Chapter 3 The Starts of The Chaos 2

“Are you alright, Dr Ali?” Jules broke into the office worriedly. “Did something happen?”  

“I’m alright, Jules.” Alison smiled at her. But she looked pale & tiny seeds of perspiration on her temples. Jules takes a seat on the sofa just opposite Alison, watching her with concern. She didn’t take Alison's words when she heard Alison’s loud voice through her office over the hall. She almost ran to her office, but somehow she stopped knowing someone else was there. Something is not right. Alison let out a lazy laugh at her. “Don’t worry about me. I am fine.” Jules didn’t buy it, crossed her arms in protest & stared hard at her like a hawk making her prey let out a defeated sigh. “She found me. I don’t know how but she found me.”

Jules grasped what happened and can't help but feel pity at Alison’s helplessness. She already stands and walks up to her; kneeling at her side comforts her. She felt sorry for her employer. She wished she could take over her burden off her shoulder and let her have her child in peace. What a complicated life she might have been these years. Jules rubbed her back, trying to soothe and calm her for the sake of the baby. 

“What does she want from you?” Jules was baffled by what she just said. She was there when the accident happened four years ago, and she was the one that picked up the phone call from the police. In seconds, they already rushed to the scene, but there was nothing they could do as they blocked the scene from the public view and the rescue team was on the site trying to get the victims of the brutal & eerie accident. She remembered clearly that day it was raining. It had been raining for days too. The moment the small body was being pulled out from the sardine-packed car, she fainted, and Jules had to rush her to the nearest hospital, where she stayed hospitalised for a week. Doctors diagnosed her with an emotional breakdown. 

“She wants to claim my baby. My precious baby.” Allison rubs her heavy tummy with the remnant of her tears still visible & just saying the word ‘baby’, Allison starts to tear off. She realised she should call Emily for help. 

“There... There… Nobody is going to take away your baby from you. We will make sure of that, alright.” Jules gave the other woman a hug of comfort. “Let’s get you home. I’ll inform Emily.”

“Wait,” Alison grabbed her hand. “Don’t let Em know anything about this, Jules.” Her chubby & tiny hand was trembling, trying hard to wipe out her tears, but the tears won’t stop streaming down her smooth cheeks. 

“Alright, Ali. I understand. Please calm down. Let’s not stress out the baby.” Jules can’t stand watching her distress any longer, holding her shoulder tightly. She can’t be any more stressed than this, or the baby can be in jeopardy. Her due for the C-sect is next week. 

Another secret, another new burden to carry. Jules heaved a heavy sigh. She has been working with this boss for five years now. She resigned from her previous employment and moved to another city to escape the hard politics at the workplace. She considered herself lucky to have an understanding employer. Dr Alison took her in under her wings & got her to be the Clinic Manager, although she doesn’t even need one. Jules nodded at Alison’s plea reluctantly.

Jules is no less than Alison being in a complicated relationship. A week before Alison’s return home, Jules found out that her husband had a scandal with another woman. How bizarre can it be? She refused to believe it, although more evidence showed up or purposely place to make her believe. For the sake of her two-year-old daughter & teenage son, she held up her anger, frustrations and let them be. Until one week ago, she caught them red-handed on her bed naked. She thinks her world is crumbling down. The other woman laughed it out loud on her pale face. She tried to calm her nerves, reasoning out his unreasonable act. 

“But we can’t keep it forever from her,” Jules reminds her. “ You know that, right?” 

Alison had stopped crying but was still snotting with remnants of tears at the corner of her eyes, looking at her manager with a long pause before she answered. “I will let her know before the end of this week.” 

But she looked nervous & distraught.  Jules knows her employer for the longest she can remember, especially her personal life & also the darkest secret about her marriage & the other woman. How it brought so much pain to her that she had to seek medical treatment and how devastated her parents were when the treatment didn’t even work. 

Jules gave her a reassurance hug. “Don’t worry. Ali. We have that inspector. You trust him, right. He was the right person to assist you.” 

Jules ended up keeping her secret from Emily. Again. Jules hates secrecy or mysteries. It creeps her out to know the surprise that brings to the other receiver of the secrets. That very moment, she was the end receiver of the secret her husband and his mistress hide from her that she isn't even sure when it begins. She needs to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible and get rid of that slut once and forever. 

The silent treatment from her husband hurts her. He didn’t even try to explain the whole situation, begging her for forgiveness, anything that proves he was wrong and she can forgive him. But nothing. No reaction at all. He didn’t even turn to her way after he slapped Jules on the cheek and left with his mistress. 

Today, she asked Alison for a few hours absent from work, but the good employer just granted her one day off instead. Jules has been waiting nervously at the main office of the registration clerk at the National Registration Department for almost an hour but still no sign of the clerk coming out from the small office packs with thousands of documents. 

“Well.” Jules almost jumped from her plastic chair. Finally, the clerk lady appears with a confused look.

“I’m sorry, Ms Jules, but there are no records of your marriage registration in our system.”

The word ‘Miss’ explained it all. Jules gulped down her saliva.  “Can you please re-check your system? It must be a glitch or something wrong with your system that day.” 

“I did rerun the registration list multiple times now just in case, but I can’t find your name, miss.” She shook her head; refuse. “But I did run the man’s name, and this is what I found.” She passed a paper to Jules. Jules takes it and scans it over only to find it disbelieving to see who the bride was. Her hands were trembling. 

“This is...,” Jules was shocked and speechless. “I am the wife… No... I can’t believe this is it.” she clasped her mouth, stared hard at the clerk lady as she watched on with sorrow. A single tear falls to her jawline. 

“I’m sorry, but we only registered our clients with all our staff on duty. No foul play. I suggest that you should ask your husband about this.” With those last consoling words, she left the waiting area into her office. Jules can’t think straight anymore. What is going on? 

“Mrs Ema, what’s going on? You’re looking for me?” a man dressed up in the same uniform as the clerk lady showed up greeted her with a simple nod. 

“Thank god you’re here. You remember this couple’s name?” She introduced Jules to the man and showed him a copy of the marriage certificate. 

Jules was nervous watching him analyze the sheet when he exclaimed loudly, “Oh, I remember this couple. The woman was too young and clingy to the old man.” Her face flushes with his details, especially the word ‘Old man’. The description almost said it was him. Jules bated breath awaiting his affirmation. “This is the same man.”

The phone rang loudly. 

Jules couldn’t hear anything & doesn’t care anymore. Her perfect world that she knows might not even be the real world she knew. The betrayal was too much for her to accept. The paper in her hand was the reason for his silent treatment of her. She racked her past memories for any seeds of misdeed she did that lead to his betrayal. But nothing comes to her mind since the phone has been non stopped ringing.

“Hello?” Jules picked the phone with her trembling hand. “What? Alison’s water broke?” Her heaving breath & bumping hearts slowed down into another panic. “I will head there as soon as possible. Let me know if you need me for anything.” She left the office and headed to the clinic. She finds it difficult to believe her employer is giving birth anytime sooner than scheduled. Emily called her to brief her on their whereabouts & she needed to get back to the clinic. It means her one day off was cancelled.