“I want a divorce!” Damien Daniels, her husband towered over her as he yelled. She had just come back from the hospital and was about sharing the good news with him. In her hand was the result of her pregnancy test and as she expected, she was pregnant. It came as a shock to her especially since her and Damien had only spent one night together which was infact a mistake. Not that it mattered to Harriett. To her, this was a way of solidifying their marriage.
“W-what are you talking about?” Harriett’s voice broke and her tone was unstable. She couldn’t believe her ears. Why now? Why was he suddenly bringing this up?“You think I wouldn’t know that you’ve been sleeping with my brother?” He says and she staggers, her brows creasing as confusion spread through her face.“Sleeping with Adrian? Why would you even say that?” She denies and he slams a picture on the table for her to see. She hurriedly picks it up only to drop it back with a scream.“This isn’t possible!” She yelled. It was a picture of her and Adrian laying naked in each other’s arms on a bed. From the picture angle, it looked like they were being intimate. Adrian towered above her and the lady underneath him resembled her. She had never slept in the same room as Adrian so how was this possible.Someone set her up!With a frown, Harriett defended herself. “This isn’t true. It can’t be!” Damien didn’t want to hear any explanation from her. He felt betrayed and the only thing he wanted was for her leave his life.“The picture is pretty clear, Harriett. Don’t you think you should give up? You must’ve thought you’d be able to keep it a secret forever. Why didn’t you just marry Adrian if you loved him so much? Instead, you’d rather go behind me and sleep with him.” Damien shot back, his voice not faltering.“I don’t love Adrian. I never have. Why would I agree to marrying you if I was in love with your brother?” Harriett asked in a whisper, hot tears slipping out of her eyes.‘I am in love you!’ was what she wanted to scream but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.Harriett and Damien had been married for three years. Their parents were close friends as well as business partners, so it was no shock that they’d want their children to be together. It was a way of strengthening the family relationship as well as their businesses.Because of this, Harriett and Damien have always known each other but just as friends. They knew from a young age that they were to get married and when it was time, neither of them had any opposition to the matter. Damien was like a brother to her who always protected her and looked out for her. Harriett secretly loved Damien although she never had the guts to tell him because she didn’t want to ruin the friendship they had.Just when she thought he was beginning to love her, he had to leave New York to England for his University. During those years, she did her best to keep their friendship alive but she could feel them drifting apart slowly.When Damien returned to New York, he was already twenty six years old and was to take over his father’s company. He had changed a lot in those few years, both physically and mentally. He was more mature, had larger biceps and was even more good-looking. He didn’t look like the twenty one year old boy she knew. He was no longer a boy but now a man.Sadly, his looks weren’t the only thing that had changed during his stay there. His feelings for Harriett also changed and he was no longer affectionate towards her. Harriett saw all these before getting married to him but she chose to ignore it, thinking that things would change when they got married. Things didn’t change.Unfortunately for Harriett, Damien didn’t return alone from New York. He came along with a lady, Evelyn James who he introduced to be his friend but Harriett understood that she was anything but a friend to Damien and he was only referring to her as his friend because of his father. On one occasion before their marriage, she caught them kissing in Damien’s office. Utterly heartbroken and betrayed, she took to her heels and made the decision to get over Damien. But, the heart wants what it wants, even if it is someone who has made it pretty clear that they want nothing to do with you.Poor Harriett.She would always make out time to pay Damien a visit. Much to her surprise, he never made her feel unwanted. He would talk to her as he would a friend but that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted him to see her as a lady.Time went by and Damien finally introduced Evelyn to the family as his girlfriend, betraying Harriett.She knew that she was no beauty but Evelyn James wasn’t either. They shared the same boring long jet black hair and hazel colored eyes. The only difference between them was that Harriett was on the thicker side whereas Evelyn was as skinny a runway model. Harriett always wondered if she ever really ate.Harriett wasn’t the only person that was betrayed and infuriated by Damien’s revelation. His father, Thomas Daniels was extremely furious and disappointed that he immediately threatened to take the company away from Damien if he didn’t break up with her. The fear of losing all he had made Damien obey his father and marry Harriett but he could no longer hide his hatred for her as she was the reason his relationship with Evelyn fell apart although Harriett knew that he never really broke up with her.Harriett was happy that his father was still able to convince him to marry her. Call her selfish but she wasn’t letting another woman take Damien away from her. Not after all the years she had spent waiting for him. She was just twenty one when they got married and her heart yearned to be loved, especially by Damien.For a few months, she didn’t see nor hear from Evelyn but she could feel her presence in Damien’s life from how distant he was. He never spent time with her, only coming home when she was already asleep and leaving before she woke up.Harriett knew their marriage was bound to fail.A year into their marriage, she met Adrian, Damien’s only sibling who had been away in Italy, studying. She had never seen him before but immediately he arrived in New York, they bonded and he became her only friend.“I want you out of my life, Harriett. I don’t want to hear whatever excuses you have. Get your things and leave.” Damien coldly said. Water welled in her eyes as she realized that it was either now or never. She had to tell him how she truly felt. Perhaps, that would get him to change his mind.“Please, Damien. I love you. I always have.” She dropped to the ground and lowered her eyes as tears flowed nonstop from them.“I know. None of that matters, Harriett. I don’t love you.” Damien said with no emotion in his voice and slammed the papers against the table, causing her to shudder. Chills ran down Harriet’s spine at Damien’s statement that all she could do was stare at the document with a blank expression.“You knew?” She whispered but to no one in particular. She knew that Damien didn’t love her but for him to say it out loud was something she didn’t prepare her fragile heart for.Her lips parted but no words came out. She felt like her heart had shattered to pieces. Before she could muster the courage to speak, Damien clenched his jaws and began to walk away.She wanted to beg him to stay because she knew where he was headed. She could already see him and his lover laughing at her ill-fate and rejoicing in their victory.Instead, she watched him walk until she could see him no more.Harriett clenched the pregnancy test result in her hand, ruining the paper. She wasn’t going to tell him about it anymore. Not after he had hurt her. She knew so well that Damien didn’t love her but they were friends. They had been for a long time so how could he kick her out so heartlessly? What hurt her the most were his words ‘ None of that matters, Harriett. I don’t love you.’ How could be so cruel to someone he spent most of his life with? If he didn’t even like her, why did he make her feel like they were friends? Why put up with her for all these years? She ridiculed herself as she sat on the floor, chuckling like a mad woman. ‘I guess I’ll always be a second option.’ She muttered to herself. But, she had always known this. Damien didn’t love her, he never even really liked her. She was just someone he was forced to put up with. Harriett looked around and discovered that the maids were beginning to whisper amongst themselves as they passed by, probably mocking her terrible st
Outside Damien’s home, Harriett’s car was already waiting. One by one, she packed all her boxes into the car with the help of Mrs Smith. She turned around to look at the house one last time, a tear slipping out of her eyes as she remembered how happy she was when she entered this same house. She came with a smile only to leave with tears. How pitiful! Without even going to her father’s house, she drove straight to the court after dropping Mrs Smith and filed for a divorce, waited for the papers to be ready before leaving. She was going to make things easier for him, just like she had always done. For the entire three years of their marriage, she always put his feelings before hers and even now that it was about to end, she was going to do just that. He wanted her gone, so she was going to leave. She checked her phone and saw that she had nine missed calls from Adrian. She had been ignoring his call since the incident with Damien happened. He hadn’t wronged her in any way but she d
Damien left his friend fuming. He should have known that Eric would take Harriett’s side. Everyone thought she was a fucking angel. Thanks to Eric and his annoying speech, Damien found himself second guessing his decision. Perhaps he should have investigated further before throwing her out. But then, the picture was too clear. It couldn’t have been made up and he also had a lover. It was time to focus on Evelyn James and possibly wed her. After thinking of where to go since he didn’t want to go back to the lonely walls of his hotel room, he decided to go to Evelyn’s house. No other person understood him as much as she did. So, he drove to her Evelyn’s apartment. When he got there, he only rung the doorbell once when Evelyn came running to him. It was as though she had been expecting him. “Damien.” Evelyn said with a smile, her eyes gleaming. She was happy to see him and didn’t even bother hiding it. She knew it was wrong to be in love with a married man but Damien loved her first a
Harriett arrived at her father’s house and was immediately welcomed by her parents. Her father, Jake Edwards engulfed her in a bone crushing hug as he wept silently. He couldn’t believe that his daughter was being labelled as a cheater. The humiliation was too much for him to bear. The Edward’s family had only one child, Harriett and they raised her with everything they had. They made sure she never lacked any material or emotional need. One thing her mother made sure of was that she didn’t allow the many privileges to get to her head. She always reminded her to be kind to people. Their Christian background helped them instill those values in her and so, they didn’t need any proof to know that that their daughter was being falsely accused. “Su-ji!” Harriett’s mother called her by her Korean name and gave her a warm hug, her heart aching at the thought of the things her daughter had to go through in Damien’s house. Her family was well aware of how much she loved him which was why wh
Damien couldn’t understand a word of what Mrs Jane was saying. What the hell did she mean by ‘ Harriett has processed the divorce papers, signed them and has delivered them to you?’ Wasn’t he the one that asked for a divorce? Why the hell did she already process the papers when she wasn’t sure if he had made up his mind or not? She didn’t even ask for his opinion before going ahead with this. Why? ‘Because you were away for three days.’ A voice whispered in head. Damien was shocked that Harriett would do this. He always thought that she was the one who wanted to cling to him forever. “Where is she?” Damien asked, ignoring everything Mrs Smith said. “I’m sorry but Harriett has moved out of your house. Since she has already signed the divorce papers, you both aren’t married anymore. She wants you to not call her or look for her. Oh and, have a great time with Evelyn.” Mrs Smith harshly said and cut the call. She didn’t get any direct orders from Harriett but she hated Damien for ac
Without wasting any second, Damien rushed to the kitchen to check if the maid had gone to the court with the papers. When he got there, he met the younger maid who was busy clearing the place.“Where is Ma Clara?” He asked, holding his breath as he hoped that she would still be in the house.“She left for the court a few minutes ago. According to her, you gave her some papers to submit to Mrs. Harriett’s lawyer.” The young maid said and Damien felt his heart break into a million pieces.“How long has it been since she left the house?” He asked, feeling restless.“Ten minutes, sir.” The young maid said and in a split second, Damien was out of the house and on his way to the court. “If I make it on time, I might be able to stop the divorce processing.” He assured himself as he drove like a madman to the court. But, it seemed that God was not on his side as he is met with Traffic along the road that was caused by an accident.“Fuck!” Damien cursed aloud and hit his steering wheel
FOUR YEARS LATER“Where are my favorite twins?” Tony’s voice could be heard from the kitchen which caused loud laughter from Addison and Adrian who immediately ran out to him, knowing he came bearing chocolates. He always did. Harriett and her family had moved to Paris after the incident with Damien. They decided that in order for her to fully get over him, she needed to be far away from him.They also made sure to keep a low profile in Paris as they didn’t want to be easily found by Damien if he ever tried looking for them.Two months after Harriett moved to Paris, she found out that she was pregnant with a pair of twins- a boy and a girl. Her joy knew no bounds and even her parents were excited. They had been expecting just one child but they were blessed with two. Harriett met Tony Martinez in the hospital while she was getting her checkup. He was the doctor who was in charge of her and they got closer to each other with her every visit. When Harriett gave birth, Tony wa
The familiar buzz of New York City brought a smile to Harriett’s face as they drove to the Edward Mansion. It had been four years but nothing had change. She hated how normal it felt to her. Almost like she never left. Addison and Adrian on the other hand had never been to New York and for some strange reason, they already loved it. “I like how tall the buildings are… look at that. There are people everywhere, mummy.” Addison said, pointing out the window with a wide grin. “There are people in Paris too, Addy. You’re just being dramatic.” Harriett’s mother said, making everyone in the car laugh. Harriett looked back to see Tony’s car following behind them. It wasn’t his first time in New York and he could easily get a hotel to stay in but her parents wouldn’t have it. “You’re family now, Tony. Family stays together.” Her mother had told him. Harriett couldn’t understand why her parents liked him that much. As much as he was her best friend, she was uncomfortable with the way they