Chapter 3: The Unexpected Decision

*Sarah*

There was absolutely nothing I could have done as I watched Clarissa and Leonardo, Adrian's sister and brother, abuse me before Adrian; after all, this wasn't their first time doing it.

At first things weren't like this because of Adrian's father who despite the scandal still treated me like his real daughter in law, but after he passed away, Adrian's sister and younger brother took it upon themselves to be showing up at Adrian's house just to torment me and also remind me that I am a filthy opportunist who took my sister's place and got married to her boyfriend.

After two years of torment and verbal abuse from them, I have already gotten used to it, and one of the things I'm always grateful for is the fact that they can't lay their hands on me no matter what. The last time Clarissa had tried attacking me, Adrian had thoroughly warned her to say whatever she wants to me but to never lay her hands on me, as he didn't want to see me with any bruises.

This had even been one of the reasons why I had thought that Adrian loved me, but unknown to me, he had only told his sister that because my stepsister had thought him that a good husband would never allow anyone to lay his hands on his wife or even bruise her.

"Adrian, how could you have agreed to such a stupid request from her? Did you even discuss this with Melissa before agreeing?" Clarissa asked Adrian, not minding my presence.

"Sis, please," Adrian said to his sister with a deep sigh.

"No, Adrian, don't tell me that. Do you know how many of my friends I have told about your upcoming wedding with Melissa? And now because of this good-for-nothing woman who doesn't have any place in our family, you are going to postpone the wedding," Clarissa said to Adrian while fuming in anger.

"Me too, I have also invited many of my friends," Leonardo added with an angry tone.

Hearing about the wedding that had already been organised even before Adrian and I fully got divorced, I couldn't help but smile bitterly. I have known that Clarissa hated me so much, but the last thing I had imagined was her organising a wedding for her brother and his ex-girlfriend while both of us were still legally married.

"But ma'am, Adrian and I are still married, so why did you still go on and organise a wedding for him without waiting for us to finalise our divorce?" I asked her, as I couldn't hold myself back.

"And who the hell do you think you are to question my decision?" she thundered angrily at me. "Or is it because Adrian agreed to spend one more month with you that you now think that you can talk to me anyhow? You aren't even ashamed to beg my brother for his love and care, you shameless woman," she spat angrily at me, and at the same time I immediately regretted asking her the question; after all, Adrian is her younger brother and since when their mother passed away, they all saw her as their mother since she was the oldest, so she has every right to tell him what to do.

"Sis, that's enough, and you should really stop talking to her like that. After all, I was the one who asked her to ask for whatever she wanted as compensation, and if it's in my power, I will give it to her, and since what she asked for is in my power, I'm going to give it to her. And as for Melissa, I'm going to talk to her about this, and I'm sure she's not going to be against it. If my three years of marriage with Amelia couldn't separate both of us, then I don't think it's one month that is going to," Adrian said to his mother, making it clear to me once again that our three years of marriage not only didn't mean anything to him, but also didn't have any effect on the love he had for Melissa.

"Well, if you say so, no problem then. I hope whatever evil plan she has in mind for the one month she requested to spend with you won't affect your relationship with my future sister-in-law," Clarissa said to Adrian while glaring angrily at me.

"That will never happen," Adrian said to her, his tone full of conviction, a conviction he never had whenever he spoke about our relationship with anyone.

"And one more thing, Sis," Adrian continued. "I don't want you guys to be coming here again till the end of the one month I'm going to be acting as Amelia's husband," Adrian said to his sister and brother, taking them aback. Even me, I couldn't deny that I was shocked by such a request.

"What!" His brother replied firstly.

"What did you just say?" His sister asked him, not believing her ears.

"You heard me right Sis, Amelia asked me to treat her like a real husband for one more month, and that's exactly what I want to do, and there's no way I'm going to be able to do that if both of you keep on showing up here every time and getting into a fight with her. After all, no real husband would want to see his wife getting into a fight and also being abused by his brother and sister every time," Adrian said to Clarissa and Leonardo.

"What the hell are you talking about bro?" Leonardo asked Adrian with a displeased tone. "Don't tell me you are choosing her over us…

"Yes, Adrian, are you choosing this good-for-nothing woman over us?" Clarissa asked Amelia while fuming in anger.

"For crying out loud, Sis, I am not choosing her over you guys; had she asked for a huge amount of money, I would have given it to her, but since this is what she wants, I will make sure to play my role of a loving husband to the full so that after the divorce, I won't be owing her anything," Adrian said to her mother and sister, who were now glaring daggers at me, but I remained silent without uttering a single word due to how surprised I was.

For the past three years we were married, this was my first time seeing Adrian making a decision that favours me over his family, and I must admit that I was amazed.

Even though I knew that he wasn't doing it because of me but rather to acquit himself after our divorce, I was still happy about it. At least aside from the memory of him feeding me, I will also take the memory of him choosing me over his family to the grave, and also the priceless look on Leonardo and Clarissa's face when he told them about his decision.

"You good-for-nothing woman," Clarissa yelled angrily while pointing at me, and also attracting the attention of the passerbys. "You better not start having any ideas; anything my brother agreed to do for you is just to recompense you before he throws you out to the street where you belong, so you better make sure that at the end of the one month, you get the hell out; if not, I will kick you out myself," Clarissa said to me before turning towards Leonardo.

"Let's get out of here; after all, your brother is now restricting us from coming to his house because of his good-for-nothing wife. How I wish Mum was still alive to hear about this rubbish" Clarissa said to Leonardo before hissing angrily, and with that, both of them turned and stormed away angrily with their trolley.

"Thank you," I said to Adrian after the departure of his brother and sister, and with that, he turned and looked at me with squinted brows.

"Thank you for what?" He asked me.

"For agreeing to my request and for the decision you made today in my favour," I said to him, and with that, he scoffed at me.

"There is no need to thank me for anything, and I also didn't make any decision in your favour; I'm only playing my part of a loving husband, or isn't that what you want?" He asked me, and at the same time, he received a text message on his phone, and on checking it, he smiled before turning and walking away without telling me where he was going.

“Are you going somewhere?” I asked as Adrian turned to walk away after checking his phone.

He didn’t respond immediately. He took two steps forward, then stopped before slowly turning to face me, the same faint mockery smile hovering over his face, the kind he had worn ever since agreeing to act like a loving husband for one month.

Normally you have no business knowing where I'm heading to," he began. "But since you are now my lovely wife, I will tell you, I'm going to see your sister, so don't bother waiting for me," he said to me before turning to walk away again, but he was immediately stopped by my voice.

“But you said you would act like a real husband,” I said quietly. "And a real husband won't abandon his wife at a supermarket just to go and see his ex-girlfriend," I said to him, and with that he furrowed his brows slightly, clearly not expecting that.

For a moment, he said nothing. The silence stretched between us, heavy and uncertain. Then he exhaled sharply and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“You’re really stubborn,” he muttered as he walked back toward me. “Fine. I’m not going anywhere,” he said to me as he took the trolley and followed me from behind.

Even though I knew deep down that all this wasn't real, I was still very happy, because on the same day, Adrian firstly chose me over his family, and afterwards, he also chose to spend time with me instead of going to see Melissa.

That night, we lay on the same bed, side by side, closer than we had ever been since our marriage began. He was unexpectedly gentle, his arm resting lightly around me, his touch careful, almost restrained, as though afraid I might break.

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to believe in the illusion.

Things almost went further. His breath brushed against my skin, warm and hesitant until suddenly, a sharp wave of sickness crashed over me. My body stiffened, nausea twisting painfully in my chest, my vision blurring.

I pulled away instinctively.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice lower, concerned.

“I’m fine,” I lied quickly, forcing myself to sit up even as my body screamed otherwise. “I just need some air.”

The moment passed. Whatever could have happened between us dissolved i

nto silence.

That night, we slept in the same bed, but nothing more.