Chapter 2: The Mistress Arrival

Beverly POV

First came the ringing in my ears sharp and endless then the stars swimming violently in my vision.

The slap came so fast I never saw it coming. One moment I was listening to a woman speak from his phone, the next my face was burning, my head snapping to the side. Yet the pain on my skin was nothing compared to the words that had landed just before it.

I hit the floor hard.

Tears flooded my eyes as my body folded in on itself, my palms scraping the tiles while my mind struggled to catch up.

A baby girl.

Another woman.

In that moment, it felt like the air had been ripped straight out of my lungs. My chest tightened painfully as I gasped, sucking in shallow breaths that did nothing to calm the panic clawing at me.

I had known he was cheating. I’d known for a long time.

Ever since he started calling me unattractive. Ever since he said my weight made him sick to his stomach. Ever since he told me he couldn’t bear to share a bed with me that he wouldn’t touch me until I lost weight.

The entire time I never complained I swallowed it all.

But then commitment to another woman? A child?

A child—the very thing I had just lost barely a year ago?

“Marcus… you're expecting a child?” I finally managed to lift my tear-streaked face to him as I stood on my feet.

The look he gave me was cold. Empty. It slid over me like I was nothing more than something unpleasant he’d stepped on.

“And so?” he said flatly. “At least now you know. I don’t need to hide it anymore.”

The casual way he said it like he was talking about the weather killed something inside me. Over and over again, I felt it break.

How had my once sweet and loving husband turned into this man standing over me?

A broken sound tore from my throat before I could stop it. Sobs wracked my body as my shoulders shook violently.

“Marcus… how could you?” I wailed, my heart squeezing painfully with every word.

“How could I?” His expression barely shifted, even as he watched me fall apart. “Seriously, are you trying to pin this on me?”

“Marcus, I’ve always loved you,” I cried. “I did everything you wanted even with all your shortcomings I still did my best to please you and yet...?.”

“And whose fault is it that I don’t love or find you attractive anymore?” he roared, so loud I flinched violently. “Yes—tell me! Who got fat and ugly that I couldn’t even bring myself to touch her anymore?!”

My chest heaved.

“And you think the best you could do was this?” I sobbed. “Get another woman pregnant while we’re still married?” I rasped out but he didn’t answer Instead, he turned his face away from me dismissive and detached like I wasn’t worth the effort.

I sniffed hard, forcing the words out despite the lump in my throat.

“Marcus… our son just died. It hasn’t even been a year. You couldn’t even respect him—”

“No. Don’t do that.”

He cut me off sharply, shaking his head as his cold eyes snapped back to mine. I swallowed.

“Don’t bring Tristan into this,” he growled. “You hear me don’t you dare bring the same child you killed with your carelessness and use him to emotionally brainwash me.” He spat his jaw locked tight in immense anger and fury.

The words hit me like a blade to the chest.

My heart sank even deeper as those familiar accusations crashed over me once again. Since the tragedy, Marcus had never missed a chance to remind me over and over again that our son’s death was my fault.

Heaven knew it wasn’t entirely true.

The circumstances surrounding Tristan’s death had been complicated triggered by alots of things I still couldn't understand or explain till this day but because I was the mother, the one meant to look after him the blame naturally fell on me.

It always did but If I could turn back the hands of time, I would sacrifice anything I repeat anything myself even just to prevent it from happening.

But Marcus had refused to see that, he'd refused to listen to any explanation I had to give and just chose to believe I caused it.

Over the years, I had swallowed the blame in silence and if it were to be in the past I'd have but not today. Today was different because this wasn’t just about a dead child anymore.

He had done something that hurt just as deeply.

“You know that’s not what I’m trying to do,” I whispered brokenly when I finally found my voice My hands trembling beside me. “God forbid I ever use my son against you. But this, Marcus… this?”

“You should have seen this coming.”

His voice remained no less indifferent and nonchalant likewise the expression on his face as he reached for a shirt from the wardrobe besides us, slipping his arms into it and buttoning it up slowly. His movements, just so calm and controlled for someone in the middle of an argument.

“Yes, you should have known this was bound to happen,” he continued coldly. “From the moment you couldn’t keep a child but could only keep adding weight—Heaven knows I tried to love you again like I used to, Bev. But you seriously suck at everything you do and all you do is turn my stomach instead of excite me.”

He glanced at me briefly just as he finished buttoning up, eyes void of anything human.

“That’s why I did this. So instead of blaming me, fix yourself.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

I collapsed completely. My body crumpled to the floor as sobs tore out of me uncontrollably, his words echoing in my head long after the door slammed shut.

I didn’t know how many hours passed before exhaustion finally dragged me into sleep.

When I woke up, the room was dark and unbearably cold. My body ached as I blinked groggily, my head pounding as though someone was beating a drum inside it. I looked at the wall opposite me and the wall clock stared right back at me with the time reading.

8:00 p.m.

I groaned and pushed myself up slowly into a sitting position, confused about how I had ended up sleeping on the floor in the first place. The memories came rushing back at that Instant sharp and unforgiving of how Marcus’ words had wrecked me even after he left and all I could do was resort to crying until sleep eventually took me there on the floor.

I stood finally though not without much struggle as the spot where I had hit my foot earlier still stung but I pushed past the pain and limped out of the room.

Marcus wasn’t home the unusual silence in the atmosphere told me that obviously he had gone out after our fight earlier.

The house was just as I had left it that morning clean and sparkling except for the dining table where the plates I had served him earlier still remained, untouched, as if mocking me.

I hurried over to pack them up immediately, then proceeded to washing them in the kitchen, the pain in my foot tried to act as an hindrance the entire time as I worked but I didn't let it.

Once done cleaning, I turned to leave for the bedroom straight away already feeling tired and exhausted one of the disadvantage of being fat but then the sound of an engine revving into the driveway stopped me in my tracks.

My heart jumped violently.

 Marcus was back.

I moved toward the window, dread tightening in my chest somehow seeing him again stirred different emotions inside me fear, pain, confusion all of it as I thought about what had happened between us earlier.

What was going to happen now?

The news I had discovered today was going to change everything about our marriage definitely and honestly I don't know what to think.

Life with him had already been unbearable before but now there was another woman and a child in the picture what's would be his plan for me.

Would he divorce me?

I was still lost in my thoughts when the driver’s door opened and he--Marcus stepped out, tall and still so devastatingly handsome as always. The same face I had once loved though now my nightmare.

But he didn’t head for the front door like I'd expected Instead, he walked around to the passenger side.

My breath caught as my eyes followed his movement and that was when I noticed something my overthinking hadn't made me noticed earlier.

There on the passenger seat sat a very beautiful woman posture confident and relaxed as if she was a queen while Marcus moved to opened the door for her like a perfect gentleman something I couldn’t remember him ever doing for me.

But more than the shock of seeing Marcus acting sweet to another woman It was the face of the woman as she slowly climbed out from the car that really hit me.

Vanessa Dews.

My heart skipped painfully as the recognition hit me.

Of course there was no mistaking to her she was the woman who had made my years in college hell for reasons I don't know and not just that she was also his ex-girlfriend. The one who had ditched him and went overseas for reasons only God knows… the one whose absence had finally given me a chance with him after years of crushing on him in silence back then.

It had taken years—years of effort and patience, and his mother’s support—to win Marcus over after Vanessa break-up as it happened he had been so madly in-love with her given she was his first love...something like that but in the end I had won him over.

But now she was back and not just on another other time but at the the worst possible moment just when my marriage with Marcus was about to hit rock bottom.

What the hell happened when and how did they get back together?

My breath hitched as realization dawned slowly.

The woman from the other end of the line, the mother of his baby?

It couldn’t be her… could it?

The front door opened at that instant and I turned to see Marcus leading her in. One arm wrapped around protectively and possessively around her waist, the other pulling a suitcase behind him.

My heart dropped as they headed for the stairs without Marcus sparing a glance at me.

“What’s going on here, Marcus?” I couldn't help but blurt out even though it was obvious what was going on but I was just too hesitant to accept things as expected he ignored me but I didn't give up as I forced my way to their front just before they could climb up the stairs.

“Marcus!”

“Are you really going to act daft after everything we talked about?” he finally stopped to look at me his eyes raking me coldly but I wasn't detered.

“Yes we talked about a child,” I cried out my voice shaking. “But not you bringing your mistress into our home when we’re still married!” By now I could feel the corner of my eyes burning with tears but I didn't dare let them fall because I didn't want them to see.

“Married?” Marcus intoned with a scowled, from his side Vanessa let out a disdainful scoff but didn't say anything I ignored her though.

“Really you call this a marriage?" He raked a finger through his hair frustrations and disgust tangling in his voice and expression as he spoke. "Jesus, Bev. I’m one step away from kicking you out of my life, so don’t f**king push me.” He growled and with that shoved me out of the way.

But just before they'd fully mount the stairs Vanessa finally spoke. “That might be a bit rash, babe. Maybe give her time to absorb things since she's clearly slow to do so.” Though her voice sounded sweet but the mockery in it was obvious as she turned to smirked briefly at me when Marcus wasn't looking.

I balled my fist in silent fury as I glared at her of course she didn't have to say much just one words from her was enough to throw me off just like it did in the past.

"It's okay you don't have to feel sorry for her" Marcus nodding dismissively fortunately saved me from the moment. “She’s not worth it.”

His words stung me deeply but in the end all I could do was watch with balled fist and heart constricting painfully as they climbed the stairs together like a perfect couple.

“One more thing,” Vanessa said suddenly, turning back. “Move your things to the guest room. I won’t be sharing a bed with you. It's bad enough that I'm sharing him” She sniped.

Her words struck like a blade twisting into me deeply and so full of authority as if she owned the house and hell I never saw it coming I looked at Marcus, desperately for help at least the last thing he'd do would be to let a mere outsider throw me his legal wife out of our matrimonial bed.

But heck that was my biggest mistake if I thought he was actually going to help me I was in for a shock because his face didn't change.

“You heard her,” he said flatly. "She doesn't want to share a bed with you so do well and move your things"

Just like that they disappeared down the corridor while I stood there, frozen.

And in that moment, I knew I had lost my husband.