Chapter Nine

Nicole.

Jack was nowhere to be found when I walked into the party, neither was his mother, sister, or even his ex-girlfriend. With a forced smile on my face, I greeted the ones who paid little attention to me.

To everyone in this room, I’m just a girl whom my husband helped her family from the ground. We may not have told anyone about the agreement but I’m sure most of them in this room know, I mean father’s company suddenly rose from the ashes after our marriage. It’s suspicious and everyone has the right to think that.

“Do you want a glass of wine, Mrs Davenport?” I blinked at the server standing beside me.

“Yes…..No.” I shook my head when I suddenly remembered I was pregnant and pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol.

Gosh, it still feels like a dream to me.

I’m pregnant.

I can’t wait to tell Jack tonight.

I stood in the corner of the living room, watching everyone as they made small conversations between themselves. As the host and the wife of Jackson, I should go around welcoming everyone but I’m not that stupid to do that when this party is all about my husband’s ex.

Since they were nowhere to be found I decided to go look for Jack. I went back upstairs cause the maids told me he wasn’t downstairs and went ahead to check all the rooms. He wasn’t in ours so he must be in his mom’s, sister’s, or as much as I hate it his ex-girlfriend's room.

“Jack.” I called, as I softly knocked on the door—on the guest room door to be precise.

He wasn’t in his mother's or sister's room when I checked so I had no choice but to come here.

I have doubts he would be in here because he wouldn’t be with his ex-girlfriend in a room behind closed doors.

“Jack.” I called again but got no answer.

Wasn’t he inside?

I held the doorknob and twisted it to see if it was unlocked and thankfully it was. I opened the door slowly, peeking inside but couldn’t see anyone. Where the hell is he?

I was about to close the door and leave when I heard someone giggle.

It was coming from the other door which I’m sure is the walk-in closet. The laugh and giggle sounded feminine so I guess it was Laura.

I know I shouldn’t go inside, especially when I can hear a man’s voice coming from the door too. It doesn’t sound like anyone I know so who might that be? I stepped into the room, closed the door behind me, and walked quietly towards the door.

There are two things on my mind right now, one is to leave this room and act like I didn’t just hear Laura talking and laughing with a man. Two is to go in there, see the man she’s talking with, and then tell Jack.

I know it sounds stupid but I’m ready to do anything to make Jack forget about his first love. Once he realized she’d moved on then maybe, just maybe, he would see me as his wife and the only one who could ever love him.

I held the door handle and took a deep breath, I hope I’m doing the right thing.

The door opened without making a sound and the first thing I saw was Laura’s back. She was facing the man she was with so I couldn’t see him.

But they appeared to be in an intimate position, where she had her body plastered to his and his arms wrapped around her neck.

Since I had seen enough, I turned to leave but one particular item on Laura’s male buddy caught my attention. It was a wristwatch, a silver Rolex watch I could recognize anywhere because I bought that with my money.

Was that……

The man must have noticed my presence because he let out a gasp and he pulled back, away from Laura.

“What’s wrong, Jack?” Laura asked and that’s all I need to know that the man holding Laura a while ago was my husband.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.

I saw it. I knew something was going on but I didn’t want to believe it. I want to believe his words and I do because I know and believe he wouldn’t cheat on me.

“Nicole, what… what are you doing here?” He asked, his face looked quite flushed, and was that lipstick on his lips?

Like he could tell I was staring at his lips he quickly cleaned it and cleared his throat.

“I…. I couldn’t find any of you downstairs so I decided to come check the rooms. What are you doing in the guest room, Jack?” I asked again.

He opened his mouth to answer but before he could say something, Laura jumped in.

“He came here so I could adjust his tie.” My eyes went to hers and that’s when I noticed it. Their clothes. They were of the same color, dark blue.

They were both putting on dark blue.

I swallowed the bile and said, “That doesn’t look like you fixing his tie to me.” It certainly does not. He had his arms wrapped around her neck while her body was resting on his, they both looked too cozy.

“Then tell us what it looks like, Nicole?”

I ground my teeth, ignoring the way Laura was looking at me.

“It looked different from the way I saw it. Anyone coming in would think the same.” I said and he shook his head.

“No, anyone coming in would know that Laura here was just fixing my tie. You came up with that assumption because you think I’m doing something with her. Isn’t it, Nicole?”

“Jack—“

“I assure you, there is nothing going on between Jack and me. I was just trying to help him since he doesn’t have anyone to do it.” Laura added.

I want to believe them. I really want to.

But….

“How about the lipstick on your lips? Did that magically appear on them?” I asked,

I watched as they both stared at each other,

“That was a mistake, Nicole. I bumped into him while helping him, we laughed about it and I was just helping him when you walked in.” With your body plastered against his and with his arms around your neck.

I opened my mouth to say something but decided to drop it, I don’t want to sound like a jealous and overly suspicious wife who thinks her husband is cheating because his ex-girlfriend and first love is around.

“Okay.” I will accept this and his tie looked a bit out of place.

“Why were you looking for me?”

“Oh, the party has started and none of you are downstairs to greet the guests.” I left the rest unsaid, and he got it.

“Don’t worry, we will be down soon.” He said and made no attempt to leave with me.

So this is my cue to leave.

It doesn’t matter anymore. For the first time, I feel this calm about his excuses—because I know it’s time to leave this marriage.