Chapter 1. His Perfect Family

Pepper Ferguson POV

JFK International Airport.

Our plane just landed, and my husband Victor, who is the CEO of  Gunner Holdings, Inc., shot up from his seat. 

Excitement was all over him while he waited for the door to open so he could disembark. 

It wouldn't be a problem since his family owned the airline. 

The Gunner Holdings, Inc. also had stakes in the country's maritime industry. Aside from an airline, the Gunner family owned several shipping lines, which makes my husband a very wealthy man. 

"Ma'am?" The flight attendant gestured toward the open door, and I followed him out, careful in keeping my distance because Victor always gets annoyed with me these days. 

After immigration, I saw Victor walk out of the arrival area. 

He quickened his steps when he heard a boy call out his name and rushed out to meet him.

"Daddy Victor!" The child squealed when he was carried into Victor's arms.

Then, his mother neared them. The sound of her stiletto heels clacking on the floor grated on my nerves. 

As usual, the two of them began to monopolize my husband's attention that he failed to notice the hanging jaws of their spectators.

The sight of the three of them became fodder for gossip. 

"Mr. Gunner had a child?"

"Isn't he married to his former assistant?" 

Then their eyes would scan the area to zero in on me. 

At first, there was confusion on their faces until a look of pity accompanied it. 

As with the previous incidents, shame washed over me. 

Victor is my husband. We had been married for three years. 

Up until a month ago, we were fine. 

But since Maggie Green, his former girlfriend, came back to town with her five-year-old son who looked uncannily like Victor, my husband began to change.

The news that the child was his quickly circulated in our circle. Everybody assumed Colter, Maggie's five-year-old son, was his. 

I, too, began to suspect the rumors were true, but every time I opened the topic, we would end up fighting, and Victor would walk out on me. 

Maybe, I don’t need any verbal confirmation from Victor. His actions already confirm the speculations, I thought bitterly to myself. 

“I bought you a lot of toys from my trip. I hope you like them all.” Victor said and began walking. Maggie fell into step beside him while I looked at their departing figures like an outsider. 

I wondered if Victor still remembered all about me.

I shook my head bitterly at the knowledge. 

It seemed as if Maggie and her son already occupied all of Victor’s thoughts. I felt a twinge squeezing painfully at my chest, making it impossible to breathe as I watched my husband walk away from me, lost in his perfect family.

Carlos, Victor’s head of security, spoke beside me.

“Ms. Pepper, we need to go.” He said, nudging me from my daze. 

Despite the tremors quaking my body, I braced myself, lifted my chin, and began walking out of the airport’s arrival area.

It was a struggle to walk through your shame, but I have to grin and bear it. There is no way I would let people know how my husband’s callous treatment affected me. 

I feel the heavy weight of the people’s stare around me. 

I knew they were judging me, as I seemed to lose my place beside my wealthy husband. 

My status often invites gossip because I come from an ordinary lineage. I was Victor’s assistant when we began dating.  The public believed I was unworthy of Victor’s name. 

The judgment in their stares right now made me want to sink through the floor and never appear again, but I deadened myself from the pain. 

We are in a public place. Even when Victor seemed oblivious that his actions caused me embarrassment, or maybe he did, and did not just care, I could feel the pity in their eyes. 

I even heard one scoff and say, “That’s what she deserves for dreaming too high.”

I bit my lip, feeling a prick of tears in the corners of my eyes. 

Like a fish out of the water, I began floundering until Victor’s bodyguards closed in on me and escorted me out of the airport. 

I took a deep breath to shove the tears away. 

Walking in the safety of my human barricades, I looked down at the floor to blot everything out. 

When we reached our car, I was surprised to see that the back passenger seat had already been occupied by Victor, Maggie, and her son, Colter. 

It was glaringly obvious that there was no room for me. 

Maggie looked up. Her face appeared contrite as she addressed me in her fake sugary tone. 

“I am sorry, Pepper. Here.”

Maggie scooted closer to Victor, and as usual, he did not seem to mind. 

The comparison was glaring. If it were me, Victor would already blow his top.

“Mommy, you are squishing me.”

 

He pouted, which caused Victor to throw his head back and laugh. 

I was lost staring at the expression of pure joy in Victor’s eyes. 

When his laughter died down, our eyes connected.  He caught me staring at him, and I couldn’t seem to pull my eyes away.

I was mesmerized.

Victor seemed to know what was going through my head and snorted. Then, he turned his gaze away to shift it back to Colter. 

I caught his drift. He wanted me to look for my seat elsewhere. 

I smiled bitterly to myself when I caught Maggie’s mocking smile and the happiness in Colter’s voice.

“This is better. I  only want to ride with you and Mommy.” 

I heard no words of reproof from Victor. It seemed like he was agreeing to what Colter said, causing pain to squeeze at my chest. 

Wordlessly, I took the front passenger seat, and the car moved out of the airport entrance.