Chapter 3. Hopeless

Pepper Ferguson POV

Fourteen days later,  the result of my IVF implantation came out.  

“I am sorry. The embryos failed to implant.” Dr. Grant said after reading the results of my blood test and ultrasound. 

IVF failed. I am not pregnant.

A wave of desolation washed over me at the news. 

I felt lost. 

Should I tell Victor?

A bitter smile crept to my face when I realized that this might be what he wanted to hear.

Tears began to stream down my face, unbidden.

“This is my last hope. I thought by being pregnant we could work out the kinks in our relationship, but…” My voice trailed off because I realized I had already spilled too much information on Michelle. 

She might be a friend, but I don’t want to dump my problems on her. 

“I am sorry. That was uncalled for.” I sniffed and took out several tissues from the box she offered me.

“It’s fine. For now, I am not your doctor, but your friend. Just let your frustrations out. I won’t hold it against you.” 

When Michelle said that, it was like a dam had broken in me. 

I cried buckets in Michelle’s office, giving vent to the pain that I had been nursing in my heart for too long. 

The fear of slowly losing my husband and the pain of the moment were squeezing tightly in my gut. 

My chest constricted. The pressure of the past months is taking its toll on me. I blacked out. 

I woke up in Michelle’s examination bed with an IV drip.

“Your phone has been ringing nonstop,” Michelle informed me, handing me my phone.

I took it. My heart began to thump hard when I saw Victor’s name registered in the call log. 

I tried calling him, but his phone was off. My excitement plummeted to the ground. 

“Was it your husband? Has he finally realized he has a wife and has gone to check on you?” There was a load of sarcasm in Michelle’s voice.

Her words barely registered when my eyes zeroed in on the calendar on her desk before a gasp escaped my lips. 

Oh no!  It’s Gunner Holding Inc.’s anniversary party.

I checked the time and realized that the party was probably in full swing.

“Wait. What are you doing?” 

Michelle cried in outrage when I pulled the needle off my arm. 

“Sorry. I have to be at the Gunner party tonight.” I said, and ran away.

Outside the clinic, I flagged a cab.

“To the Yorke Place. Make it quick, please.”

At the five-star hotel, I was surprised at the look of displeasure on the people I passed by.

It soon gave way to realization when I saw Maggie, Colter, Victor, and his parents sitting at a table, looking like one happy family.

I staggered and stepped back at the picture they made. The perfect Gunner family without the legal wife, Pepper Ferguson, I thought bitterly.

They were all smiling while people stared at them in awe. 

No one even noticed that I was missing. 

This picture of a perfect family made me realize one thing. Victor Gunner will never love me. 

All these years, I was just a placeholder for his one true love. 

To Victor, I am just someone who can do wifely duties with him, but who can never ever have his heart. 

The realization made me retreat, and within minutes, I found myself at the hotel bar, drowning my sorrows. 

“You are drunk, ma’am.” The bartender cautioned me when I kept asking for a refill.

I wanted to chew the guy out, but someone interrupted. 

“Hey, Carl, just give her what she wants. I know her.” A man sat beside me and talked to the bartender. 

With squinting eyes, I looked at him and recognized him as one of Victor’s friends, Donald.

Ignoring him, I happily drank another glass of whisky.

Victor’s friends were never my friends. They all detested me, thinking I only married Victor for his money. 

What they did not know was that I had always been in love with Victor. 

Contrary to what other people knew, my parents and Victor’s parents were associates when I was young. We also lived in the same neighborhood where most wealthy families reside. 

It was only when my parents decided to expand their business abroad that things went south.

In the blink of an eye, my parents lost their investments, their wealth, and their status in the business circle. 

When I came back to the country years ago to pursue my business program, my parents refused to come back with me. They decided to stay abroad for good, preferring anonymity in their newfound world. 

It was simple and less stressful, they told me. 

“I wondered what Victor saw in you. You are not even beautiful compared to Maggie.” The spiteful words reached my ears despite the influence of alcohol.

As usual, I tried to block him out and ignored him, but Donald persisted in engaging me. 

“I wondered, maybe you are good in bed.” He said, licking my ears.

I was surprised and almost jumped out of my chair. I did not see it coming. My hand flew and found his cheek. 

Donald’s eyes blazed in rage when I slapped him hard. 

“You b*ch!” He snarled.

And before I knew it, he pulled me down from my seat. 

We were creating a commotion as he dragged me to the floor, snarling. 

Carl tried to help, but one look from Donald and he held his palms up in surrender, leaving me to my fate. 

Seeing Donald’s influence, I began to panic. No one tried to help me, so I tried helping myself. 

I kicked and flailed my arms, but I was too drunk. Donald subdued me and punched me on the stomach, causing me to double over in pain. 

“That’s what you get for p*ssing me off, you b*tch!” He bit out before dragging me away. 

I let him carry me wherever, I was too tired to fight.

For the second time that day, I passed out.

When I came to, I was already lying in bed. 

Fear crawled up my skin with the thought that Donald succeeded in violating me. 

Tears began to form in my eyes until I realized one thing. 

I was alone in the room. 

A quick inspection led me to the bedside table, and that was when I saw a sticky note addressed to me. 

“He did not succeed. You are safe.” It was signed by Samuel Burke.

Relief washed over me, but my eyes kept diverting toward the piece of paper in my hand. 

I racked my brain for the name, finding nothing that would make me associate it with anything. 

Immediately, I got out of the room, hailed a cab, and went home to find Victor waiting for me in the living room with his arms over his chest, looking furious!

“Where have you been?”

“I..” I fumbled for words, eyes darting from left to right.

The scene from last night at the bar came unbidden to my head, making me quiver in delayed reaction. 

Victor, misconstruing my silence for something else, rose from his seat to tower over me. 

“What? Cat got your tongue? Tell me, where were you last night?” He bit out harshly.

His tone and his choice of words were full of accusation. 

Rebellion burned the last vestige of my restraint as the events from yesterday and last night came to my mind. 

“How dare you!” I snapped.

What right has he got accusing me of something he was guilty of? 

My heart filled with rage as I slapped him hard. 

Victor’s face turned to the right at the impact. 

He growled. He was fuming mad. 

I stepped back with fear in my eyes at the enormity of what I had done. 

Victor’s right hand clenched into a fist and aimed it at me, but at the last minute, he chose to walk away.

I watched him leave, realizing that our problems were unfixable. The gap is already too wide. It was hopeless.