BIG DIVIDE

ALINA

A whole month had gone by since the rug was pulled out from under my feet, and I had yet to make a decision. I still lingered about the house, doing all of the things that I was used to and playing the doting wife even though I knew that somehow I had lost Zach.

Call me psycho, but 10 years was too much to just flush down the drain like it never existed. Zach was my heart and soul. My life practically revolved around him, and just the thought of walking away from what we shared made my insides burn.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mandy's voice sounded like thunder, violent enough to force me out of my moping thoughts.

I turned around to face her. "Excuse me?"

She gestured with her hands to the open doorway of the kitchen where she lingered. "You're quite excused, sweetheart. If I were you, I would sign those papers and leave already. This battle is already lost."

The sadness I'd been feeling gave way to instant anger. "There's no battle, Mandy. Zach is my husband."

She let out a cackle, one that sounded a lot like mockery and grated on every single one of my fragile nerves. "Your husband? Oh, please, Lina."

She pushed away from the doorway and sauntered over to me, dusting imaginary dirt off her palms. "You know, when I first learned of your marriage to a billionaire, I was stunned. I mean, how lucky could you be?"

"Lucky? I wasn't lucky, Mandy. I was in love!"

"With a billionaire? Oh, come on. Who are you kidding?"

I raised my voice, all my emotions littered through the air like poison gas. "What is wrong with you, Mandy? Just one month. I introduce you to my life, and in a single month, you ruin it all?"

"I didn't do anything to you, Alina. You were in love, but that was all you. Zach never felt the same way." She made a tsking sound. "You needed to see the way his eyes practically tore my skirt open that first night when you introduced us over dinner."

"You slut!"

She laughed. "Not all of us are lucky, Lina. Some of us have to work hard for the things that we want, and Zach made it so easy."

The meaning behind her words registered and I stumbled backwards, the knife I had been dicing carrots with dropping to the floor in a loud clink.

"You... you..." I stuttered, unable to get the words out. "You did all of this on purpose."

Acknowledging that thought left a bitter taste in my mouth, and despite the anger inside of me, tears started a languid descent down my face.

"You finally figured it out, huh?" She stopped just in front of the island that separated us and leaned with her elbows against it. "Yes, stumbling into you at that supermarket must have felt natural, but it was all planned. I wanted to meet you, because I was certain that you were still too much of a goody-two-shoes and would help get me closer to your husband. I just didn't expect that his family would be giving you such a hard time or that he would be such a manwhore. That part was far easier than I anticipated."

She smiled at me as she propped a fist under her chin, enjoying the silence and my obvious pain. "What? Didn't think it could happen to you? Believed you and Zach were a match made in heaven?"

"What did I ever do to you?" I asked in a whisper.

"You took everything from me, Lina. My family, my life and my happiness. Now, I'm going to return the favor."

*********

"You played right into her hand, Zach. All of this? It's what she wanted. She came here just to tear us apart." My tone was imploring as we sat around the dinner table, Mandy at his right hand and me at the left.

Zach cast a very degrading look at me and frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"She doesn't love you, Zach. She never has. She's only doing this because she hates me."

A mocking laugh came out of Zach's mouth. "She's carrying my child, Alina. That's one hell of a revenge plan."

My heart sank. "You don't believe me."

"She already warned me about this. I know that it's hard for you to let go, Alina, but what we had is over. And you have to know that if I let you stay here, you will refrain from everything that could make this place unconducive for the baby we have underway."

My gaze swung to Mandy who wore a smirk. She winked at me and suddenly fell into a fit of coughs.

Zach's attention turned to her immediately. "Baby, are you okay?"

Mandy didn't speak, she couldn't. She just continued to cough, fist tapping at her chest and the coughing increased.

Zach got out of his chair and walked over to her, helping her with a glass of water. The coughing ebbed and I assumed that all was well, but I was wrong.

The scheming woman dropped out of her seat, writhing in pain on the floor. "What have you done to me, Lina?" She cried.

My eyes bulged. "What?"

Zach gave me a deadly look then scooped her up and started up the stairs. "Call the doctor now!"

I immediately fumbled for my phone and called the doctor over. He lived very close to our mansion so before long he was here.

"Where are they?" He asked as I swung the door open for him.

I swallowed. "Master's bedroom."

There was a look in Doctor Miguel's eyes. Something that looked a lot like pity. He simply nodded and hurried up the stairs.

I lingered around the door, waiting for news of any kind; praying that this wasn't going to make my life even worse now.

Thirty minutes later, Zach stormed out of the room, his palm connecting with my cheek so hard I fell to the floor. A cry escaped my lips as my fingers clutched the side of my face.

"How dare you?!" His voice shook with fury. "You're such a vile, evil woman."

In the 10 years that Zach and I had been together, he had never once insulted me or raised his hands to me; but all of that had changed. Because of one woman.

Tears fell out of my eyes, my heart was an ugly mosaic in my chest. "You hit me, Zach."

"And you're so lucky I didn't do more than that. I could wring your neck right now."

I forced myself off the floor. "What is wrong with you? We've been together for 10 years and you still have no idea what I am capable of?"

Tears filled his eyes. "I thought I knew you, Alina. But you poisoned Mandy and killed my baby."

"You know this because she said so?" My voice shook with the emotions that clogged my throat.

"You hate her, and you hate the fact that she's going to be the mother of my child. Why would you do this to me, Alina?"

I wiped angrily at the tears that rolled down. I was done. "I'd sign your divorce papers, Zach. Live the lie that you want. You don't deserve me, and you're lucky I'm not charging you with assault."

"Do it, and I'll send you away for murder and attempted murder." His voice was a challenge. "Get lost, Alina. If you ever come back here, I promise, I will make sure you regret ever crossing paths with me."

He walked back into the room and slammed the door shut, completely destroying me in the process. I fell to the floor and gave in to the tears, sobbing like a child.

It was over.