Engagement

Nina's POV

No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that I was home, I just couldn't. I walked down the air stairs taking in my surroundings while my mother gestured at the housekeeper who strolled in.

“ Young madam,” all I did was nod, my stomach was beginning to bulge and everything treated me like I was an egg, soft and tender to hold.

I knew that it was all that I wanted but that side of me just couldn't stay still, all I wanted to do was talk to Ryan, let him know what he thought, but I knew that he didn't care, he had never cared and that wasn't going to change.

“ Nina,” my mother called, startling me from the daydream I was having. “ You should come in, the doctor is waiting for you already, and he is here to examine you. You know nothing must happen to the child in your stomach.”

“ Children” I corrected. My mother came to a step, gazing at me. “ Yes, I am pregnant with twins.” I said to her.

She stood deep in thought for a jiffy before she asked “Does he know?”

I shook my head. “ He doesn't know. Never did.” I answered.

My mother had discussed how unhappy I looked while we were still up in the air, she had kept asking me what happened, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell her what exactly it was.

She wouldn't judge, she loved me too much to do that. A single mother who had fought tooth and nails to get me all to herself. I could recall when the foster care tried to take me away from her.

They had done so, but she had done everything possible to work so hard and get me back years later.

She had started a cosmetic company which had accelerated in years, with branches across the country and had done everything to keep it going.

When she wanted me to get married to a co-business owner's son, I had refused, letting her know that I didn't want to, I made sure she knew that I loved Ryan and that wasn't going to change.

She had kept drumming it into my ears, until she had no other option than to let me go, but she hadn't attended the wedding, that was the first time I had known that she didn't want me going against her wish.

I had done so on countless occasions, and being friends with Reina had made her ecstatic. She loved it when I became friends with people who were already known and huge, she called them connections, the very vital ones and even when Ryan was huge, she didn't like him.

I had thought she would end up coming through later on, but as years passed, her disapproval had only worsened, and I couldn't get why exactly she hated him, but she did.

“ It is good that he doesn't know about them, we will bring them up in here, and they will bear my name, that would be better than having them use his name” she snorted before wiping off the chills on her arms.

As though they hurt, she shook her head handing her bag to the housekeeper who accepted it, before hooking her arm around me.

“ Let's go, you should look forward to working in the company once you give birth to your kids. It is time that you take the rein.”

All that I gave her was a wry smile, while my heart stayed conflicted and my head hurt. “ I need to sleep. I will place a call to Reina when I am awake, I am sure that she is worried sick.”

She clicked her tongue. “ Don't, don't do so yet. We should get you settled in, make sure the kids are fine and also, how are you sure she wouldn't say a word to Ryan?”

I shook my head. She wouldn't do so.

“Reina wouldn't do so. I would like to have her by my side when I am about to give birth. I am sure that having her close by would help me heal even faster.” I gave my reason.

Peeling my mother's hands off, I took in a deep breath when the house came to view.

It was a Victorian style house that had its edges pointing to the sky. Painted rose gold and silver, I slipped on a smile as the memories of me running on the pathway came up again.

Its latticed window ran so high that when the scent I had always remembered hit my nostrils, it stirred up warmth in me.

A huge silver chandelier hung above, pinching the high ceiling, huge silver drapes flowed from the ceiling to the ground, and it was a different color from what I remembered last time.

Blue cushions spread across the room, and the stairs, spiraling as I could recall, made me nostalgic.

“ It is the same as I had always remembered. Although there have been changes, I love it still.”

My mother beamed at me before glancing at her wrist adorned with a Cartier wristwatch. “ I have a meeting to attend in minutes from now. You will be fine, the housekeeper is around and whatever you need is in the house. I will be back soon. I will keep it quick because I know that you need me”

I pushed her on. “ You should leave. I will be fine.” I nudged at her toward the door, watching as her steps retreated before they faded away.

I sank into one of the couches when I was alone, thoughts swarming through my head.

The housekeeper stood nearby, not knowing whether she were to pat me on the shoulders or let me be. I saw her as she placed a hand on my shoulder, waiting to pat it before I stood up abruptly, pushing myself up the stairs.

I couldn't afford to be weak around them, they gossiped and gossips flew faster than anything anyone could think of, and I certainly didn't want to be the one they would end up talking about.

My room was still as I left it. Dainty and neat, although I could tell that there had been renovations recently, everything had been left intact.

My hands slipped to my phone where I could see countless texts of Reina asking where I was to Richard messaging to make sure that I was fine.

Richard. He had hurt Reina, he had broken her, and now he was infatuated with her. He didn't have a say unless she gave her go ahead, and he was putty whenever he was with her. That was something I wished that I had. What they shared and the good part.

My heart sledged while I plopped on the bed. A silent sob wrecked through my body, my hands smoothening my stomach gently while I sang to the kids. My kids.

They were the blessing I had never expected, and I was going to make sure they were fine.

My phone dinged, a long text creeping up and when I saw it was Ryan, my eyes swept through immediately. He was sorry, he was apologizing, and he wanted me back.

I felt conflicted as I tried not to text him back, my hands clicked away on the keypad wanting to tell him where I was when the TV came up showing his engagement with a young heiress.

His smile was so wide that I clenched on the phone. Thorns pierced through my heart, wriggling it in until I slammed the phone against the TV, making sure it had a dent on his face.

My hands slipped on my stomach when it ached. He had never smiled at me that way, he had …my eyes went dim when I felt a trickle down my leg and a shriek raced out of my lips as I dropped to the ground, darkness enclosing me.