with her to begin with. Your sister was more like a challenge to Michael, a proud pin added to his lapel.”

“I don't follow,” I say.

“Your sister is beautiful, so gorgeous that it's like God took his precious time in carving her, and every man wants her for himself. Your sister absolutely loved the attention she got from all the men, both young and old. It was an all out war for who could claim her as theirs exclusively and my son hates loosing.” Grace replies confidently.

“But even if it were true, things can still change later on, right? And Michael fell in love with my sister much later.” I feel very bad as I talk about them but I can't lie to myself which will be much worse than the bitter truth.

“Tell me something, dear, since when have you been in love with my son?”

I look at her as her sudden question catches me by surprise.

“Huh?...”

“I saw it in your eyes on the day you got married to Michael. The way you looked at my son then, I knew that this marriage wasn't a deal for you like it was for the others.” She smiles at me.

“I...” My face betrays me as it turns bright red.

“I won't tell Michael,” she assures me. “So please tell me, dear.”

“I guess since I was fourteen.” I whisper in a low voice. “But he never noticed me.”

“My son's a real idiot.” Grace says and I feel better when she calls Michael an idiot.

“But I don't blame him though. Not just him, even the other boys didn't want to be close to a girl with big glasses and pale yellow hair, as long as my sister was around to get everyone's attention...”

Grace then holds my jaw and makes me look at her. “Listen to me, you are amazing and beautiful, Matilda. Don't ever look down on yourself and feel overshadowed by your sister. Beauty isn't just about looks alone, dear. Being confident, smart and intelligent are also part of being beautiful.”

I tighten my jaw as I'm trying to hold back my tears. The joy and relief I feel after listening to Grace's words is huge. Not even my mom has ever spoken to me so tenderly, much less given me the courage to love and accept myself.

I hug Grace tightly and the tears start to flow from my eyes. “Thank you so much, Grace. You have no idea how much your words and acceptance means to me.”

Grace laughs out a little and wraps her arms around my back. “I will always support you, dear. And if necessary, I will fight with my foolish son if he doesn't respect your feelings.”

I sniffle and pull away from her. “No, Grace. Please, I don't want you to fight with Michael for my sake. He loves you a lot and easily gets upset when you are angry at him. He doesn't concentrate on anything until you both make up again...”

“And you're still supporting him, even after he made you sign the divorce papers and wants to leave you.” Grace huffs.

“Not at all, it's just I don't want any fights or arguments because of me. Plus, I don't want my sister dragged into the middle, she just came out of her coma and won't take it well...” I try to explain but Grace interrupts me.

“You care so much about your sister, don't you? You can sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of your sister. You already did it once when you agreed to get married to my son despite the fact that he didn't love you and was going to marry Seraphina instead. And now you're doing it again by now leaving the man that you're in love with for the sake of your sister.”

“I love my sister, Grace and the truth is that she was supposed to be in my place if not for Mr Eugenio's will which stated Michael should marry me if he wanted to claim his inheritance.” I say because I know this is the truth and also the right thing to do. I was only meant to fulfill a temporary role of being Michael's wife for two years minimum, and it so happens that Seraphina was now out of her coma so everything couldn't have perfectly fallen into place.

“I believe it was fate and destiny that made you get married to my son instead of your sister but that's my opinion and we can discuss all of that later. For now, you have to get ready and come with me for our morning exercise.” Grace stands up immediately and now I feel energized to leave the house.

I quickly change into a pink tank top and wear a long sleeves jacket over it and black leggings. I tie my hair in a loose ponytail and put on my running shoes, ready to exercise.

I join my mother-in-law downstairs who is asking William about Michael's whereabouts.

“Master Michael hasn't come down from his room yet, Mrs Wilson.” William informs Grace.

“Good morning, William.” I greet him with a small smile.

“You are in a good mood this morning, ma'am. I'm very glad.” William smiles and then a maid walks into the space carrying close to her chest a huge bouquet of white roses.

“A bouquet?” Grace asks and I'm also confused.

“Excuse me, young lady.” Grace calls out to the maid who turns immediately and walks towards us. “You sent the bouquet and where are you taking them?”

“A florist delivered it to the mansion, Mrs Wilson.” The maid explains. “The boss had ordered the bouquet for Miss Seraphina so I'm heading to his bedroom to give it to him.”