CHAPTER 1: The other woman

  *ALORA*

    “Gael will be returning home tonight. Go pick him up from the airport. I hope you two can finally be a normal couple now. "

     I sighed, heavily as I read that text from Gael’s father.

He was coming back tonight?

He didn't tell me.

    Well, then again, we barely spoke to each other.

   I sometimes texted and called him to check on him.

But he doesn’t reply to my texts or ever answered my calls.

 We were still married though.

  Would we finally become a normal couple now?

I was holding onto a glimpse of hope that we would.

      Gael’s father and my father were best friends.

      Their relationship was close and even when they got married to their wives, and had children, the two families became closer.

     From a very young age, I was told that I was the perfect match for him.

    When we were kids, we would play together, and even go on family vacations together. We were inseparable.

     Up until now, those were precious memories.

     In high school, Gael would scare all the boys away from me, telling them I was his wife. Back then, I thought he was only joking but when we graduated from high school, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend.

     Of course, I agreed, I had a fondness for him since we were kids and that fondness grew to be love.

Our families were ecstatic when they heard that we were dating. 

      Our parents said a wedding between the Torres and the Ramos would strengthen both families' businesses.

       Gael and I weren't together at that time because of business. We were together because we were in love.

      That was until Camila came along.

I met Camila in high school. She was a quiet girl who barely spoke but when I got to know her, I thought she was nice and humble.

    We clicked so well and we became best of friends. We told each other everything. There were literally no secrets between us.

     Camila was from a middle class family, she got into my school on scholarship so I always tried to help her when I could. I wasn't helping her because I felt sorry for her. I helped her because I loved her as a friend and I didn't want her to suffer.

     But little did I know that all that while, she had her eyes on Gael.

    On our first year in college, on one summer holiday, I was sick and couldn't go on the school trip.

Gael and Camila wanted to stay back and care for me but I didn't want them to miss the trip.

I wanted them to go and give me all the exciting stories of what would happen on the trip.

If I had known, I would have told Gael  to stay back. Afterall, he had looked reluctant about going without me.

       Up until this day, I have no idea what happened on that trip but I know that Gael totally changed when he came back.

He was no longer the person I had known since childhood. He became so cold to me and three months after that, he told me he had fallen out of love with me.

He told me he wanted to be with Camila now.

I was crushed.

I couldn't accept it.

I loved him so much and then I did something stupid.

I summoned our families and vowed to kill myself if they didn't make him marry me.

   Our families, especially his family were furious that he wanted a breakup. They couldn't accept it.

     And then they threatened and forced him to marry me. I thought when I got him to marry me, he'd rekindle his past feelings for me. I thought it might make him love me again.

But I was wrong.

   On our wedding night, he said to me.

"Forcing me to marry you only made me hate you, Alora. I have not the slightest bit of affection left for you. We'll only be married on paper. This will be an open marriage. You can be with anyone you want. I won't interfere and I can be with Camila and you won't interfere as well. I want nothing to do with you. "

    Even if three years had passed, I still remember every single word he said that night.

I was in total despair.

How could his feelings change?

He promised to love me forever but now he wanted my best friend?

It was very hard for me to accept that fact.

     And I got even more heartbroken when Gael applied to go abroad and continue his studies, taking Camila with him.

     I knew that was just an excuse to go with Camila to another country without his family trying to tear them apart.

     It's been three years since he left with 

Camila. His family had been trying to pressure him to come back and I guess they finally succeeded.

     I sighed and stared at the ceiling.

His family was still rooting for us to rekindle old flames.

   Would we?

Was he still so much into Camila?

Would he finally tell me what happened on that trip?

Would he finally become the sweet Gael I know?

 I still loved him.

My phone beeped. I quickly sat up when I saw his name on the screen. He finally sent me a text after all these years.

    I quickly tapped on it. It was a picture. A picture of a woman’s belly with his head on it. No one needed to tell me that was a baby bump and it seemed like Gael was trying to listen to the baby’s heartbeat.

 I swallowed when I read the text underneath.

Gael : I’m sure my family already told you that I’ll be back tonight. Don’t get any ideas and don’t even dare to continue making them send threats to me. As you can see, Camila is pregnant and so I have to be there for her and our baby. Know your place.

That instantly crushed what was left of my heart.

Camila was pregnant?

She was carrying his baby?

So he was never coming back to me. Tears spilled from my eyes as I recalled all the memories of us. From childhood, to our teens and then adults.

     We were so happy together. I was the only woman for him and he was the only man for me. How did I become the other woman?

Why?

  My body trembled with heartbreaking sobs. I was crying so hard, to the point that I was finding it hard to breathe.

     I just couldn’t understand how I became the other woman!