Chapter 2

The first time Kyrell saw Eden, he knew he liked her and wanted to be with her, but it was impossible because now, she was already pregnant with Jace’s child. It was, in fact, the main reason he didn’t attend the wedding. He couldn’t bear to watch Eden get married to a man who didn’t love her while he was hopelessly in love with her.

“Hello, sir?” Kyrell was startled out of his thoughts by Karen, Jace’s secretary.

“Yes, Karen, do you need something?” He asked, slightly embarrassed that he had been caught off guard.

“The boss asked me to remind you about the presentation for the pitch during the meeting with the Conor group.”

“Yeah, sure. Everything’s set; I’m just waiting for them to arrive. Or are they here yet?” Kyrell asked, thinking the time for the meeting had been moved back without his knowledge.

“Not yet; they’ll be here in an hour,” Karen said.

“I’ll see you in an hour then,” Kyrell said, dismissing Karen and returning his attention to his computer.

***

“Ouch!!!” Eden screamed as she allowed herself to collapse on the floor from pain and exhaustion. She’d been pushing herself in a bid to beat time and finish all the tasks Jace left her, but her body refused to cooperate. She hadn’t even made dinner yet, and Jace would be home soon. She made an effort to stand, but only made it worse as pain coursed through her body like wildfire.

“God!!!!” She yelled and fell back to the floor, giving in to exhaustion and pain. She had overstretched herself in a bid to please Jace and avoid his punishments, and now she was paying for it.

She cradled her protruding stomach and let her tears flow freely as she thought about her current situation. How did she even get here? The only crime she seemed to have committed was loving Jace and getting pregnant for him.

Life had been unfair to her for as long as she could remember, and she wondered why it always had to be this way. She could recall the day it all went wrong for her; the memory stayed fresh in her mind like a recurring dream.

***

“Eddie?” Catherine called from beneath the stairs. It was already twenty minutes till the school bus arrived, and Eden hadn’t even had breakfast yet; she didn’t want her to miss the bus.

“Coming, Mum!” Eden yelled as she ran down the flight of stairs to meet her mother.

“Good morning, Mum.” She said breathlessly in that cheerful manner that was common with kids.

“Morning, love, what took you so long?” Her mother asked as she unpacked and restyled her hair into a firmer and neater ponytail.

Eden had just turned eleven two weeks ago, but she insisted on doing everything herself; she never let Catherine do anything for her without persuasion.

“I was just trying to find my socks.” She mumbled as she bit into the sandwich her mother had already served for breakfast.

“Quick, eat up. I don’t want us running late again.” Catherine urged.

“Where’s Daddy?” Eden asked with a mouthful.

“He left while you were asleep; something came up at work, and Daddy had to be there. He says he’ll be home early today.”

Luckily, as soon as Eden was done eating, they heard the school bus honk outside. Her mother kissed her goodbye as she excitedly ran out of the door, completely unaware that it would be the last time she ever saw her mother or any of her parents.

Around lunchtime, her aunt had come to take her from school, claiming Eden’s parents had asked her to take her shopping. It wasn’t until three days later that she was told of her parents’ deaths.

Eden was knocked out of her thoughts by a mind-numbing pain in her abdomen. It halted her ability to think and move for several minutes before darkness took her.

***

An hour later, Jace and Kyrell drove into Jace’s driveway. As soon as he killed the engine, Jace half ran all the way to the front door, eager to see if Eden completed the tasks but hoping she didn’t, so he could make her evening more miserable. Nothing would give him more joy.

“Today was so exhausting, and it doesn’t help that I’m starving.” Jace sighed as he settled himself into the couch.

“Same here, man. I could wolf down two boxes of pizza right now.” Kyrell said as he looked around the living room for signs of Eden.

“Who are you looking for?” Jace asked, a note of irritation in his voice.

“Your wife, of course.”

“What wife?”

“Except you suddenly had amnesia on our way here, then you’re being ridiculous. Eden, of course!” Kyrell replied.

"I will not correct you again; Eden is not my wife. She’s an opportunist who happened to get pregnant for me."

“Why do you always call her these names?” Kyrell asked, trying to hide his growing annoyance.

“And why do you care?”

“Because you’re being a jerk, and she probably doesn’t deserve all this.” He replied.

“Says who?” Jace growled.

“Come on, Jace. Don’t be like that.”

“You seem to like her,” Jace said suddenly.

“She’s a good woman, and every man would want that,” Kyrell said suddenly.

“Even you?”

“Yeah.”

“You sound like a lovestruck teenager right now.” Jace teased.

“What madness has possessed you, Jace?” Kyrell snapped.

“It won’t be too long now; once she’s delivered of the baby, you can have her all to yourself,” Jace said, laughing.

“You’re crazy. I need a drink.” Kyrell said as he walked to the bar.

“I could use one as well, whatever you’re having,” Jace said.

***

“Jace?” Kyrell called as he returned to the living room.

“What is it this time?”

“I haven’t seen your wife since we stepped in, and it’s been like thirty minutes already. You’re sure she’s okay?” Kyrell asked, handing Jace his drink.

“Dude, we just walked in together; how am I supposed to have that information? Wherever she is, I hope she completed the tasks I assigned to her, for her own good.”

“If I remember correctly, you guys have a maid.”

“Correct.”

“So, why’s Eden being assigned tasks?” Kyrell asked, sounding confused.

“She deserved a day off, and I gave her one,” Jace smirked.

“Why?”

“I want Eden to be useful for once.”

“Why the hell would you do something so inhumane?”

“I had to teach her never to talk back at me. I had to show her who’s boss.”

“Dear Lord! You’re unbelievable, Jace.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel bad or something?”

“You turned a pregnant woman into a maid, and you don’t see anything wrong with that?” Kyrell couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.

“Can you stop being dramatic?” Jace said nonchalantly.

“When did you turn into a monster, and how did I not notice?”

“Get over yourself, Kyrell. Like you said, she’s my wife, and I’ll do with her as I damn well please, so stay the hell out of my family’s business. You’re becoming annoying. Now I need to find my wife and ensure that she’s learned her lesson, or I’ll teach her another one.” Jace ended the conversation and stood to leave.

“Eden! Where’s your sorry self? Didn’t you hear me come in?” Jace barked but got no response. So he walked into the kitchen to find her. He chuckled when he saw her lying on the floor.

“Eden! Quit the pretense and get up immediately, or I’ll teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”

Kyrell heard the commotion and stumbled into the kitchen to check what was happening, but stopped in shock. Jace’s leg was slightly raised in the air, and if he hadn’t come in when he did, then he would have kicked Eden.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Can’t you see she’s unconscious?”

Kyrell rushed to Eden’s unconscious form on the floor and shook her gently; when she didn’t move, he put his ear to her chest to see if he would get a heartbeat, and then he checked her pulse. When he confirmed that she was still alive, he gathered her into his arms and hurried out of the kitchen, brushing past Jace but not caring.

Kyrell managed to open the car, and then he gently laid Eden in the backseat before quickly closing the door and getting into the driver's seat. He waited only a few minutes to see if Jace would come out or even offer to follow them, but when he didn’t, he sped away from the building.

As Kyrell drove through the night, he prayed fervently that he wasn’t too late and that he would get to the hospital in time to save Eden’s life and the baby’s as well. As for his friend, he would face him when all was alright.

He didn’t understand why Jace was treating Eden this way; if Jace didn’t care about Eden, he should care about his child. But he intended to find out. With what he had just witnessed, he was afraid that Eden might die at the hands of his friend one day. If that ever happened, he didn’t trust himself to let it go easily.