Chasing her back

DAISY’S POV ~

“Congratulations, Daisy. You are four weeks pregnant.”

The doctor’s words keep ringing in my ears as I leave the hospital. Even now, sitting in the back of the taxi, I still can't believe it.

Is this real? Is there really a life living inside me?

With shaky hands, I pull out the ultrasound from my bag and stare at the tiny, grainy image. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

This is not a dream.

I feel like shouting to the world that I'm pregnant, that I'm finally going to be a mother after three years of negative tests that broke my heart piece by piece every single month. For three years, I have also endured Sebastian’s coldness.

He grew distant from me, always sleeping with his back turned to me every night and he doesn’t even look at me anymore.

But this baby? This baby is ours. This little gift growing inside my belly will bring Sebastian back to me and we are going to be a joyful family again.

Happy tears fill up my eyes. I have been in love with Sebastian since college, but he was dating Vanessa Morgan back then. For me, marrying Sebastian three years ago was a dream come true even though I was the second choice.

Now, with this baby—our baby—I won’t be a second choice anymore.

The taxi finally pulls into the driveway and I quickly step out of the car with the uncontrollable happiness of seeing Sebastian and sharing the good news with him. After paying the driver, I practically run to the door, already imagining the surprise that will be on Sebastian’s face when I tell him about the pregnancy.

But the instant I open the door and enter the house, I find the entire place unusually quiet.

Why so quiet?

“Bastian?” I call out, tossing my keys on the dining table. “Mrs. Hart?”

No one answers.

Strange.

Even if Sebastian isn’t home, Mrs. Hart, the housekeeper, should be preparing dinner.

Anyway, it’s alright.

Smiling to myself, I kick off my heels and head upstairs. It’s actually perfect that no one is around because it gives me time to change, head to the kitchen, and make Sebastian’s favourite meal to celebrate the good news. Also—

A low cry from my bedroom suddenly reaches my ears, cutting off the rest of my thoughts.

Who is that crying in my bedroom?

Curious and a little disturbed, I continue climbing the stairs. The cry grows more noticeable as soon as I reach the top of the stairs and I move closer to the bedroom.

Reaching the bedroom door, I slowly push the door open and enter inside.

WHAT THE HELL?

The sight before me knocks out the air in my lungs. Sebastian is on our bed. Our matrimonial bed. With ANOTHER WOMAN.

And she is sobbing in his arms.

Instant jealousy rips through me and I nearly stumble back but I hold the door handle for support.

Who is she? And why is Sebastian holding her in his arms as if she’s his only precious treasure in the world?

“Bastian?”

He raises his face at the sound of my voice, his eyes landing on me. Instantly, a look of disgust appears on his face at the sight of me.

“What the fuck are you doing here Daisy?”

Is he fucking serious?

“I live here!” I choke out.

“Oh my God,” The woman says as she quickly pulls herself away from his arms and turns around to look at me.

The instant I see her face, the room spins before my eyes.

I blink. Once. Twice.

No way.

The face looking back at me shouldn’t exist in this world anymore. I know those wide, teary doe eyes. I know that honey-blonde hair. I know the small mole on her left cheek.

That’s Vanessa Morgan. Sebastian’s ex. The… the love of his life.

The air leaves my lungs a second time again. I think I am going crazy. That is the only explanation. I am stressed. I am pregnant.

And now, I am seeing ghosts.

Vanessa Morgan.

But she’s… she’s dead.

“Vanessa?” I mumble, my knees feeling wobbly and I tighten my hold on the door handle to stop myself from hitting the floor. She says nothing, just staring at me like a lost puppy. Blood is roaring in my ears and draining away from my face, making me feel cold and dizzy.

This is impossible. She drowned three years ago. I remember the police boats searching the river. I remember the closed casket. I remember the way people whispered that I had pushed her and how they accused me of murder until the case was closed.

Dead people don’t come back. Dead people don’t cry in your husband’s arms right on your matrimonial bed.

“Daisy, can’t you see I’m busy right now?” Sebastian suddenly snaps angrily.

“Get out of here and go to the guest room. I don’t want your disgusting self near Vanessa.”

“Daisy, I’m so sorry.” Vanessa's voice sends a shiver down my spine. This is not a hallucination. She is real. She is breathing.

And she is here.

Her eyes fill up with tears and she turns to look at Sebastian. “Sebastian, this wasn’t supposed to happen. I told you I shouldn’t have come here. We can’t be together anymore. Daisy is your wife now.”

“Vanessa,” Sebastian reaches for her, totally ignoring me.

“No!” Vanessa sobs, wiping her tear-stained cheeks. “I can’t destroy a beautiful home like yours! I should have stayed dead! I should have never come back!”

“Don’t say that,” Sebastian growls with fear rising in his voice. “You belong here with me. Don’t leave me.”

“I don’t belong here with you! Look at your wife!” Vanessa cries, pointing a trembling finger at me. “I’m so sorry, Daisy. Please forgive me. I’m leaving right now!”

She stands up, grabs her Chanel bag, and runs past me, carrying my husband’s scent on her body.

“Vanessa stop!” Sebastian shouts and hurriedly stands up to chase after her. I can’t believe the drama playing out in front of me. This has to be a sick joke.

He tries to move past me.

“Where are you going?” I demand, quickly throwing my body in front of the door to block him.

“Move Daisy,” he snarls, trying to use his deadly voice to shove me aside.

“You are not going anywhere,” I dig my nails into his arms, shaking him. “Are you crazy? That’s Vanessa! She is supposed to be dead! How on earth are you with her in our bedroom and—”

“She is the love of my life!” He screams, grabbing my wrists and wrenching them off him. “She survived! She came back to me! And the first thing you do is scare her away?”

“I scared her away?” I laugh bitterly. “I am your wife Sebastian! I have been here with you for three years! I am the one who took the blame for her death! I am the one who has loved you all these years and this is how you repay me?!”

“I never stopped loving Vanessa and you know it,” he snaps. “Vanessa is the woman I love, and you? You are just a warm body that kept my bed occupied until she came back. I never stopped loving her, not even for one second.”

The words stab me like a knife to the heart. I stumble back.

So after all these years, he was still in love with her?

“Three years, Sebastian… three years of us being together and it all meant nothing to you?”

“It all means nothing compared to her.” He steps forward. “Move Daisy. Get out of my face before I do something you’ll regret.”

“Wait, I have something important to tell you,” I sound so desperate, but I have the one thing that Vanessa doesn’t have.

My pregnancy. My child with Sebastian.

It has to mean something.

Quickly, I bring out the ultrasound paper from my bag and hold it up in his face.

“Sebastian, I’m pregnant.” I blurt out, forcing a smile to my face.

He freezes, blankly staring at me as if I just electrocuted him with those words.

“What the hell did you just say to me?”

“I said I’m pregnant and the baby is ours,” I shake the paper in front of him. “This is the ultrasound. Take a look at it. We’re having a baby, so you can’t leave. I need you. Our baby needs you.”

For one second, his face softens as he looks at the tiny shape of the baby.

A spark of hope ignites in my chest.

He is a man of honor. He won’t leave his own flesh and blood.

But when he looks up, my smile vanishes the instant I see the softness in his face totally gone and now replaced by cold hatred.

“So you think this changes anything between us?” he asks and chuckles in a dark tone that fills my skin with goosebumps.

“What?”

“This is utter trash,” he sounds really pissed this time around and before I can blink again, he tears the ultrasound paper in half!

“Sebastian NO!” I scream and try to stop him, but he’s taller than me so he holds the paper out of my reach, tearing it again and again until only tiny white pieces remain.

“You think you can trap me?!” he snarls, now throwing the pieces of paper in my face. “You think I’ll let Vanessa go just because you got pregnant?”

“But I’m carrying our child!” I yell to his face before falling to my knees and frantically gathering the torn pieces of the ultrasound. My hands are shaking so badly with tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Gosh Daisy, you’re so crazy and pathetic.”

“What about you?” I snap back in a broken voice. “How can you be so cruel to an innocent child?! To your own flesh and blood?!”

“And who says I want a baby with you?” He asks coldly. “So just because we are married, you think you know me? You know nothing, Daisy, and now that my true love is back, it’s time you know your place. I want a family with Vanessa, only Vanessa, so you see that baby you claim you’re carrying? Get rid of it immediately.”

“What?”

“Abort it.” He snarls with pure hatred in his eyes.