Chapter 5 ~ Your fault

ANAYA

“I wasn't even asleep yet.” I sighed.

Whenever she called or saw me, she would throw mean words at me. No matter what I did, my mother-in-law seemed to hate me more by the day. 

“Oh, you weren't?” She asked, the sarcasm rolling off her in waves, “Then why do you sound at peace? Haven't you seen the news?” 

“What news?” My heart skipped a beat.

“Do you live under a rock!? Check your phone and be here first thing tomorrow morning!” She practically yelled in my ear and hung up. 

I stared at the phone, her words echoing in my head as I unlocked my screen, dreading what I might find.

A hand flew to my mouth as the scene unfolded before me. In bold letters, was the headline that read:

[ Business Tycoon Nash Whitmore seen kissing a mysterious woman. Is his marriage on the rocks?]

My vision blurred as I scrolled through dozens of pictures where Nash was kissing Hellen and others where he was holding her and smiling like she was his entire world. Of course, someone took pictures of how lovey-dovey they were in public. Nash knew the media would eat it up and just didn't care. 

My hands shook as the phone fell to the floor. My pulse roared in my ears, and my heart burned with rage and shame.  

I wanted to smash everything in sight, to break it all to pieces, but instead, I sank onto the edge of the bed, clutching my shirt so hard while the tears rolled down my face. 

How could he do this to me? Cheating in such public places?

Tears rolled down my face until I passed out right there on the floor. The next morning, my eyes were puffy and swollen so badly, even makeup couldn't cover them completely. 

SLAP!

The sound echoed as my mother-in-law landed a slap on my cheek. 

“You had one job in this family, ONE! To keep Nash home and happy, and you couldn't even do that?” She yelled in my face. 

I had rushed over to her house early in the morning. After we got married, the Whitmore group had gained so much that shares were off the roof. I was a Callahan; my brother had so much power and influence in the city, so when news spread that I was married to Nash, everyone who couldn't partner with the Callahan cop joined the Whitmore group. 

But with the rumors and the pictures from last night, the stocks were crashing, and investors were pulling out in anticipation of a possible divorce. 

My cheek stung where her hand had landed, but the words that followed cut even deeper.

“Nash has always been a loyal man, a family man,” she spat, pacing in front of me like a judge preparing the gallows. “If he went looking elsewhere, it’s because you failed him. You couldn’t satisfy him, Anaya! You left him no choice but to take a side piece.”

My lips parted in disbelief, but no words came out. I was too stunned to speak much less argue with such absurd thinking. 

Angela jabbed a finger toward me, her eyes burning with fury. “You had one duty, to simply open your legs and give this family an heir, and you couldn’t even manage that. Three years of marriage, and what have you given him? Nothing but a barren home and embarrassment.”

The words sank into my skin like poison. I wrapped my arms around myself, but nothing could shield me from the venom of her words. 

So she wasn't going to let her son take the blame, even when it was his lips that were locked on another woman's lips. Her son cheated, and yet I was cleaning up the mess and getting insulted?

“I really don't understand why I'm being blamed for his actions. Nash is a grown man and can make his own decisions!” 

“Ha! Please spare me the drama! You let him slip right into that woman’s arms because you weren’t woman enough to keep him. And now look! Our name is in shambles, our stocks are plummeting, and it's all because of your uselessness.”

Her voice rose with every word, shaking with disgust.

“Mum, I don't think…”

“Don’t you dare speak,” she snapped, cutting me off. “You will find a way to fix this scandal, or I will make sure you will pay for every cent we lose! Now get the hell out of my house!”

I stood frozen for a moment, then turned and walked out, each step heavier than the last. 

My body felt numb, my chest was hollow, but rage smoldered beneath the pain.

For three years, I took the blame. For everything that went wrong, it fell on me. I always thought that if I simply agreed to it, they would eventually love me.

What a fool I had been!

The door slammed shut behind me, and I stumbled toward my car, my feet feeling like I had lead in my shoes. 

I wanted to scream and cry, but I held it together. I would soon be free. They didn't deserve my tears. Not even for a second!

I had only driven for less than an hour when the car shut down. After checking for any possible error, I noticed that I was in such a rush that I didn't notice that I didn't have enough gas. 

I dug in my bag for my phone, only to discover it was dead. The battery must have given out from all the calls and notifications.

Unsure of what to do next,  I sat in the driver’s seat for a long moment, staring at the dark, empty road ahead. 

Left with no choice, I stepped out of the car and locked it so I could walk home. The road was private and isolated. No one would pass through for a long time.

As I walked, I felt the rain start as a drizzle but quickly turned into a downpour, soaking me to the bone. 

The rain grew heavier, blinding me and chilling me to the bone, but I didn't care. I was in pain. My heart ached, and my soul was shattered from how miserable I felt.

I was the victim, and yet I was the one treated like a monster. How could life be so cruel?

What did I do to deserve this kind of torture?

My vision blurred from tears and the rain, but I kept walking until my legs trembled, and my body began to give way. 

The world tilted, as my knees gave out and I collapsed onto the wet pavement with my lungs burning and my body shivering while I sobbed uncontrollably. 

Through the blur of rain and darkness, headlights appeared, until they stopped somewhere near me. 

Unable to hold myself up anymore, I gave up, and my eyes began shutting down, but not before I noticed a familiar tall figure stepping out of the car, and I laughed at the continuous cruel joke fate played.

I was sure I was dying if I was seeing my brother, who hadn't once contacted me for three years, walk towards me before everything went blank.