Chapter 10. Unfair

Pepper POV

“We’re here,” Samuel announced and turned the engine off. 

I was so caught up in watching him that I failed to notice our surroundings. 

I looked out the window to the imposing mansion with its white picket fence and smiled. 

“Yeah. We are here.” I concurred and thanked him again.

He did not say a word. He hurriedly got off his side and rounded the bend. Then, he opened the door to my side and helped me out. 

“Thanks,” I murmured, but before Samuel could respond, we heard excited cries from children.

Simultaneously, Samuel and I turned in the direction of the sound of their laughter and saw three little children running toward us. 

“Kids, do not run or you might trip.” 

A woman in her mid-twenties cautioned while she ran after them. 

Knowing they were being pursued, the three children increased their speed and squealed, heeding the advice. 

“You can’t catch us, Auntie Shan!” 

The kids, two boys and one girl, aged four years, taunted gleefully as they sped away from the woman to reach us. 

The woman pretended to be breathing heavily. She placed her hands to her knees and bent to the waist to let the children know that they had won.

But the triplets had already forgotten all about her when they neared us. 

As usual, the little girl jumped into Samuel’s arms. 

“Daddy Sam! I missed you!” 

The other boy ran into my arms while another one climbed like a monkey on Samuel’s back, which caused him to wobble precariously, causing laughter to emit from the three children’s mouths. 

“That’s not funny, kids. I could have toppled over, and we would have landed on the ground.” Samuel chided while lowering the boy and the girl to the ground. 

I followed suit and put their brother on his feet. They were now lined up facing Samuel and me.

I wanted to look stern, but I couldn’t. 

It was too hard to keep being mad when they all looked adorable, looking at us with their troubled faces and pouted lips. 

“Sorry.” The triplets, Asher, Aaron, and Althea, muttered simultaneously, their cheeks glowing from running and laughing so hard earlier.

Samuel bent on his haunches so he could be on eye-level with them. I saw the worry in his eyes earlier when he thought he would keel over, and I knew that it scared him. 

But like me, he couldn’t stay angry with the triplets for too long. He adored them very much. 

“Just be careful next time, kids, okay.” He finally said. 

The three children nodded and scampered away. This time, they were running in the direction they came from - back to the house. 

They almost ran over Shan, the assistant Samuel hired me six years ago. I saw the worry on her face and felt contrite immediately. 

“Did the kids wear you out?” I asked. 

In response, Shan arched a brow, and we both laughed. She did not need to confirm it. We both knew how rambunctious and mischievous my triplets are. 

“So how was it?” There was no mistaking the excitement in her voice. She would have been there with me, but that would mean leaving the triplets in the care of their sitters. 

I am not comfortable leaving the children to just about anyone, and Shan understood my concern, so she volunteered to remain at the house while I attended the conference. 

“What do you think?” 

This time, I not only arched my brows, but I also puffed my chest in pride.

I could not help it. 

We had been working on the project for the last four years, and it was only now that it was finally getting noticed by the right people.

“Several companies are expressing interest in partnering with us,” I reported.

“That’s good.” Shan nodded. 

She knew how hard I worked for “The Women Project” in the last five years. The company gave me purpose. It helped me rebuild myself from the weak, lacking in confidence, and emotionally battered woman from six years ago. 

While I helped women who suffered traumatic relationships, they were also helping me recover from the pain of my failed marriage, broken heart, and divorce. 

It was not an easy feat, but I realized in the intervening years that the more you help others, the more that part of you that was wounded and bruised in battle will heal. 

You just have to see the many faces of suffering to realize that life is indeed better when you change your perspective. 

From a victim, I became empowered.

I did not have it easy after my divorce. After I left my parents’ home, I succumbed to depression. I was in denial at first.

I didn’t think that I was depressed, but Samuel spotted the signs outright, and he insisted on a medical intervention.

“Sometimes coming face to face with our failures is the launching pad of our healing.” My doctor said, and that’s how I tried IVF once again.

Lucky for me, the process became successful.

I could not thank Samuel enough. He was there during the whole process. 

My eyes focused on him, watching while he interacted with the triplets. 

“He was really good to them.” Shan noticed my preoccupation and commented. 

I nodded slowly, agreeing to her observation.

But I did not expect her next question would make me feel queasy. It also made me question things I avoided asking myself for a long while. 

“Then, why don’t you marry him? The triplets needed the security of a family. They needed a father.” Shan commented. 

It had been a long time since I thought about marriage. In truth, I don’t believe in marriage anymore. 

I smiled bitterly.

My marriage to Victor really did me a number, and the talk of marriage made me want to run in the other direction fast. 

“If I am only getting married because of the children, then I don’t want to get married at all.”

“I thought you no longer believed in love,” Shan asked incredulously, eyes growing wide. 

“Shan love is love. If I didn’t believe in love, my children wouldn’t be here. They were born because of my love for them.” 

“Poor Samuel then.” She shot back, and it made me look at the person who stood beside me for the past six years. 

Am I being unfair to him?