Fractured Promises

Two lines appeared in the pregnancy test Ellyse had taken earlier. As she stood in front of the big mirror inside her bathroom, she closed her eyes shut before breathing in.

She and Kai already had Claire, their 5 year old daughter who had recently started kindergarten. They can’t have another kid!

Prior to knowing about her pregnancy, Ellyse had plans of filing for divorce. She’d been thinking about it for weeks on end. She doesn’t want to be selfish, she doesn’t want their daughter to have a broken family. However, she couldn’t take it anymore.

Both her and Kai have been trapped in this loveless marriage for 6 years. For years she tried to win his favor by trying be the “perfect wife” for him.

But she’s always met with his cold and dismissive tone.

She’s tired of trying and wants to start living for herself. She wants to be someone who’s more than a wife and mother.

But this…this pregnancy, this can’t be!

With shaking hands, she fishes her phone from her pocket and clicks on her husband’s number.

“Please…please answer the call, Kai,” Her heart was pounding against her chest as if any moment, it would jump out from her ribcage.

However, after one call, Kai didn’t respond. Just like always.

Ellyse tried calling her husband one more time but still, he didn’t respond. In the end, she turns her phone off and breathes out a sigh.

The divorce papers had just been delivered in their house yesterday and she already had her lawyer scan through them. All she had to do was sign it. But now, with a baby on the way, divorce seems to be a bad idea.

She takes the pregnancy test and decides to go to her mother-in-law’s house.

At the Laurent Mansion, Victoria greeted Ellyse with a warm hug. “Ellyse! What brings you here?” Victoria was nice and welcoming, sometimes she thinks of how her son, Kai, is her total opposite.

“Mom…” Ellyse walks over to the couch.

The Laurent Mansion was big and spacious. When you enter, a grand staircase greets you along with multiple antique things like vases, and statues.

“I’m pregnant,” She shows the test to her.

Victoria’s eyes widened in shock as she takes the test from her. Her eyes welled up in joy, knowing that Claire will finally have a sibling. Something that Kai’s family has wanted for years.

“Oh my…have you seen a doctor?” Victoria scoots closer to Ellyse to caress her belly.

Ellyse touches her hand lightly and smiles, “Not yet, but I am planning to.”

“Well then, you should go straight to the doctors after this, okay?” Her hand flew from her belly to her shoulder.

Ellyse nods. That was the plan. But, there was a reason why she came here instead of just callinf Victoria.

“Mom, can I ask for a favor?” She has never once asked her mother-in-law anything involving her son because she didn’t want to force Kai to do anything for the sake of his mother.

But this time, this time it’s different.

“Of course, dear! What is it? You can ask me anything,” She licks her lips and closes her eyes for a minute, braising herself.

“It’s about Kai…” She utters.

Victoria shifts from where she was sitting, “What about Kai, dear?”

I want a divorce…she thought. But, she’s knew better than telling Victoria that. She knew how much Victoria valued their marriage and how much she valued a complete family.

“Can you tell him to go home? He’s been on a business trip in Europe for almost a month now. It would be nice to tell him in person,” Ellyse says as she fiddled with her fingers.

Victoria’s mouth gaped open as she listened to Ellyse. It seems like she was shocked to know that her son hasn’t gone home.

“Have you spoken to him?” She asks, concern lacing her voice.

“Y-Yes, but I don’t feel comfortable asking him to go home,” Because that was their marriage. Communication was never something Kai and Ellyse shared.

They never even had a real conversation before, let alone Ellyse asking him to go home.

“Alright, I understand. I will call him later,” Ellyse gave her a smile before standing up.

“Thankyou, Mom. I really appreciate it,” Ellyse and Victoria exchanged goodbyes before she left the mansion.

When she went to see her obgyn, they performed some tests on her before giving her the result. She was 1 month pregnant.

Indeed, something did happen between her and Kai when he last went home. Kai was drunk and nothing more.

They’d barely done the deed ever since Claire was born. Maybe only five or four times a year? She doesn’t recall clearly anymore since most of the time, Kai would either be drunk or it would be them trying to give Claire a sibling.

After visiting her doctor, Ellyse fetched Claire from her school. Their daughter was already 5 years old and yet she’s still such a small little girl.

“Mommy!” Claire jumped happily before crashing into her arms.

“How was school, baby?” Claire released her from the tight hug before pouting.

“I told you to call me Claire! Not baby! I’m not a baby anymore,” She says with arms crossed, Ellyse chuckled.

“Alright, How was school, Claire?”

“School was boring as usual, Mom. I want to go home and bake cookies!” Ellyse held Claire’s hand as they walked towards her car.

“You don’t have any assignments?” She asks.

“No assignments for today!”

At home, Claire and Ellyse baked cookies happily. Afterwards, she proceeded on finishing her plates for a client. She’s the head of the architect team at one of Kai’s company. She barely sees him there, and no one knows they’re married.

The next day, Ellyse decided to buy vitamins for her baby. She’s already preparing although when she was pregnant with Claire, she didn’t suffer morning sickness as much.

Even though she left two missed calls for Kai, he still hasn’t called her. Ellyse just shrugs the thought off and focused on her errands.

After buying vitamins and groceries, she felt hungry so she drove to a nearby restaurant to eat.

However, much to her surprise, she saw a familiar figure eating inside the restaurant.

That familiar figure was no other than her husband, Kai Laurent. But what’s worse is, he wasn’t alone.

He was with a girl.

He was with his ex-girlfriend, Agatha.