Chapter 0002

The living room was inexplicably quiet. The guests are long gone and the servants have returned to their chambers but the members of the family are still up and gathered with solemn faces. I watch all of them, one after the other.

Aiden had no guilt on his face, in fact, he looked like he wanted this meeting to be done quickly so he could continue with what he was doing.

Joyceline looked nonchalant which made me understand that this was probably something that they did on multiple occasions.

Andrea had a grim expression on his face. I suspected that she must have known about this but why would she allow her son to do this to me?

Jessica had the same expression as her mother.

At last, his cousin brother, Alan. He simply looked at me with cold eyes. I never understood why he was always acting like this.

“Sydney, how dare you ruin this anniversary by ending it abruptly?” Andrea asked me.

“Mother…”

“Don’t call me that!” She cut me off.

I hold back the tears that threatened to fall. “I’m sorry for causing a commotion and sending everyone out,” I said.

This was what happened. After finding out that my husband was cheating on me with my best friend, I went ahead to destroy the decorations and ask everybody to leave the party. I was overwhelmed by my emotions and only demanded an explanation for what was going on between them.

“Do you know the implications of what you did? Of course you don’t know, you are just a common waitress who was picked up by my son!”

“Mother… stop,” Aiden said lazily.

“So tell us now. Why did you act so irrational tonight?” Andrea asked.

“I just found out that Aiden was cheating on me with Joyceline,” I say and burst into tears. I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Seeing as my best friend has chosen to betray me in such a horrible manner still breaks my heart.

There is a few minutes of silence. All of a sudden, Andrea burst into laughter. I look at her in shock as she laughs hard and points at me like I am a lunatic. She opened her mouth to speak when she had finally caught her breath.

“Do you think we don’t know what is going on between them already? You’re the fool that was ignorant about the signs when it was right under your nose!”

It was as if someone stabbed me straight to my heart. Hearing this from Andrea got me wondering what other secrets they had in their sleeves.

“Why could you allow this to happen?” I asked her.

“Because we found what we have been looking for in Joyceline. Tell her, Joyce,” Andrea urged Joyceline to spill it out.

“I’m pregnant for Aiden,” Joyceline said, averting her eyes from me.

I laugh when I hear this. Not because it is funny, but I and Joyceline have been best friends for years and right now, I can tell that she is lying through her teeth.

“What’s funny, Sydney?” Joyceline asked me.

“Snap out of it, Joyce. You and I know that you are not pregnant,” I tell her.

“I have the evidence,” Joyceline retorts.

“It’s obviously fake,” I clap back.

“Enough!” Aiden snaps at us.

“I’m sorry for getting you upset, Aiden, but it’s clearly known that your wife here is not happy for you,” Joyceline said with a fake pitiable voice.

“Of course I’m not happy. You betrayed me and slept with my husband behind my back! How do you expect me to feel?” I cried out.

My heart is feeling heavy again as I remember that the matter at hand is still very serious. The worst part is that nobody is going to understand me or the pains I’m going through. They all think that Joyceline is pregnant while I’m the barren one, how hilarious!

“Accept defeat and deal with it!” Aiden yelled at me.

I’m taken aback by the way he is defending Joyceline. How did I not see this all along? The flirts, the eye contacts, the slightest touching of bodies and seducing smiles flashed at each other.

I saw the signs but I chose to ignore it. And here is the full price that I have to pay for it. Not just me, but my innocent baby. I realize that they might accuse me of cheating on Aiden if I told them that I was pregnant. The best thing to do for now is to keep it a secret from them until I figure out how to handle the situation at hand.

“Aiden, I understand how desperate you are to have a child but I assure you that we can do this together,” I said, trying to see if I can change his mind on whatever he is thinking about.

I don’t want to lose my marriage but with the way things are going, I might have no other choice than to let him go. The struggles of being a single mother in this city could be very frustrating but I can give it a try. After all, my baby does not deserve a father like Aiden.

“It’s already too late for that. Joyceline is pregnant but I’m going to give you the decision to make for yourself. Do you wish to stay in this marriage and deal with my relationship with Joyceline or are you going to walk away?”

“Aiden, are you willing to throw away all our memories because of the lies that Joyce told you?” I asked.

Andrea gets up immediately and smacks my cheeks in anger. “How dare you wish them bad luck? Is it her fault that you are a barren woman?” She asked.

“I am not a barren woman,” I correct Andrea.

“I would have given you a chance to prove it but Joyce came first,” Aiden replied.

This is where I draw the line. Aiden is not feeling remorseful about what he did and nobody is going to believe me that Joyceline is lying. If I stay in this marriage, I’ll only suffer the consequences of being more ignorant. But if I leave now, I’ll have the chance to raise my child and pursue my own life. I can not afford to ruin my child’s life now, I have to do what I ought to do.

“I’ve made up my mind to walk out of this marriage,” I said, making my decision without any feeling of doubt.

They all gasped except Alan, surprised that I decided to leave the Talker’s family. It was better this way than turning myself into Joyceline’s servant.

“Fine then. You can leave tomorrow morning but we’ll process our divorce when we find out the gender of my baby ,” Aiden said.

Even Joyceline is surprised to hear him say that. “But why, Aiden? That’s in a few months time,” she said.

“Don’t worry, Joyce. I want Sydney to understand why I chose you to bear my children,” he muttered and kissed the back of her palms.

Alan gets up and adjusts his shirt. “Let me be very honest with you all. Aiden, I’m highly disappointed in what you’ve done to Sydney but since I don’t have a say in anything that happens in this family, I’ll probably just watch how all of these will turn out to be,” he said.

“It’s a good thing that you are fully aware of the fact that you have no say in the family’s matters. At least, we don’t have to be worried about you and Sydney anymore,” Andrea retorted.

Alan smirks and walks away. I decided to do the same. I just want to go to my room and cry my eyes out.

“And Sydney…” Aiden called, stopping me in my tracks.

“What?” I snapped. I don’t even bother to turn around, I’ve been hurt so badly and I don’t want to see their horrifying faces again for the night.

“You can always come back and beg me to accept you again. I might give it a few days to think but why not,” Aiden said.

I clenched my fists in anger but said nothing more. I simply head back to my room and lock the door. I throw myself to my bed and cry profusely until my eyes puff out. Before falling asleep, I text Lydia. She is a good friend of mine and is always busy because of her work as a nurse in a renowned hospital.

The next morning. As the rays of sunlight reflected on my face, I stirred up from sleep. My eyes are swollen and red while my throat is dried up. I drink a lot of water before taking my bath and dressing up. Lydia had already texted me back, welcoming me to come to her apartment soon.

I come downstairs to see them having breakfast without Alan, which is a usual habit for them. They stare at me like I’ve gone crazy as if I’m the one who was cheating.

“I’m leaving now,” I said just to clear the tensed air.

“So you really want to leave your marriage because someone else helped you to do something you can’t do?” Andrea asked.

“At least, I deserve an apology from them or even a better explanation for this…” I begin to say but Joyceline cuts me off with her fake character.

“Sydney, don’t leave. I know that you are angry at me for what happened but I can leave at any time if that’s what you want.”

“You are not going anywhere and once we confirm the gender, I’ll get married to you and start a new family,” Aiden declared with an air of finality.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” I simply said and left.

I go straight to Lydia’s house. She hugged me so tight when she saw me with my luggage.

“Joyceline and Aiden are fools for doing this to you,” Lydia said.

“I know but I can’t help but feel bad about what happened. They all knew about it but chose to believe her lies,” I sniffed as tears dropped down my cheeks.

“Hey, Sydney. Don’t cry, okay? Listen to me, you can stay here as long as you want, okay?”

“Thanks, Lydia.”

She shows me to my room and I start unpacking my luggage. Lydia sits beside me with a beaming smile on her face.

“What is it?” I ask her.

“I have an idea,” Lydia said.

“What’s it about?”

“Let’s go to the club tonight!” She announced with excitement.

“But, you’re supposed to be working,” I said.

“I took the day off when I saw your text message. Besides, you need to loosen up a little bit and regain your happiness. Maybe, you’ll find a good man to treat you well if you know what I mean,” Lydia winked at me.

I can’t help but laugh. Although I’ve not told her that I’m pregnant. On the other hand, I think Lydia is right. I need to loosen up a little bit.

“Sure, but I’m not hooking up with any guy,” I accept.

“Suit yourself then,” she said and we giggled.