Chapter 1: The Betrayal

(Kendall"s POV)

"Right from the moment you stepped into my office, I could tell you are anxious but you've to put your mind at rest."

"Not until I hear the outcome of the result," I replied, taking a glance at the medical charts that hung on his wall and balancing on the seat.

"Hmm! The result of the test we carried out a fortnight ago…" Dr. Ronald, our family doctor, paused as he removed his medicated spectacles, cleaned it and perched it on his nose again.

While he paused, my heart began to pound in my chest and I waited for him to continue but he didn't.

"What was it?" I asked, my voice quavered and I clutched the handle of my bag.

"The result shows you are eight weeks pregnant!" he blurted with lines of ecstasy beaming on his face.

"I'm eight weeks pregnant?" My ears widened in shock and my heart leaped with joy as the anxiety which had engulfed me faded away.

"Dr. Ronald. Are you sure about this? Are you sure it isn't ovarian cancer?"

Ever since I started to have some funny symptoms, I feared I'd be diagnosed with the same disease that killed my mum two years ago.

"Stop fretting, Kendall. It's nothing like that."

He assured and ran his fingers through the stacks of reports on his wooden desk and pulled out an envelope.

"You should have this," he added, stretching forth the envelope to me.

Within the twinkle of an eye, I collected it from him and unsealed it. As I removed and unfolded the test result, I rose on my feet and began to sing praises for I was indeed expecting a baby.

"Thank you very much, doctor. I can't wait to tell Frederick about this good news. He'll be very happy when he reads this result."

"Sure, he will. My regards to him, and I want you to start your antenatal care as soon as possible," he advised, adjusting his black tie which accentuated his gray low-cut hair.

My face lit with radiant smiles as I leaned over the table and extended my hand for a shake which he took instantly.

"Thank you very much for standing by my family all this while. I have to hurry home to break the news to Fred."

"Do not mention it. Have a nice day ahead."

I put the envelope inside my small bag, slung it over my shoulder, and bid him farewell before I headed toward the door.

Immediately after I got out of his office, I proceeded to the reception where tons of patients and family members sardined themselves in front of me with a pen and a paper clutched in their hands.

Even nurses and cleaners weren't exempted; this was the kind of attention I used to love.

They all wanted my autograph, but I didn't have the time to sign any. Everything which was on my mind was to get home and inform my husband and phone my childhood best friend about my state.

"Please, sign my own!'

"I love you, Mrs. Kendall!"

These people chorused in high rhythms, forgetting they weren't supposed to make noises in the hospital, and I signaled to the security men standing at the entrance to help me out.

As the men paved the way for me, I sprinted out of the hospital in my silver high heels and gasped for fresh air when I got outside.

Instantly, I hopped into my red sleek car, flung my bag on the side seat, ignited the car and drove off to home at a full speed.

When I got to the mansion – which used to belong to my parents before I inherited everything including their multi-billionaire company – I didn't park under the shed which was my habit.

I grabbed my bag, flew out of the car, and replied to everyone's greetings with extreme happiness.

Frederick wasn't in the living room when I entered so I headed to his master bedroom where he might be taking his favorite afternoon nap.

Climbing up the staircase, I noticed the door to the bedroom was slightly ajar and I heard some strange muffled sounds. As I moved closer, I recognized the owner of the voice.

It was Anna's. Anna? Didn't she call before I went to the hospital that she was going on a business trip, then why was she here?

"Ohh, she might have branched to check up on Frederick who was her cousin before she goes," said my inner mind.

I wasn't really convinced because she always informed me whenever she was coming to my place after I got married. She gave me privacy as a matter woman.

However, I felt it was a great thing she was here and we'd celebrate the good news together.

As I wanted to enter the room, my spirit told me to hold on and peep and… OMG! I just saw and overheard the worst thing that could ever happen in anyone's life.

My heart shredded into pieces, and I wished the ground could just open up and swallow me. My head thumped with pain and the ecstatic lines that once etched on my face morphed into depressing ones.

I could neither bawl nor guffaw. I just stood at the door, transfixed at the terror displayed in the room. And like a toddler deprived of a lollipop, tears cascaded down my cheeks as my husband, the man I loved, the father of my unborn baby, cuddled with his so-called 'cousin'.

"I told you everything was going to happen the way we planned, baby," Anna confidently said as she rested her head on Frederick's broad bare chest and pecked his lips.

What the heck was going on?! Did any apocalypse occur and she was me and I was her?

"I bless the day you set up the plan and introduced me to her. She was really gullible, to begin with. I didn't even do everything you planned and we've succeeded already," he declared with a smirk.

I couldn't believe that I'd been living with a betrayal and befriending a traitor all these years. Anna had been my best friend right from our High School days and she knew a lot about me.

She was the one who had introduced Frederick to me and because of the trust she had for him, I chose him as my life partner. Though my parents were against him at first when I proposed to marry him, I managed to convince them.

"Why won't she be gullible? Lover girl thought you were in love with her. Do you even remember how she quickly transferred ownership of all her properties to you? It was really funny when you told me."

Anna burst into a peal of mockery and my heart rose with quick breaths and I tried to suppress my tears as I covered my mouth.

This was the reason she betrayed me? Because of the properties my dad had left me before he died on impact in a car accident? Oh My God!!

"I did remember, sweetheart. I was telling you to let us finish her, yet you kept saying no. I could have bribed the maid to put poison in her meal, yunno?"

"No need for all of that. She was going to die of ovarian cancer anyway. Didn't you say she did a test recently?"

"Yeah!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her butt cheeks to his groan and kissed her earlobes.

"Mark my words, she'll cry home today telling you she's been diagnosed with cancer."

Hearing that, I barged into the room and instead of them feeling guilty, they gawked at me with contempt as though they were expecting me and Anna wrapped her hands around Frederick's nipples.

"Crybaby, you should have knocked. I remembered we were taught in school that courtesy was very important," she smirked as Fred moaned at the way she was squeezing his areolas.

I opened my mouth, wanting to say something but the more I wanted to speak, the more my voice was caught up in my throat. I kept crying and I had no idea what to do.

Frederick's voice reverberated around the room as he asserted with annoyance. "Stop disturbing us, please."

"Just get her out of here baby," she ordered and he climbed out of our matrimonial bed.

He said nothing to me, his body reeking of alcohol as I wailed, and before I could utter a sentence, he dragged my arms and pushed me out of the room.

"Your days are over in this mansion and you have ten minutes to pack out of this place, or else, I'll ensure that the security dogs rip you apart," he asserted and locked the door behind him.

*********

"Kendall, this can not be redone. I warned you when you wanted to let him take charge of everything. I knew that stupid boy was with you because of the fortunes," my lawyer uttered and hissed over the phone call.

I sniffled. "Please lawyer, do something. I didn't know he had an ulterior motive for marrying me. Where will I start from, sir? He's sent me out of my parent's mansion."

"Wish I could help, but it's no longer your parents' mansion. The transfer of ownership he signed has authorized him to send you out of there."

"But, can I get the properties back?" I questioned in a croaky voice.

"Dear, I'm afraid you can't. Even if you meet other legal practitioners, this is the same thing they'll tell you. Frederick now owns the mansions and your father's companies, and that can never be redone except he willingly transfers everything back to you."

"Law–"

"I have to go now, Kendall. Got to attend to some clients," he interrupted and disconnected the call.

I've made a great mistake. Love had made me lose everything I had, and it just turned me, who was one of the best programmers in California, into a pauper.

I sank to the floor, bawling as Frederick and Anna rushed out of the room half naked with his fingers curled around her chubby waist.

"You're still here?" she asked with scorn on her round face.

"Her luggages is in the room, don't forget."

I felt like ripping their throats apart but the fear of being prosecuted engulfed me. I jolted upright, wiped the tears with the sleeves of my short red gown, and went into the room to pack my loads.

It was unfortunate that the father of my unborn babies is a scoundrel and he didn't deserve to know of their existence. I'd start a new life in a new country as I wouldn't let it get to the ears of the people who revered me that I'd been jilted.

Bracing myself up, I packed my clothes and ransacked my drawers for my jewelry and some important files like the original and the photocopies of my qualifications.

Since Frederick had frozen my bank accounts, these were my only hopes. I'd sell my jewelry to gather money and apply for a job with the latter.

However, there was a problem.

I couldn't find anything in my drawer. Could they be with these betrayals? I got no answer as I kept scattering everywhere.

"Are you looking for these?" Frederick's voice echoed in the room and I turned to gaze at him as Anna snickered behind him at the door post.

He raised his hands, holding a lighter in his right while my files were held with the tip of his other fingers.

"What?! My life?! Please don't! I forgive both of you for betraying me. But please, don't do this to me." I finally had the guts to talk.

I pleaded and collapsed to my knees instantly. All my pleas fell on his deaf ears and he lit the lighter, and right in front of me, I watched my files, my life, burnt into ashes.

"You did this to me?! What have I done to deserve this from you?!" I bawled profusely, squeezing my fingers into a fist.

"Blablabla! We'll sell your jewelry at a high rate too. You also do not need to worry about the companies. You know I'm very handworking so I'll handle them well, and if anyone asks about you… what should I even say, Anna?"

"Tell them she's dead!"