CHAPTER 005: MAYA

Evelyn’s Sedan nosed its way into the driveway and parked right under the mahogany tree that stood outside of her apartment. Cool breeze washed my face as I pulled myself out of the passenger's seat.

What was worse than a broken heart? That should be finding out that not only did your husband cheat, but he also made sure to create a baby, a human from it, especially on your supposed happy day.

Evelyn helped wheel my luggage into the one-storey apartment.

“Gabriel is such a bastard!” She cursed.

A knot clogged my chest. I fought hard to stop the tears from forming. Gabriel doesn't deserve any of the tears. But how do I look past four years of my life that were snatched away from me in just the blink of an eye?

“Gabriel has a child,” the words fell out flat, and low—almost a whisper. Tears cascaded down my face as I thought about it. “A three-year-old child, Eve!” I yelled.

She didn't try to stop me. She didn't try to stop the words. She let me yell. As she relaxed into the cream-colored couch in the sitting room. Watching me. Listening.

“All the while he refused to visit the hospital with me! All the while he refused to make another baby with me! He had a child somewhere else!” I yelled, louder, pointing to the door. Like I was going crazy.

“Wait! Wait a minute,” I paced the room, “On our wedding night, Gabriel had gone to drop off that Amila, and never returned till the next morning… He had spent our wedding night with her!” I slumped into the single couch by the other side, the realisation of how much Gabriel had fooled me, and how long I had stayed loyal to a cheating man who wants nothing but my pain, hurt even more.

I had been a fool for the longest. I had lived for him. Even when he laid me off from my job, that was to make me solely dependent on him, while he still used me, used my designs, to flourish himself, his business, and his hidden family.

Evelyn stood up, walked briskly to where I sat, rested her butt on the arm of the couch.

“Maya,” her voice low, soft. Then she took my hand up in hers. “You're bigger than this… You're bigger than ten thousand Gabriels put together… You are pure gold, and it's his loss.”

I sniffed hard. Shoved a hand over my teary face, while I listened carefully to her. Chest thumping hard against my ribs.

“You worked hard,” she continued. “His late father saw you for who you really are, gold mixed with white gold… It's not your fault Gabriel chose to be a blind bat.”

I scoffed. Chest heaving slowly now. Anger dying down.

“You always know what to do with lemons…” She let out a small laugh, “There are a thousand and one billionaires in Manhattan who would give everything to have a hottie like you by their side forever…” Her voice now bouncing off the roof, she was growing ecstatic.

“If I had a body half as hot as yours, girl… I'm not sure I would give that to just any man… You know what I think about marriage… I'm not ready for all those betrayals… Wait till my boss sees you,” she cajoled, her lips parted widely.

“No! No!” I cut in, waving a finger in the air and shaking my head in unison. “I am done with men. I am done with that gender… Look at you, Eve. You're doing well for yourself, and without a man. I do not need one anymore.”

She laughed as she pulled me into a tight hug. Then I moved my luggage up the wooden staircase to the spare room upstairs.

I lay awake all through the night, wondering how my life would have been if I had never settled for Gabriel. Maybe I would have attained the peak of my career. Maybe I could have been married to someone else. Someone better. Maybe someone like William Banks.

No! He wouldn't be any better. Men like that are always like Gabriel. Birds of the same feather, they say, flock together. Full of themselves and annoying.

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand, finger swiped through it. The number he had called me with sat there.

I wondered if that was his personal number. My eyes fixed on the ceiling while thoughts coursed through my brain, I didn't realize my finger had already moved. Tapping on the dial button, and sending the number ringing. The puh-puh sound of the call brought my eyes back to the screen.

I jerked up at once. Ending the call fast. I twitched on the side of the phone till the screen went black. Then I flung it somewhere into the sheets.

“What have you done, Maya?” I sat up, two fingers dug into my forehead.

What if he starts calling back later? I had nothing to say to him. I fell back into the sheets, shutting my eyes tightly, maybe that would help me get some rest.

Morning light flooded into the room through the blank spaces of the blinds. I sat up, stretched myself out. The door creaked open.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Evelyn peered in. Already dressed and set for work.

I managed a smile. “You're already dressed?” My eyes widened in shock. I didn't know how long I had slept.

She nodded slightly as she walked into the room, her soft fragrance filling the entire space.

Evelyn was a darling, she had asked me to forward my resume to her. She was going to put in some words for me at her workplace, TerraNova was also one of the leading Architectural companies in the city.

My lips parted in a wide smile as I watched her heels click out of the room. Door clicked shut behind her.

I ransacked the sheets for my phone. It had remained off all through the remaining hours of the night. I twitched on it till the white light came on.

Countless messages!

I swiped through. First from Marisol, Gabriel’s mother.

“How sweet,” I scoffed.

Why was she texting me? When did she ever try reaching me to the point of sending me a text? She only took my calls when she wanted to be generous. Why was she reaching out to me now? After all, I just gave her what she wanted all these years, space.

I swiped through. More messages from Gabriel. I avoided tapping on any of them.

Then the last one. One from Williams Banks. The man I had mistakenly dialed his number. My heart sank into my stomach. Fingers shook as I tapped on it. Pulse raced faster than normal.