MY POOR HEART

ALINA

"What? He didn’t say anything?" Tatiana asked, the disbelief she felt evident in her voice.

I sighed, unable to hold back the feeling of sadness I'd been cloaked in since Zach's mother and sisters visited us yesterday.

"No. He laughed alongside them."

"That's very unlike the Zach I know. You guys have been together for 10 years."

"Maybe he blames me for our inability to have a child yet." I murmured.

"Why would you say that?" Tatiana scolded. "Did he say or do anything to make you believe that?"

I exhaled a weary sigh. "His mom scolded me for butting in, and then he got mad at me, saying that I shouldn't speak to her that way."

Her fingers closed over my own, giving them a delicate squeeze. "Oh sweetie, don't get upset over it. He's probably just frustrated."

"Since when do you like Zach?" I asked my best friend.

She laughed. "I don't like Zach, but he has treated you right for so many years, and I am grateful to him."

I let out another heavy sigh. "What do you think I should do?"

"Talk to him. Let him know that you're unhappy about the play of events from last night and then you both can work it from there."

I got up and walked around the table, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you, Tati. I don't know what I would possibly do without you."

She laughed softly. "Aren't you supposed to be meeting up with Mandy later today?"

"Oh crap!"

*********

"What the hell? What is going on here?" I asked, my gaze bouncing between the suitcases in the center of my bedroom and my husband who just walked in with a glass of water and some tea.

If Zach was surprised to see me, he didn't show it. He just walked over to the nightstand, placed down the tray, and then turned around to face me.

"Good, you're back. That means you can start packing your things up."

My forehead creased even further, and then his words struck home, sending pain through my bloodstream. "What? What are you talking about, Zach? This is my bedroom."

"Not anymore." He walked past me and towards the walk-in closet, two suitcases in each hand. "I need you to take your things out so that I can make space to arrange these."

"I deserve more of an explanation than that, Zach!" I yelled in frustration. "Whose things are these?"

Without waiting for him to answer my question, I grabbed the last suitcase that was still in front of me and flung it on the bed. My heart hammered within my ribcage as I opened it, hoping against hope that I wouldn't find female clothing inside.

I had no such luck. Inside the box were an assortment of shoes, ranging in a variety of brands, styles, colors, and heel lengths. All of them belonging to a woman.

"Whose shoes are these?" I croaked.

Zach stepped out of the closet. "I didn't ask you to touch that. Step away from it."

I spun around to face him. "Whose shoes are these, Zach? Answer me! I am your wife."

The look he gave me sent chills racing along my spine. "You want to know so badly? These shoes belong to the woman who's going to make me a father, Alina. A feat you haven't been able to accomplish."

The tears I didn't even know had been forming started to trek down my face, the saltiness leaving behind a bitter taste in my mouth that rivaled that in my soul.

"What does that mean? Are you cheating on me?" I knew I sounded like a broken record, but the heartache just made me blurt out stupid questions.

"Open your fucking eyes, Alina!" He yelled. "You've done nothing but take from me since we met. An orphan girl who was poor got married to the heir of the biggest distribution company in all of New York, became a wealthy woman with no skills and no job and not even the one fucking thing that was expected of her!" With each word that he uttered, his voice rose higher.

I shrank away from the rage that spilled from his mouth and eyes, more of my tears falling down my face.

"Who is she?" I asked the only question that I could think of.

"It doesn't matter who she is, Alina. All that matters is that she's capable of doing everything that you cannot."

The tears fell harder, and with it the fragments of my heart. "Is this about what your mother said last night?"

He let out a humourless laugh, his eyes darkening with his rage. "It's always about everyone else, isn't it? What I realise is that she was right, Alina. I need a child, an heir to my empire."

"We can keep trying, Zach. We can..."

He cut me off with a bellow. "I'm done trying! I'm done with you."

"You have two options, Alina, because of all the years we've spent together." Zach threw. "You can stay and be my mistress. I took your virginity, and I know your body better than even you do, so we can continue to please each other. Plus, this house needs someone to take care of it, and you do a good job of that."

Tears spiraled down my face, my heart dropping in fragments down to the floor. "How could you do this to me, Zach?"

He looked down at me, his face contorted with rage and no remorse whatsoever. "10 years, a successful company and no child? Come on, Alina. What do you take me for? A charity organization?"

"You said you loved me." I whispered amidst my tears.

"That was before you made me an item of jest in this city, Alina. Take what I am so generously offering you." He paused and flung a pile of folded papers down at me. "Or you can sign these divorce papers and get lost. I don't owe you anything. You can go back to the nothing that you came from."

As if on cue, the door to the bathroom slid open and a woman stepped out, clad in a robe and with a towel wrapped around her head. "Zach? What's going on?"

Zach's eyes softened as he turned to face her. "Baby. Are you okay?"

The familiarity of that voice tore at my heart, and the affection in Zach's tone made my head hurt; but the pain was far from over. The woman turned to face me.

My lips moved on their own accord. "Mandy?”