CHAPTER 4

ARYA

“What…”

The rest of Jaxon’s question dissipated into the air as I got up from my seat and rushed out of the restaurant, taking a taxi and blurting out the name of the hospital.

I dialed my mother’s number, over and over, but there was no reply. I tried to prevent myself from crying, but stray tears were already finding their way out of my eyes in the backseat of the taxi.

“No, he can’t be dead.” I shook my head. “He’s not dead.”

As I got to the hospital, I paid the taxi driver without waiting for the change. I burst into the hospital, stopped by one of the nurses who kept asking me what was wrong.

“My brother… I want to see my brother,” I rambled as tears now flooded my face.

I was led to my brother’s room, where my mother sat, stroking his hair.

“Leave us,” my mother told the nurse, and she did as told.

I walked towards my brother with a confused face. My mother stood up and walked towards me.

“Arya,” she called, pulling me aside.

“He’s not dead,” she pointed out. “Why did you tell me he was dead? Why… Mom, what is happening?”

“Nobody wants to hear that kind of news, Arya. I know the news broke your heart, and this is proof of it. Would you want it to be true?”

I stepped away from my mother in disgust.

“You lied on purpose? Why would you do such a thing?” I questioned.

“I wanted to give you an insight on what would happen if you don’t consider getting married to Jaxon. Your brother will only remain here, his condition will worsen by the hour, and he will only die.”

I was stunned to silence, falling to the ground and crying loudly as I kept asking what I had done to deserve this, over and over.

“It’s all for you,” was the only response I got from my mother.

~~

“You may now kiss the bride.”

As soon as the officiator said the words, Jaxon’s lips crashed with mine in a chaste kiss, and everyone in attendance rose to their feet and cheered with claps.

My stomach churned sickeningly as I walked hand-in-hand with Jaxon as we walked off the altar and back down the aisle.

“Congratulations,” Mom said, grabbing my hands as I reached where she stood. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, and there was only one thing that crossed my mind to say in response.

“Congratulations,” I said back, making sure it sounded as innocent as it possibly could to throw her off. All of the congratulatory messages were supposed to be given to her, not me. She had finally succeeded in shoving me to the far recesses of her mind by taking me as far as possible in marriage to someone I barely knew.

“Don’t be this way.” She shook her head, sniffling. “It’s your wedding day.”

I walked away from her, joining Jaxon as we forced ourselves to greet everyone present and head for the reception.

“Your brother has been transferred to a hospital with better equipment to help him get along well with his treatment,” Jaxon announced in the car on our way to the reception, and there was an immediate tug at my heart when I heard the announcement.

“Where’s the hospital located?” I questioned.

“It’s St. Louis. It’s not very far. We could always go after the reception,” he suggested.

“Thank you.” I smiled genuinely for the very first time on my wedding day.

“You don’t need to thank me,” he responded, waving my appreciation off.

At the reception, I bumped into Rose and Brian, who were whispering things to each other before I found them.

“Congratulations on your marriage, Arya. It’s not so bad now, is it?” Rose gave me a crooked smile, cocking her head as if mocking me, but I didn’t take it as anything.

“You know, I never got to apologize to you for what happened,” Brian chipped in. “We’re both sorry that you had to find out about us in the cruel way that you were forced to.”

“It really doesn’t matter to me. Not anymore,” I said, walking away and joining Jaxon for the continuous greetings of the guests.

“Here she is,” Jaxon said to the middle-aged man he was talking to before I joined them, placing his hand around my waist to my surprise.

“Why, Mrs. Pierce. I was just talking to your husband about the upcoming business owners’ event. Will you be there?” The man questioned, taking my hand in his and kissing it.

I looked at Jaxon, confused as to how he was considering going to an event like that after what had happened to his father’s business.

“She’ll be there,” Jaxon, noticing what I was thinking about from my facial expression, helped me answer the question.

As soon as the man left, Jaxon’s arm slide off my waist, and his smile was replaced with a frown.

“I don’t understand why you’re going for an event like that,” I said.

“You don’t have to do much. All you have to do is tag along and show people that we’re a happy couple.” With that, he walked away and went around to greet everyone he could.

~~

Jaxon Pierce was arrogant, I had gauged that from the first date that I had gone on with him. The one thing I didn’t know until I got married to him was that Jaxon was controlling. He seemed to hate my guts, most of all, and he never failed to make me feel that way.

“You’ll go pick something out with my assistant for the event,” he stated one afternoon as he walked into the bedroom.

“How about I go tomorrow? I don’t feel very good, and the event is in a few days. I need to be in a good condition before then,” I suggested.

“Then get to the hospital in that case,” he said. He didn’t make an offer to drive me to hospital, as I had foolishly expected, so I took my purse and walked out of the house to take a taxi to the hospital instead.

I narrated my symptoms to the doctor.

“And when’s the last time you felt nauseous?” he questioned, writing down my answers.

“Last night,” I answered.

“And the dizziness?”

“This morning. I was taking a shower when it hit me. I had to hold on to the bathroom’s railing to keep myself from falling over.”

After minutes of question and answer, the doctor handed me a urinal and instructed me to pee inside it. It took me only a few minutes to be done with it, and the doctor advised me to wait in the waiting room for me to be called back soon.

The next time I was called back in, about twenty minutes had passed, and the doctor was sitting at the head of his desk with a slight smile on his face.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Pierce. You’re nine weeks pregnant.”