Chapter one

"Isn't that your husband?" Layla asked with shock in her voice. 

"I guess it is." Amara sighed heavily.

They were at the annual ball, and instead of dancing that close with her,  Amara's husband had his body pressed against another woman's body.

Well, not just any other woman. 

Katherine Thorn, his high school sweetheart. The love of his life. 

Beautiful blonde hair, slender body, and brown eyes. While Amara was shamed for being too fat, Kate was the star of every show, turning heads everywhere she went.

She was the full package. Everything that Brandon dreamed of. She rejected him in the past, and now that she was back, nothing would stop him from making her his. Even if it meant humiliating his wife of ten years. 

 Amara watched with a painful heart as the murmurs in the background continued. Looks of pity were thrown her way, and a part of her just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. 

'How could he do this to me? In public, for that matter?' Amara thought on the verge of tears, but she remained strong. 

She wasn't going to let anyone see her break. Even if everything seemed like it was slowly crumbling down, she would keep her head held high. 

Because that is who she was, a strong woman who had survived years of humiliation and body shaming.

Amara was a brunette with green eyes and a body most frowned upon. She was the exact opposite of what Kate was: Brandon's dream woman. 

To add to her misery, she was constantly laughed at for being unable to give Brandon an heir he wanted so badly. 

She took slow strides towards the center of the hall, where other couples were dancing too.

"Can I cut in? I'd like to have a word with my husband." 

Brandon stiffened like he had forgotten he was married, to begin with. Amara scoffed at his reaction and waited, but to her shock, he looked at her with coldness in his eyes.

"No. We can talk at home, lose a few kilos if you want to be seen with me in public, Amara," he responded in a dismissive tone. Looking around as if talking to his wife in public was shameful to him.

Kate giggled at that response as she pushed herself even closer to Brandon. “I’m getting cold, Brandy. Can I have your jacket?” 

“Of course,” Brandon responded as he took off his jacket and placed it around Kate.

"Brandon," Amara called through clenched teeth. Trying to keep her voice low. 

But Brandon ignored her and pulled Kate along with him, and walked away. Leaving her standing all alone in the middle of the hall.

The world started to spin as the humiliation got worse. They were so deep in their conversation that they didn't realize that the music had stopped.  All eyes were now on her; some shook their heads, and others whispered. 

Some even mocked her openly about how money could never keep a man.

"She thought her riches were everything, but look at her now!" some whispered.

"I hear she's barren, but she's been refusing to let him have a child elsewhere. So selfish!" Another added. 

"It must be so painful being that fat and ugly." Kate's friends giggled in the corner.

Amara felt all the strength she had slowly leave her. She felt her knees weaken as she stumbled when someone held her,

"Please let's go, Mrs Foster."

It was Gareth, Brandon's right-hand man.

Recognizing the familiar face, Amara nodded as he led her out of the ball. 

******

Hours later, Amara had long reached home and taken a shower, forced herself to have dinner alone, but Brandon was nowhere in sight.

She hoped Brandon would come home that night so that she could speak to him. She loved him and hoped they could still work things out. They had been married for ten years after all. 

Amara was eighteen when she met the twenty-two-year-old Brandon. They were at the same college, and through their families, they met often, and for Amara, it was love at first sight.

Brandon was in love with Kate, and everyone knew it, but she didn't care. 

Especially after Kate had rejected him in public several times.

'I'll make him love me. I’ll help him heal his broken heart," She would say to herself since she was told she would be his wife. 

The two companies started to face problems, and both fathers suggested Brandon and Amara get married to unite the power. 

Amara was so happy when she received the news, not knowing what the future had in store for her. 

Her mother trained her and made sure she was a perfect heiress and wife. Amara was taught never to argue in public or talk back when her husband was speaking. She was taught that a perfect lady doesn't cry in public and looks confident and beautiful all the time.

"If he's looking at another woman, then you must be doing something wrong. Always be perfect. Do you understand?" Her mother would say. 

But even after being the perfect wife and vice CEO, she was still struggling to keep her marriage from falling apart. 

With a heavy sigh, she stood from where she sat and decided to wear a pretty dress. The short, tight black dress that Brandon loved so much. 

"He might have danced with another, but he's still my husband. He always comes back home to me, right?." She whispered as she started to apply makeup. 

As she was trying to add the eyeliner, it slipped and ruined her entire makeup. Amara looked at her failed attempt as tears started to fall.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped the tears, which created an even bigger mess. Frustrated, she picked a wet wiper and cleaned her face when she heard the door open. 

The heaviness in her chest felt lighter because Brandon was home.

"I was right!" She stood excitedly when she rushed downstairs, but froze midway when her eyes fell on Kate. 

"What is she doing here?" Amara asked. Hoping there was some sort of explanation that would make sense. 

"Calm your tits down, Amara. You're still my wife. Kate will now be staying with us." Brandon said nonchalantly.

"Why would I let that happen?" Amara asked, her voice breaking and her heart burning with anger. 

"Because she's giving me the one thing that you couldn't, she's pregnant. Now move!" He pushed her aside and pulled Katherine along with him. 

Amara stumbled a few steps and landed on the floor as she watched her husband take another woman upstairs and broke down into tears.