جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 80

DESTINY James and I drove alone in the Bentley while Mother followed us with her Datsun. She said she needed her own transport to go to work.“I refuse to sponge on you and your husband’s hospitality. You don’t owe me anything and I can look after myself, Destiny. I don’t need anybody’s charity.” She told me after James loaded her and Arthur’s stuff in her car.“I didn’t say you did. But think about Arthur. It’s the least you can do.”“You’re not making it easy for me to forget that I was a terrible mother, aren’t you?”“Please, Mother! Let’s not get into this.”“Yes, let’s not. We’re attracting attention.” James interrupted our argument. James was right. People were staring and pointing at us. Of course, James’ car was unusual for this neighborhood.“Fine, alright.” Aurora fastened Arthur in his car seat, and James held my door open for me.For five minutes, neither of us spoke. Then James was the first to break the silence.“So, your mother? You were so angry at me that you went

DESTINY James said I was having nightmares, but I couldn’t remember a thing about it. There were scratches on James’ face and when I asked him about it, he changed the subject.“Did I do that?’ I turned his face to mine.Those blue eyes of his turned gray like the ocean on a cloudy day. “Forget about it, Sugar.” He took my hand and squeezed it lightly. “I’ve arranged for an alarm system to be installed. They’ll be here later on today.”“You’re not leaving me here alone, are you?” Not that I was alone, but I couldn’t face strange men being in the house anytime soon.“Sugar, you won’t be alone. I have a doctor’s appointment. But I’ll go after they’ve done, if that makes you feel better.”I nodded, feeling stupid and childish. My mother and Mrs. Donahue were there, after all. I wouldn’t be alone.“No, I’m just being silly. Go. I’ll be fine.”“I’ll be quick. I promise,” he said and pecked me on the cheek. Minutes later, I heard the Bentley drive off.***Mrs. Donahue and Mother were in t

DESTINYJames and I went furniture shopping for baby. It was nice to get out of the house. No, actually, it was awesome. The last couple of weeks had been suffocating for me, as if the house was suddenly too small for all of us. Mainly because of the rising tension hanging like a heavy storm cloud between James and Mother.I couldn’t blame James, though. Aurora wasn’t innocent in all of this. She was actively out to goad James, and I couldn’t understand why. Something happened between the two of them, but they kept mum about it. Except for Mother dropping the occasional hint.James had been keeping to himself lately, preoccupied with his own thoughts. When I asked him about it, he brushed it off as being work-related. Nothing to worry about. But today he’s been almost his old, carefree self. Joking and flirting with me.I must say I’ve missed that side of him. We haven’t had sex since I returned home, but I thought it might have something to do with my mother being in the house. Not t

DESTINY“What the actual fuck are you doing?” I couldn’t believe my eyes. There he was, my husband-fake husband-snogging my mother. My mother!“Destiny, this isn’t what it looks like.” James ripped his hands away from her as if she had burned him. The look on his face would have been comical (a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar) had I not felt such burning rage. Like hell it isn’t! “How could you?!” Glaring at the two of them, her dressed in a sheer nightdress and him with just his boxers on, his raging erection hard to miss. The air in the kitchen was thick with tension, a suffocating mix of betrayal and disgust. Was he about to fuck her right here in our kitchen?Mother attempted to pull the scant piece of clothing together to cover more of herself. I sneered at them with disgust. The smell of their betrayal hung heavy in the air, a stench that invaded my senses.He came towards me, and I jumped away, keeping the counter between us. The cold surface of the counter pressed

DESTINYMy mind still reeled from what James had confessed earlier, the weight of his words still lying heavily on my heart. I wanted to believe him so badly, but my mind kept telling me to be cautious, like a nagging voice in the back of my head. And yet, despite my reservations, I poured out my feelings to him, my heart exposed and vulnerable. Maybe I should have lied to protect my heart, but James would have seen right through me. Like he always did.My phone buzzed with a text message, its soft vibrations breaking me out of my whirling thoughts. Her name flashed across the screen, a sharp pang of betrayal coursing through me.I placed the phone face down on the bedside table, its cold surface a stark reminder of the distance between us. I hesitated, contemplating whether to delete the message unread. That was so like my mother, avoiding a face-to-face conversation in a cowardly manner. There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but she had robbed me of that chance.Suddenl