Married but not loved. After getting pregnant, Tessa returns to the life of her ex-husband. Not only to seek revenge on Darius, but to steal him away from his mistress, Martha. Will she succeed now that the two are married and have a child?
View MorePrologue
I stood in front of our bedroom door, pacing back and forth, while my husband, Darius, was busy packing his things inside. My eyes were wet with tears, my heart breaking with pain.
"Martha... I'm on my way."
Hearing that, I rushed inside. I found him just finishing packing, so I stopped. My heart felt like it was going to explode with pain as I thought about him leaving me for Martha... his mistress.
When he was finally done, he turned to the door where I was. He paused for a moment when our eyes met, but he seemed indifferent to my tears and walked past me.
Each step Darius took towards the door felt like a stab to my heart. I closed my eyes, trying to hold back the sobs that wanted to escape my lips.
"Where are you going?"
He stopped walking. He didn't answer, so I ran to him and tried to get his attention.
"What? I'm talking to you!"
He sighed deeply. "You wouldn't want to know."
I bit my lip tightly. My lips were trying to hold back tears, but my heart was screaming with pain that I couldn't control.
"Let's talk, please."
"I need to leave, Tessa."
"It's not my fault. She's lying!" I took his hand. I was about to kneel just to make him listen to me.
Darius closed his eyes as if he was holding back his own anger. I knew Martha had poisoned his mind, but I didn't want to give up. I wanted to make him understand that I was innocent. That everything was just Martha's fabrication!
"Let me go, Tessa."
"Tell me where you're going first!"
"To my mistress!" He opened his eyes and met mine directly. "To the woman I love! To the woman who should be with me now, but because of you, we were separated!"
I slowly let go of his hand. The pain I felt couldn't be described in words. It felt like the dreams I had built in my heart for us were shattered. No sweet words or beautiful things could ease this pain.
"Don't leave me!" I shouted as he tried to leave the room. He didn't listen, so I quickly followed him.
"She needs me, Tessa."
"I'm pregnant!"
He suddenly stopped. "And if it wasn't for that child, I wouldn't stay here!"
I felt my knees trembling at his words. "Darius... did you ever love me? Even a little... just a tiny bit?"
He swallowed several times as if something was stuck in his throat. "Let me go, Tessa. This is the least thing we can do for her."
My fists clenched at his words. I wiped away my tears and moved closer to him. "No! I'm your wife, I have the right to you! Only me!"
At my words, his eyes hardened. "Tessa, let go."
"I don't want to!"
"Martha is in the hospital right now because of you! If you have any conscience left, let me go!"
He pushed me, something I didn't expect, so even though his push wasn't strong, I lost my balance and fell to the floor.
"She needs me."
I held my stomach as Darius turned his back on me. There was a sharp pain there that I couldn't bear. "D-Darius, my stomach hurts."
He stopped at the doorway but didn't even look back at me.
"Our baby, Darius!"
"You're using that child again to get what you want!" he said, his voice low but firm.
I shook my head, my eyes closed. "I-it really hurts! Ahh!"
My hand rose in the air, trying to reach Darius. Even though it was impossible for my hand to reach him... just like our situation now, I'm his wife, I'm the one he's married to, but I'm not the one he loves. And he can't choose me.
"Martga needs me, Tessa. She needs me more."
My vision started to blur. I gathered the remaining strength in my body, gasping for breath, and shouted, "Don't leave, Darius!"
I suddenly stopped when I saw a little blood flowing on the floor. When I followed where it came from, I saw that it was coming from me.
"B-baby... Darius... o-our baby..."
I lost consciousness.
Tessa's POVMy hands were shaking as I stood in front of Manang Cecil, waiting for what she would say. She couldn’t look at me, her head bowed, her eyes fixed on the floor.“Why did you say that, Manang? You were there! You saw everything! Why did you lie?!”“I-I’m not lying. I-I saw you… you pushed M-Ma’am Martha.”I stepped closer and held her tightly by both arms. “That’s not true! Please, don’t lie! I know you saw everything!”Tears ran down my cheeks when she turned her eyes away from me, as if she had no plans to tell the truth about what she saw.“I know now.” I nodded several times. “Martha paid you to do this, didn’t she?”This time, she lifted her gaze. “No.”“That’s right! She paid you! That’s why you two were talking last night! She paid you to lie and blame me!”“N-no!” she insisted in fear.We were still in the middle of our argument when I heard a car stop outside the house. A moment later, Darius walked through the door.I ran out of the kitchen but didn’t go near him.
Tessa's POVI stayed silent for a long time after what Darius said. He kept looking at me like he was trying to read my mind.I knew he had no plans of refusing Martha’s request. I could see it in his eyes, and it made me anxious. I kept thinking of what I could say to stop him.When I still didn’t speak, he sighed. He stood in front of me for a few minutes. When he was about to walk to the door to leave, I quickly held his hand.“No! You can’t leave with her!”His eyes were full of concern when he looked back at me. “Tessa.”“I won’t allow it! Martha is only doing this to get back at me! She wants revenge, that’s why she wants to go with you to Hacienda Altagrasia!”Darius held me by both arms. “Tessa, calm down.”“I said no! I don’t want you to take her! I don’t want it!”“We’ll only be there for one day—”“No!” I shouted, making him stop speaking. “If you take her, I might as well… leave!”I didn’t know what else to say to convince him not to take Martha, so I was just blurting out
Tessa's POVI couldn’t help the faint smile that tugged at my lips when I saw the glimmer of tears in Martha’s eyes. The news had clearly wounded her. For a moment, I expected her to explode in anger, but instead, she kept her gaze fixed at the bottom of the stairs.“Just give up. Darius and I are already married, and I’m pregnant. I have far more right to him than you ever will.”She remained silent. My patience had already worn thin, and I was ready to tell her the truth when, suddenly, her hand lifted into the air and landed against my cheek.The slap wasn’t strong—it was more like the brush of cotton—but I still froze in shock. I wasn’t about to let her think she could get away with that.She gasped when I struck her back, harder—hard enough to make sure she felt it and heard the ringing in her ears.“You’re pathetic! Darius doesn’t love you anymore—just accept it!” My voice rose with the heat of my anger.“Tessa!”I stiffened at the sharp sound of Darius’s voice. Turning, I saw h
Tessa's POVFor the three days we stayed in Darius’s uncle’s province, I can honestly say we grew close. Every moment with him was filled with laughter and warmth.I still don’t know how Darius truly feels about me—if he genuinely likes me, or if he’s only doing this because of his promise. I’m not sure. But what I do know is that I’m happy, and I don’t want this happiness to end.On our last day there, we went sightseeing and bought little things from the shops. When we returned to Manila, we had dinner out before he sent me off in a taxi.We couldn’t go home together. If we did, some mistress somewhere would start crying again.“You’re back already, ma’am! How was it?”Manang Cecil opened the door for me the moment I arrived. She had a wide smile on her face, looking genuinely glad and excited to see me.“It was fine,” I said.“And your Mamang, ma’am? Is she feeling better now?”“Mamang?”“Yes. Wasn’t she the reason you went home? You said she wasn’t feeling well?”I blinked in surp
Tessa's POV“Tessa, why didn’t you wake me up? When I opened my eyes, you were gone.”I heard Darius’s voice behind me. He had just come into the kitchen. I turned to him with a smile after serving hot and thick coconut milk chicken stew into a bowl.His eyes instantly went to the food I was holding. He gave a big smile and came closer to me.“Smells delicious! And it looks so good,” he said, rubbing his hand on his stomach.I placed the chicken stew on the table along with fried milkfish, rice, and sautéed water spinach.“I hope Uncle Jim won’t get mad. I already used his kitchen. I couldn’t go out to buy food because of the rain, so I just cooked for you.”He pulled me close by the waist for a hug. “My wife is so sweet.”I looked down and bit my lip. Every time he called me his wife, it felt like butterflies were flying in my stomach.“Uncle Jim isn’t here. He had a family emergency and had to leave. And he won’t be angry,” he said in a gentle voice.“Darius, why is it so quiet here
Darius' POVI swallowed hard as I walked closer to where Tessa was. When she saw me, she froze for a moment, clearly surprised. But that look quickly turned into a sweet smile.“Aren’t you cold?” I asked softly when I was near her.Hell, I could barely get my voice out. My voice was shaking because of the strong feelings running through me.Tessa slowly stepped toward me. That sweet smile on her lips turned into something more inviting.At first, I was too surprised to move, but when I realized what she was doing, I couldn’t stop myself anymore. I quickly closed the space between us and kissed her.We held each other tightly. I gently laid her down on the smooth stone. She smiled at me in a playful way, as if telling me to continue.“Darius, will anyone see us?” she asked sweetly.I shook my head. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”We held each other more closely. Her eyes wandered over me, and I could tell she liked what she saw.I didn’t waste any more time. I wanted her so badly.
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