Chapter 1: My husband's first love came.

Stella POV

I stood by the window, staring out at the pool, watching my husband rubbing ointment on the stomach of his first love, Mary. My hand slowly rubbed my own pregnant belly and i bit my lower lips.

I can't remember the last time he rubbed ointment on my belly, to prevent stretchmarks . I once thought that after I got pregnant, he would treat me better.

He had started treating me better, massaging my legs and acting like a husband should. But everything changed after Mary, his first love who never reciprocated, showed up two weeks ago, standing in front of our house, pregnant, claiming her husband cheated on her and beat her. From that day onward, my life changed completely.

A soft chuckle snapped out of my thoughts. I looked down and saw Mary wearing a bikini while pregnant, sitting beside Andrew. He was talking to her gently, his voice low and warm, something he never did with me.

I had enough.

I went downstairs to confront them.

How come Mary is in my house and has no decency to dress properly ,and decided to ask my husband to rub Ointment on her stomach, when she is wearing a bikini.

“Andrew, we need to talk,” I said, standing there and they continued their conversation, while ignoring my presence, even though I had been standing for almost a minute.

I felt a silent rage building inside me, but I forced myself to remain calm.

Andrew finally looked up. The smile he had been directing at Mary instantly disappeared, replaced by a deep frown.

This is how the man I married now looks at me ,as if I was a nuisance.

“Can’t you see I’m busy right now?” he huffed in annoyance.

His irritation at my presence was obvious, and it hurt more than I expected.

I gulped.

“What exactly are you busy doing?” I asked through gritted teeth, glancing at Mary, who had a smirk on her face.

She knows clearly that she has won because my husband prefers her presence over mine.

Mary tilted her head and spoke sweetly, like the little pretender and devil she is.

“Oh Andrew, you should go and talk to Stella. She might feel left out, we have been talking for long,” Mary chipped in.

Her words sounded caring, but her eyes told a completely different story.

She was ignoring showing me that I was irrelevant in my own home.

Left out?

In my own house?

That was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard in my life.

Andrew stood up begrudgingly, clearly annoyed, and walked inside. I followed him.

“What do you want to say? Spit it out quickly. I was doing something,” Andrew said.

His tone was harsh and full of annoyance, and I could see he wanted to return to her.

“I am tired, I need a massage. My feet are swollen,"I told him.

It was his responsibility as my husband, to take care of me and provide for me at this vulnerable time.

But he probably wasn't doing that job.

“Ask the maid to do it. I’m busy,” Andrew said, waving his hand dismissively as if brushing me aside.

The gesture felt like a slap to my face.

I arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Did you ask Mary to ask the maid to massage her feet? So why are you saying those words toward me, instead of Mary?” I asked, clearly annoyed by the situation.

My voice shook slightly despite my effort to stay composed.

Andrew frowned at me, his expression filled with irritation.

“I don’t understand why you are jealous. You know what Mary is going through, Her husband was abusing her before she came here. She has no one. You have me, you have your family, so why do you have to act this way?” Andrew asked me in anger as he glared daggers at me.

“Andrew, you know very well that my family lives very far away and you are the only one that I know properly here,”I began.

Even though my family and I stay in the same state, I stay in the village while they stay in the outskirts.

“You know very well that since she came here we have not been able to have a moment of peace as husband and wife ,it has been from one argument to the other and it's all because of her, so why still keep her here?” I asked and I saw him clench his fists.

“Why wouldn't you take her to another apartment, you can easily afford it ,you have a lot of properties. Why bring her back home and cause problems in our marriage?” I asked him as tears stung my eyes.

I never thought that there will come a time where I have to beg my own husband for attention ,just because another woman came to stay with us, when he didn't even ask me before bringing her into our home.

I thought it was something that if she stayed with us that day she came ,he would find somewhere else to keep her ,but he decided to keep her here and cause problems for us.

“Mary isn't going anywhere and that is the end of this discussion, I don't understand how you became this jealous ,maybe it's pregnancy hormones, but get rid of it,I cannot stay with such a selfish person like you,” Andrew said as he unclenched his fists.

He didn’t even wait for me to reply before turning away from me.

He walked back toward the pool, leaving me standing there alone.

We are married, not him and Mary , I thought. I stood there for a long moment, wondering why my husband was acting this way toward me.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by this situation, I decided to go to my room to rest.

Later that day, during lunch, I sat at the dining table eating quietly. Mary and Andrew were talking and laughing together, having a conversation I clearly knew nothing about. They laughed amongst themselves ,as if I didn’t exist.

Then suddenly, my throat tightened.

I began to choke on my food.

My throat burned as my allergies started acting up. I began to feel pain, as I struggled to breathe. I looked up just in time to see Mary smiling.

And in that moment, I knew.

She had put peanuts in my food and I am deadly allergic to peanuts.