Chapter 8: The scheme

(A month later)

The Percy family stood around the hospital bed; Ashley sat beside their grandfather, tending to him and changing the stockings. He was rushed to the hospital due to a heart attack, and his son and grandchildren all stood beside him, looking sad.

" How are you feeling now?"

" Very bad, I feel like I'm about to die",

" Stop saying that", Chris and Ashley said almost shouting,

" You're not going to die, and stop scaring us", Chris mumbled but he heard,

" It's the truth, and let me see my grandchildren before I die",

" There's no way you'll see your grandchildren before you die",

" Gael!!", They screamed his name and Chris hit him hard behind the neck,

" Ouch! Why do you hit me?",

" Say something like that again and I'm going to break your head",

" Not like I'm not telling the truth", he grumbled,

"At least let me attend my grandson's wedding before I die",

" I'm always ready to get married, grandfather; mum is the one delaying".

The grandfather glared at Sharon who began to stutter," That's... that's not entirely true, I don't like the family he's getting married to, Charles should have told me about it then I'd have looked for a suitable bride, not this family",

" The family is not important, it's whom we are marrying that's necessary",

" I bet she's going to be a brat who doesn't know how to do anything by herself", she rolled her eyes looking so sure,

" How about you give her some test, assess her, and see if she's suitable or not",

" Fair enough", she accepted.

*************

" You need to speak to your daughter, she should behave herself, you're marrying him whether you like it or not", he said angrily and firmly before storming away,

" Honey! Honey!", Patricia called after him but he paid no attention and just stormed away,

" Alice",

" Don't call my name, just go and talk to your husband, how could he marry off his only daughter to an imbecile",

" I... don't think he's that bad..",

" Mum!? You're so unbelievable", she said bursting into tears.

Patricia did everything she could to calm her down but she wouldn't stop crying.

" I promise to get you the latest car", She tried to distract her but it was not working until suddenly, she stopped crying and looked at her mother,

" I thought of something",

" Of what?",

" Of a plan",

" What plan?",

" I'm going to need your help though",

" To do what?",

" It's something simple; we're just going to repeat what we did before." Patricia looked intensely at her daughter, trying to understand what she meant. She thought deeply before she realized it, and when she did, she exclaimed in shock and curiosity.

***************

" Are you sure you want to keep it?",

" I've thought of it Ally, I would keep it",

" Won't it be painful or traumatizing? Looking at the baby might remind you of that night",

" I know and I want to forget about everything, it will remind me even if I hate to admit it, I kept having nightmares but I can't get rid of them, this will be the only thing that belongs to me, my blood, my companion, I'm going to feel less lonely with her around and she's going to be the source of my happiness, so I'm keeping it",

" And Victor?",

" I'm not telling him",

" What?! He needs to know, he's the father",

" Did you think he's going to accept it",

" Not like he has any choice",

" He won't",

" Irrespective, he still needs to know, and there's no way you're going to have a baby in this house that no one would find out".

Clarisse sighed, "Maybe after a month; I don't wish to tell him now. He doesn't deserve to know, but I'll tell him when it becomes two months old".

Ally sighed, seeing that she had made up her mind, " Then you need to be very careful, you're now in a delicate position, avoid stress and eat well, I'll try my best to always steal some food away for you so you won't have to keep eating only in the night, cause with another person in you, you'll need to eat a lot".

" Thanks so much, Ally, what will I do without you", she said hugging her,

" You're always welcome, call me anytime you need me", she said and Clarisse nodded, smiling with her eyes getting teary,

" you need to start going back, it's getting cloudy, I think it's going to rain",

" But... Victor is around",

"So? You can't stand outside, it's going to rain and cold is not good for you, not in this position you're in".

Clarisse sighed looking scared, " I will go inside then",

" Okay dear, take care of yourself",

" I will, and you too", she replied and began to count her steps back, not wanting to go inside just yet, so she decided to take a stroll around the house.

Victor was inside watching action movies when he received a call, he sat up immediately when he saw who the caller was. Alice.

" Hello",

" Hey... Victor", she called sounding so sad,

" Alice? Is everything okay?",

" No, I'm not fine",

" Why? What's wrong?",

" I'm outside your house, can you come outside for a minute?",

" Sure, why not?" He said and rushed outside.

Clarisse, who was within the area, saw Victor taking Alice inside; she looked like she was crying.

" What's going on?", She asked looking as they both went in. She decided to wait outside for some minutes before going in.

" What happened? Why are you crying? Your face has gotten so red and swollen", he sounded so worried,

" Ramses, he broke up with me", she said and cried out,

" That bastard!", He grunted, " How dare he make you cry",

" I was so shocked, I did nothing wrong and tried to please him with everything, even kept my relationship a secret just as he wanted, I couldn't think of going to anyone else but you, no one knew I was dating him",

" It's okay, stop crying over a punk like him; he doesn't deserve your tears," he said and pulled her closer, wiping off her tears and hugging her.

" Hope your wife won't be angry that I'm here?", She asked sounding so sad and worried that it broke his heart,

" Don't worry about her, you're fine, just let me know if you need anything",

" Hmm, maybe a distraction, cause right now, I feel so worthless and no guy is going to want me",

" No, no, Don't say that you're very beautiful",

" I'm not", she wept,

" Yes, you are." he grabbed her cheeks, assuring her. They locked eyes, and her gaze fell on his lips; she licked hers slightly, and he couldn't resist. He captured her lips with his and she responded immediately, kissing him back deeply.

" What's... going on here?", The quivering voice of Clarisse broke the intimate moment.

Victor groaned in anger, " Don't you know how to knock?", He yelled and stood up, dragged her outside, and faced her,

" Alice is very sad, and she needs me; find somewhere to stay till I tell you to come in," he said and walked away, giving her no room to say a word.

Clarisse scoffed, then laughed, and then cried. The rain soon started falling, beating her as she could not find a shed; she cried and shivered; she finds it difficult to sleep on rainy days; she has trauma about rain ever since the car accident that happened 12 years ago. She felt sick to get stomach, started having stomach aches, trembling, and cuddling away in the dark, she cried out her eyes, scared of the rain that kept on beating her, triggering her memories till she could not take it any longer, and fainted.

Victor on the other hand was having the best moment of his life, his fantasy finally came through in the most romantic way he could imagine, rainy night, sex with Alice, her moans that accompanied each of his thrusts made him feel on top of the world, he made love to her, made sure she enjoyed every moment of the night till she accepts to become his which she did, only on one condition, which is divorcing Clarisse.