One

Chapter One

Avenne’s POV 

I had just finished preparing the last dish when I heard laughter coming from the dining room.

I wiped my hands on the kitchen towel and looked at the food I had spent the whole afternoon preparing. There was enough food for everyone, but I had been most careful with Riven's favorite dishes because I knew how much he loved them.

As the CEO, he  had told me he was bringing some of his staff home, and even though I had not been happy about it at first, I had still done everything I could to make sure they were comfortable.

That was what a good wife was supposed to do, wasn't it?

I picked up the first bowl and walked toward the dining room, already imagining Riven smiling at me when he saw everything I had prepared.

I was still smiling when I stepped through the doorway.

Then I saw him.  Riven was kissing a woman.

The bowl in my hands suddenly felt too heavy.

I stood there without moving, staring at the man I had called my husband for years as his lips remained against another woman's.

It was not a mistake., It was not an innocent moment.

His hand was around her waist, and she had her arms around his neck as though she belonged there.

I knew her, ber name was Serelle, she had always been around Riven.

I had seen her name on his phone countless times. I had seen her waiting for him outside his office. I had seen the way she looked at him whenever she thought I wasn't watching, I had complained about her before, so many times.

Every time I did, Riven told me the same thing.

"Mind your business, Avenne. You are a housewife. Take care of your home and stop worrying about my colleagues."

A housewife, he had said it so many times that I eventually stopped arguing.

I had told myself that I was only being jealous because I loved him too much, I had stayed home because he said he wanted me to take care of our family, I had stopped working because he told me he could provide everything I needed.

I had spent my days cooking, cleaning and taking care of our daughter because he said that was what a good wife and mother should do and  now I was standing in my own dining room, watching my husband kiss another woman.

Riven finally pulled away from her, his eyes met mine.

For a moment, I waited for him to look ashamed, he didn't, he simply looked annoyed that I had walked in.

"You're here," he said.

I stared at him., I didn't know what else to say.

Serelle looked at me, then smiled.

That smile made something inside me burn.

I slowly walked toward the table with the bowl still in my hands.

"You said she was your colleague ."  My voice sounded strange even to me.

Riven leaned against the table.  "She is."

I looked at Serelle. "Colleagues don't kiss each other like that."

Nobody answered me, I felt everyone's eyes on me, and suddenly I became aware of how I looked.

My dress was tight around my body.

I had gained so much weight over the years that sometimes I barely recognized myself in the mirror anymore but Riven had never made me feel ashamed of it.

I had been slim when I married him.

I remembered how he used to hold my waist and tell me how beautiful I was.

Later, when I started gaining weight, he was the one who told me I looked better with more flesh on my body.

He was the one who brought food home whenever I tried to diet and now he was standing there with another woman.

I looked at Serelle again and decided that I would ignore what I had seen for the moment l.

I began serving the food, I served Riven first, then the others, trying my best to keep my hands from shaking.

When I reached Serelle, she looked at me with that same smile.

I lowered the serving spoon into the bowl.

Before I could place the food on her plates Serelle suddenly reached for the bowl and deliberately tipped the food onto me.

The hot food spilled across my dress and onto my skin, I screamed, but they all laughed, even my daughter laughed, My own child was sitting there, watching another woman being pouring food on me and still laughing with everyone else. 

Something inside me broke, before  I could think about what I was doing, I lifted the bowl and poured the food directly over her.

This time, nobody laughed.

Riven moved so quickly that I barely saw him coming.

His hand struck my face, the sound of the slap filled the room, my  head turned with the force of it.

For several seconds, I couldn't move, my  cheek burned.

I slowly touched it, feeling tears fill my eyes, Riven had never slapped me before, not once.

I looked at him, hoping that maybe he would realize what he had done.

Instead, he looked at me with anger. "You've embarrassed me enough."

I stared at him through my tears. "You slapped me?"

He said nothing. 

"You slapped me, your wife, because of a colleague?"

My voice broke on the last word.

Serelle wiped her face and clothes while looking at me with an expression I couldn't understand.

Then she turned to Riven. "How long are you going to let her believe I'm only your colleague?"

My heart stopped. 

I looked at her, then at Riven. “Who is she?”

Riven said nothing.

That silence frightened me more than any answer could have.

“Riven, who is she?” I asked again.

He finally looked at me, and there was no warmth in his eyes. “You really want to know?”

I nodded.

He glanced at Serelle before looking back at me. “She is the woman I love.”

My heart dropped” “No.”

“You should have realized it a long time ago.”

I shook my head, tears already filling my eyes. “You can’t say that.”

Riven looked me up and down with disgust. “Why can’t I? Do you want to know what I see when I look at you now?”

“Riven, please.”

“I see a fat woman who does nothing with her life except stay in my house.”

I covered my stomach, my whole body trembling.

“You were beautiful when I married you. You had dreams and ambition. Now you wake up, eat, clean the house and wait for me to come home. That’s your entire life.”

“You told me to leave my job,” I whispered. “You said you wanted me at home.”

“I never forced you.”

“You promised to take care of me.”

“And I did. So don’t act like I owe you something because you chose this life.”

My tears fell harder. “Is that really what you think of me?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Fat. Unattractive. Boring. You have allowed yourself to become nothing more than a housewife.” He looked at Serelle “She is everything you are not.”

I felt completely broken, but there was still one thing I believed could save us. “I am your wife,” I said through my tears. “If you don’t want to stay for me, then stay for our child.”

Someone laughed.

I looked around the room in confusion as another person joined in. “What is funny?”

Serelle covered her mouth, but she was smiling.

Riven stared at me. “Which child?”

My heart stopped. “Our daughter.”

His expression remained cold. “The child was never yours.”

I stared at him, unable to understand. “What?”

“When you gave birth, your baby died. The child you raised all these years is Serelle’s.”

My body went cold. “No.”

“You were weak and grieving, and Serelle didn’t want the responsibility of raising her child, so we let you believe she was yours.”

I looked at Serelle in disbelief, but she showed no shame.

“You let me raise her?”

Riven nodded. “You loved her, so we allowed you to believe she was your daughter.”

I could barely breathe as every memory came crashing down on me, from the nights I stayed awake when she was sick to the birthdays I planned, the clothes I bought, the money I spent and every sacrifice I had made for her.

All those years, I had been raising a child who was never mine.

I turned toward my daughter, tears running down my face. “Baby, come to Mommy.”

I opened my arms.

She stared at me for a moment before looking at Serelle.

Then she ran to her. “Mommy!”

Serelle caught her in her arms, I stopped breathing, the  little girl I had carried, protected and loved for years had just called another woman Mommy.

A sob escaped my lips as I covered my mouth. “No…”

Someone laughed, another  person called me pathetic, someone  else whispered that I was fat.

I looked at Riven, hoping to see even a little regret.

There was none.

He simply stood beside Serelle and watched me fall apart.

The man I had sacrificed my youth, career, body and happiness for did not even look sorry.

That was when I finally understood that I had been alone for a very long time.

I just hadn’t known it.

Then the ground shook, the  plates rattled across the table, and the laughter instantly stopped.

A deep, terrifying sound came from outside, the  windows shattered.

I looked up and saw the sky turning dark red, like blood had spread across it. “What is happening?”

Nobody answered, the  ground suddenly split beneath us, sending people screaming in every direction.

The table overturned, chairs crashed to the floor, and panic filled the room.

Riven grabbed Serelle and ran toward the door. “Riven!”

I reached for him, he didn’t turn around, he didn’t even look back, the  floor collapsed beneath my feet, and I screamed as I fell into darkness, the last thing I saw was Riven holding Serelle while my daughter clung to her.

Then everywhere went dark