It's been two days. Two days since I last saw my husband. I had no choice than to lodge in a hotel when I saw it was getting late.
Thankfully, one of the purses he had thrown at me contained two of three of my credit cards. The third one was in my drawer.
I had to get myself a new phone because my old one was on top of my bedside table when I left. I was hurt but I was also trying to understand that he was angry.
He had seen me with another man and now, I was carrying another man's child. I tried calling him yesterday since I had his number off hand, he had picked at first but as soon as he heard my voice, he ended it and didn't pick again after that.
I was now in a restaurant trying to eat. My baby needed food to survive. Even though I was not hungry, I was obligated to eat for my baby's sake.
I did not like the hotel's food so I found this really nice restaurant close by.
But after toying with the ravioli I ordered, I pushed it away. I lowered my head so no one would see the tears.
"Is the food not to your liking, ma'am?" The young waitress who had served me approached my table.
I quickly used my napkin to wipe my eyes. "No, it's good. I'm just not really hungry." I raised my head but I refused to look at her face.
"I would not mind getting you something else, it will be on the house. We like to make our customers happy." She was really polite but she was not my problem this moment.
The food wasn't as well.
"No, but thank you. Just take away the dish and bring my bill, please." I cleared my throat, still avoiding her eyes.
"If you say so, ma'am." She quietly cleared the plate and went to get my bill.
Events began rushing back into my head but I held back tears. My gaze was stationed on the entrance of the restaurant, watching people come in but not really seeing them.
Until him.
My heart pounded as I blinked to make sure I was seeing clearly. It was him. I would never forget that face.
In the whirlpool of emotions, I threw common sense out the window and rushed up to him. "You!"
He turned a blank expression to me. "How may I help you?"
It was him. "How dare you stand there and act like nothing happened when you ruined my life! Tell me, who paid you? How much were you paid?!"
"What are you on about young lady? Do I know you from somewhere?" His expression now held annoyance and mild irritation.
That made me angry and more tears fell. "You're claiming not to know what happened?! The night of my birthday party?"
I was attracting crowd but I did not care. This man had ruined my life, I had the right to be crazy.
"P-please, I beg you. Come let's go tell Christian I had no hand in whatever happened, p-please." I clutched the lapel of his jacket. "Let's go. You need to tell my husband you were paid."
"Young lady, you're harassing me." His tone was cold and his stare granite.
But I could care less. "You harassed me first! You had sex with me without my consent, my husband knows and now I'm pregnant with this child he doesn't want. You ruined my marriage! I-I hate you!"
He was trying to get me to release his jacket but I only gripped tighter. "I can have the police arrest you, woman!"
I flinched at the low degree turn his tone had taken. I released him automatically. I looked around, everyone was already watching so I had nothing to lose anymore.
I went on my knees. "Please, if you have any conscience, save my marriage. Tell my husband the truth. I swear I won't involve the police just please." I pleading, my voice trembling with tears.
"What is this woman talking about, Mr. Johnson?" A man asked.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Black, I'll have this sorted out in no time. Please, you can take your seats." He told the men beside him. "Get up!"
The tone was low but the command behind it had me getting up quickly. I sniffled. "Will you clear this mess for me, Mr. Johnson?"
He pulled me outside the restaurant. "Are you crazy? Were you sent to ruin my meeting with my clients?"
Despite his angry tone, I felt the urge to retort. "It's just your meeting, you can always have more meetings but I can not have more marriages or more of my husband, can I?! You knew what you were doing when you decided to take advantage of a drunk, married woman who just wanted to enjoy her birthday party!" I stomped my feet in frustration and anger. "You had se..."
He closed the distance between us and held the front of my shirt tightly. "Don't push it with me. I don't hit women but keep up with this attitude, I just might make an exception in this case."
"You..."
"Shut up!"
I clamped my lips immediately, feeling scared of this guy and his menacing aura, alongside hopelessness.
"If I see you anywhere near me, I won't trust myself not to hurt you. You hear me?"
He released his hold on me.
I stared at him. I could not have the wrong person. It was him. Why was he denying me and making things harder for me?
"I understand if you do not want to make a public confession, you can make a private one, Mr. Johnson."
Maybe he was scared of letting everyone know what he'd done.
He gave me the coldest glare ever. "Stay out of my way."
He made to leave.
"What am I supposed to do with this pregnancy all by myself, Mr. Johnson? I sleep in a hotel because my husband won't let me into the house. I just need you to say the truth, clear the air with my husband." I was desperate at this point.
"I won't repeat myself." Then he walked inside.
THREE YEARS LATER...I stood outside in front the prison's huge gate, Zion and Zaya, still having their sibling rivalry, stood beside me. I paid them no mind. The day they would not argue, I would be genuinely worried. Jared stood beside me as I held a cardboard paper in view, waiting for her. "Where is she?" I questioned impatiently.Uncle Pete and Miss Nancy were home, they couldn't come because Miss Nancy had just put to bed a beautiful set of twin boys. The twin gene was really strong in the Johnson family. Celine was due at any moment. Funny right? Dylan had proposed a year after my wedding. Celine was expecting her first child but was advised to stay home and to stress as little as possible. That was what happened when your husband was a big shot doctor.The gates opened and there she was. I beamed.Zion and Zaya, now eight years of age, ran forward in unison, forgetting their meaningless squabble. "Aunt Denise!""Hey!" She opened her arms, stooping to hug them only they wer
When I finally came to, the first thing I heard was the steady beeping of the heart's monitor. I blinked reflexively as the bulb overhead hurt my eyes some. I tried to raise myself to a sitting position but a groan escaped my lips."Hailey." Someone rushed to the bed, helping me to sit up.It was Jared. "W-what happened? I had a dream. A weird dream." I told him, looking quite disoriented. "Really? What kind of dream was that?" He asked, tucking hair behind my ears. "I saw Zaya. Zion was holding her hand and they...they..." Emotions swamped me, making it difficult for me to continue speaking.I swallowed hard, trying to dislodge tears suck in my throat. He heaved a sigh. "It was not a dream, baby. Zaya is alive. I'm as shocked as you are but after uncle Pete and Miss Nancy explained all that happened, I am just thankful she's alive." Emotions rose to his throat. "No." I shook my head, not wanting to believe. "No, no. Zaya died. I saw her body. She...she laid there unconscious an
"Thank you Brenda, you did a superb job." I shook hands with the very pretty bartender dressed in revealing clothes as the cops threw handcuffs around the wrists of drugged, oblivious Philip and Derek.Finally, I did it. Actually, to be fair, I had help. Jared and me had tracked them to the location Denise had provided and it was true. I realized they frequented a rundown bar at this remote area and they were smart to because no one would have ever traced them here."It's my pleasure. Plus, the money was too good to pass up." She seemed pleased with herself. "Just a second." I left her to go get my checkbook and pen from my bag sitting in the car. I returned to her with these, wrote a figure and extended it to her. "This is thank you for a job well done."She took the check, her eyes bulged in both excitement and shock. "This is freaking much! What the hell do I do with so much money?"My eyes did a quick sweep of her work environment, then moved back to her. "You can pursue your dr
"I don't know why you brought me here. You could have come alone." I folded my arms, staring with a displeased expression at the entrance of the police station. "You need this." Jared said, turning off the engine and unbuckling his seatbelt. "Aren't you getting out?""I told you I'm not ready. I don't know what to tell her. I'm not even sure I want to talk to her, I can't forget the fact that she had a hand in my father's death.""Fine. Then don't talk, let me do the talking. I just want you to be available so you can hear the information she has. You want Philip and Derek to pay for what they have done to you, don't you?" He shifted to face me. "I guess." My tone was reluctant."Good, because I want Philip to pay for killing my father." His jaw tightened.I frowned a little. "You've never been this upset ever since...I don't know, he was your father-in-law.""A big mistake. My father's death ruined my family with my mother as an accomplice." His words were bitter to the ears. I pl
I was dressed for the event — a simple tank top and distressed denim shorts. It was time to pluck off another adversary.I opened the door and turned on the lights. "There you are." My smile was anything but welcoming or friendly. "And I thought I smelled a rotten fish." She spat, looking unkempt and dirty. And she was tied to a chair. "Oh, that'll be you seeing as you haven't had your bath in like...well, weeks." I drew a chair from the wall, placed it few feet from hers and sat. "Forgive my lack of hospitality, I've been busy.""It's been a while. What do you want?" Her once shiny red hair was now a matted mess. "Revenge." I simply said. As though on cue, I heard a rap on the door. I opened it to allow Celine and Jared walk in. Jared was carrying a box of things I'd asked for. "You bitch! You think I'm scared of you?" She was trying to act strong but the little quiver in her voice gave her away. "I think you already are." I emptied the contents in the box.I heard her gasp. "
"Room 48." I mumbled, blowing nerves away. I was here and there was no turning back. Uncle Pete and Jared had no idea where I was going. I'd lied about picking some things for Zion from the store. This should be over in no time. I raised a fist and rapped gently but firmly on the door. "Who's that?"Two of the cops had followed me upstairs but were hiding from view. That sounded like the President's voice. I knocked again, cleared my tone in a bit to disguise it and said. "Room service."There was seconds of silence, then the padding of feet coming towards the door. The door opened. "We didn't order any..." The rest of his words were drowned by shock."Hello, Mr. President." I plastered on a smile. "Can I come in?" He was yet to see the cops."Get out." Fear and anger had him growl out those words. He tried to shut the door in my face but before he succeeded, I had a foot stuck between the door and used all of my power to push it open, making him lose balance and fall to the gro