Chapter 2

"I've really had it with you." Jaxon looked at me with disgust, his gaze so unfriendly and painful. "You can't give me offspring when you know I want offspring so badly. But even now you're not showing any signs. Besides, look at you!" Jaxon pointed at my appearance with his hand, making me take notice of my current build. "You look shabby, shabby and not pretty. What do you expect from me, Vanessa? Are you asking me to put up with you looking like that?"

I clenched my jaw. I couldn't accept her giving such an excuse. "I'm like this because I don't have time to take care of myself. All day and even into the night, I keep taking care of the house. Taking care of you, taking care of your mother, you guys asking me to do this and that until the only time I have for myself is to rest." I let out the grievances that I had been holding back.

At first, I always accepted and tried to understand, to be patient with him for all the treatment I didn't deserve. But they didn't understand. They didn't want to understand me and only wanted to shift all the blame onto me.

"Reason!" Jaxon snapped in his harsh tone of voice. He stared intently with a cold glare at me. "If you care and want to keep this marriage, you should put in more effort. You're already not supporting me financially or providing me with entertainment. Don't be naive! Men love the way women look, and you're looking worse and worse by the day. Then you can't even give me the happiness of a child, so what exactly do I expect from you anymore?" 

He screeched strongly, standing in front of me intimidatingly while my body trembled with pain from his words that hurt my heart. "I want a divorce from you."

The woman next to Jaxon pulled Jaxon to her side again. I saw her wrapping her hands around Jaxon's arm in a spoiled manner while her eyes looked reproachfully at me. "No matter how busy a woman is, she should still pay attention to her appearance. A woman should be beautiful, like me, so that way you'll keep men's eyes on you." I stared angrily at her, wanting to rip out her mouth for telling me what to do. The way she smiled at Jaxon so spoiling made me angry, and she shamelessly touched Jaxon like a dog, wanting her master's attention, which was really annoying.

"It's true that you are wonderful, not like her." I saw Jaxon smiling at her; he touched her cheek gently, and his gaze was warm like a person in love.

My gaze was so disturbed by her behaviour towards Jaxon. I was furious to see her touching Jaxon spoiled and Jaxon to her. 

"Tell me how long have you been cheating on me?" I closed my eyes, trying to decipher and digest the situation.

"It was short two months ago, but I really liked Catherine." I opened my eyes and stared at him angrily. My mouth was aggravated, and my chest was so tight that I needed to take repeated breaths.

I stare at both of them with a hateful gaze. "How could you do this to me? You betrayed me Jaxon!"

"This is not a betrayal." My mother-in-law interrupted. I turned to her, astonished at what she said.

I couldn't believe what that woman was saying. "Not a betrayal? You clearly saw Jaxon admitting to the affair but you're saying it's not a betrayal?"

"The situation could be called a betrayal if you were perfect, but you have many loopholes. You have many flaws, so it's natural that your husband would turn away from you."  I didn't want to call her my mother-in-law anymore. That woman named Anne was defending her immoral son in front of me with such an absurd excuse. "I would also have been happy if Jaxon had gotten a woman like Catherine to be my daughter-in-law, she's beautiful and more worthy than you." Anne grinned at me. I knew she was looking forward to the day I left this house. And the day she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Catherin smiled slyly at me, a smile she only showed me while others watched her pretend to be weak and innocent. "Oh yeah, I wanted to tell Mom and you too." She pointed at me sarcastically, then touched her stomach and smiled, disgustingly glancing at Jaxon. I'm sure she was flirting with Jaxon in that cheap way. "I'm pregnant. Inside my stomach right now is Jaxon's child."

I laughed stiffly at that. I looked at the three people with a strange look. My feelings were a complete mess. The pain in my chest was excruciating. I bit my trembling lower lip and held back my tears that were about to fall. I wouldn't show a single drop of my tears before them. Those people are not worth crying over.

"Ah Jax...mom, I feel sick to my stomach." 

The woman called Catherine was acting weak in front of the two, but I could tell it was an act because she seemed to grin at me amidst the panic of the two people watching her. She glanced back at me. This time, her face looked disturbed. She covered her mouth. I'm sure she will make another move to get me to leave that place quickly.

"What's wrong with you?" Jaxon put his arm around her waist while Anne anxiously checked on her.

"I feel sick. I can't seem to stand the smell of that woman." She pointed at me with her gaze.

Jaxon gave me an annoyed look, as did Anne. "Didn't you hear?" 

Anne snapped at me harshly, as was her habit. That woman had hated me even before the woman named Catherine came, so I wasn't surprised because I was already too used to her attitude. "Didn't you hear? What are you waiting for by being here?"

"I want a divorce from you immediately, Vanessa. Just get things over with and disappear from my sight! Your presence is bothering him, you're making my future baby feel uncomfortable!" Jaxon yelled, a frustrated look on his face as he stared at me. "I don't want anything to happen to Catherine and my baby, so get lost right now."

I wondered why he was so angry. Shouldn't I be angry and feel unfair about all this? I've been silent all this time, looking at those who look ridiculous in front of me. I endured all this because I thought there would be a time when I would finally be accepted into this house. But what they did really disappointed me; I felt so hurt and humiliated by their behaviour, especially since that woman was pregnant? I clenched my hands tightly and looked at him angrily. Now, there were no more feelings left for Jaxon other than my hatred and disappointment for him because of the betrayal I got from him.

"I've done many things and been loyal to you, yet this is what you give?" I stared at Jaxon with anger in my eyes.

Jaxon didn't seem to care about how hurt I was. Even my gaze was ignored, which appeared to portray so much hurt. "Don't talk so much, sign this right now." He handed me a piece of paper with the divorce papers written on it with his signature already affixed. "And leave here immediately. I don't want to see you again."

I snatched the paper from her hand and signed it immediately. I was reluctant to be there with them any longer. "You'll regret what you did to me." I stared at them sharply, then I went in to get my phone that I had put on the inner table and came out with only that.

I clearly heard Anne laughing loudly as I almost reached the door. "That woman will freeze to death on the street for going out with nothing. What's an orphan like her thinking? Does she think others will help her and pity her? She's so silly." She laughed again, and another round of laughter followed.

I ignored what they said; they didn't know me. I dialled a number that I had just called a long time ago. "Otto, come and pick me up right now," I said to the receiver on the other end, who said yes quickly.

The air outside was quite cold, and my clothes worsened, but I didn't have to wait long. Because the person I called earlier arrived immediately. "Miss, what are you doing outside in those clothes?" Otto immediately ran over to me anxiously. He immediately took off his coat and put it over my shoulders. I could see his face looking annoyed and angry at my current state.

I looked at Otto, but I couldn't smile at him. "I want to go back," I said to him, and he smiled happily.

He nodded. "Yes. You really should go home, the lord and madam will be happy to welcome you." He put his arm around me politely and led me into the car.

But I needed clarification about what Otto said. I wasn't sure my parents would welcome me happily because I had disappointed them with my decision.

"Miss, we've arrived." Otto opened the door for me. Then my gaze fell on the house I had left so long ago.

I gazed longingly at the palace my parents had given me to live in; nothing had changed since I left a few years ago. But I was worried about going back. I was anxious to imagine what my parents' reaction would be.

"Miss, there's nothing for you to worry about. As I said, the master and mistress will welcome you happily." Otto managed to read the worry on my face.

"But I've made them so disappointed in me." I said to Otto.

But Otto shook his head. "To them, you are everything. So don't worry." He assured me that Otto was a trusted servant in my family. He knew my parents so well. And I trust him. I took his hand, helped me get out of the car, then stepped into the house.

I saw my father busy at the fireplace in the living room I entered. When I saw him, the longing I had been holding in was like a flood overflowing. "Dad..." I called him softly, and then he looked at me, stunned momentarily as if he couldn't believe seeing me standing in that house again. Only then did he run to me with a smile. The man hugged me warmly, it was true what Otto said, my father looked so happy.

"Father's daughter is back." I heard his words and felt so touched. I buried my face in his warm embrace and let go of my feelings in that cosy hug.