CHAPTER 1

**Natalie Jackson:**

I watch my husband laughing so hard with my elder sister, Amelia Jackson. What pains me more is seeing the way he gets along with her.

Franklin Howard has never laughed like this with me before, and here he is, laughing with my elder sister, "hahaha," so loudly in the living room.

Amelia Jackson is my elder sister; we share the same father but have different mothers.

My mother was a mistress to my father, and because I was the unwanted child, my family didn't like me.

I had three older brothers: James, Asher, and Felix, all doting on Amelia.

Amelia and I are the same age, but she is only a month older than me, making her my elder sister.

We are both fair in complexion, but while she is tall, I am short and chubby.

Frank is a billionaire in this part of the city where we live, and he has never liked me, his wife.

It was all a mistake that led to Frank and me marrying—a mistake I ever agreed to. 

Let me take you back three years ago. My father and Frank's father were best friends. While my father was hosting a business party at home, he invited a lot of tycoons.

One thing led to another, and Frank and I were caught in my room.

I knew Amelia was the one who set us up, but no one believed me. Even Frank didn't believe me. He thought I was the one who drugged him and lured him to my room so that he would sleep with me.

We were forced to become a couple to hide the embarrassment, as Frank's family was also disappointed. Everyone knew I was the illegitimate daughter of my father, and they wondered why he had kept me instead of kicking me out and allowing Amelia to marry Frank.

It was after my wedding with Frank that I discovered Amelia had a hidden crush on him. She regretted drugging my drink, as that was what I had served Frank when he came to speak to me on that eventful night.

Many guests also brought their children, who were already adults, but none of them came to speak to me.

I was already 22 years old then, naive, and with Frank and me caught in a compromising position on the bed. We got married while Amelia wept, insisting that Frank was supposed to be her husband.

Frank didn't like me. After that night, we didn’t sleep with each other, and I didn't conceive either, even though it was my first time. 

We lived like neighbors who hated each other, and now that Amelia has graduated, Frank wants to divorce me to marry her.

How shameless of a sister to want to date her younger sister's husband!

Amelia is so shameless.

Frank is five years older than me.

And now that I am 25 years old, he is 30.

I watched as Frank, wearing a white singlet that revealed his masculine abs, as he loves to work out. He is fair in complexion, more handsome than any other man I have seen. 

His skin glitters like the sun, and I see the way Amelia is drooling over him. 

Frank is very tall. His arms are bigger, and so are his thighs.

I am not up to Frank’s chest; to tell you, I’m short. Although I have an hourglass shape, Frank doesn’t find me attractive in any way.

"How was your studies, Amy?" I heard Frank asking Amelia. He has switched from calling her Amelia to Amy as a shortened version of her name.

Amelia blushed as she picked up the glass cup that Frank had refilled while I sat at the dining table setting up our dinner.

We have no maid at home simply because Frank mandated that I wouldn't go to work when I don’t have any meaningful qualifications.

As the illegitimate child of my parents, I didn't further my education and was forced by my stepmother to learn tailoring while Amelia went to the university and is now a certified accountant.

I wasn't even allowed to sew, as Frank felt it was a useless profession, like becoming a fashion designer.

He calls me ugly and says that I am not fashionable.

He doesn’t like to take me out to hang out with his friends. He also doesn’t give me money for upkeep.

I only manage to get money for my upkeep when he gives me money to restock the house with food. Only then can I save some for my personal use.

"It was fine, Frankie," I hated it when Amelia and my husband called each other pet names.

This is my matrimonial home, and Frank only calls me, "Natalie!"

In short, he shouts my name with so much rage as if he doesn't want to see me.

"Natalie! Is dinner ready?" he asks, just as he settles across from Amelia on the next black couch in our exquisite living room.

I was through preparing the delicious African delicacy of pounded yam and vegetable soup.

I looked at the food I had prepared, then at my husband and my half-sister.

"Natalie! I am talking to you!" Frank shouts at me again.

"Hmm, no food for you both," I reply as I cover the food I had already served.

Firstly, I didn't invite Amelia to my home, nor will I serve her any food. She should get out and return to our father's house and look for her own husband to call pet names with.

Frank immediately rose from the couch and dashed to meet me.

"Where are you taking the tray of food? Have you lost your mind?" Frank slapped me as he approached and snatched the tray from my hand.

He looked at me irritably and at Amelia, who smiled and rolled her eyes. I knew her target: she wanted to take my husband.

She sent me a text message last month telling me that she was coming back to collect everything I had stolen from her, including my husband.

"Frank, you slapped me for what? I cooked this food, and you cannot eat it?"

"Why? Did I not give you the money you used to prepare the meal? Did you work for the money? Move aside and get me a bowl of water to wash my hands. And do not think that I will apologize to you for the slap. Come on, Amy, don’t mind your sister. That's how silly she behaves," Frank calls out to Amelia, and I watch as she seductively stands up from the couch in her brown dress that makes her look like a model, accentuating her hips and bosom.

Amelia walks up to the dining table, and I stand there, watching as Frank serves her the delicious plate of pounded yam and vegetable soup that I had suffered to cook.

I know Amelia is my sister and I shouldn't be jealous, but Frank has never served me any food before, especially the one I cooked myself.

Frank also noticed that I hadn’t served any bowl of water, so he went to the kitchen himself and brought a bowl of water for Amelia to wash her hands.

He sat across from Amelia, and she was blushing, not even caring to invite me to join them for dinner.

"Frank!" I shouted and walked toward the plate of soup that I had served for myself, as that was the portion Frank had served for Amelia.

"What's wrong with you, Natalie? Should we leave this food for you to eat? Come on, Amy, let's go out and get something more palatable to eat," Frank said, standing up from the dining table. I hated it whenever I worked hard to cook, and my husband left our matrimonial home to eat elsewhere.

"Frank!" I tried to stop him, but he warned me.

"Stay away from me, Natalie. Just go and eat your food since you don't want your sister and me to eat it. Who knows if you have poisoned it?"

"Frank," I frowned as Frank's words broke my heart. He quickly took the stairs in our duplex mansion and dashed upstairs to his bedroom.

Frank and I have different bedrooms. I looked back at Amelia and shouted at her, "You shameless slut! Aren't you ashamed to be dating your sister's husband? As beautiful as you are, you cannot use your beauty to find your own husband!" 

Amelia hissed and I yelled.

"Get out of my house!" I was enraged, remembering that Amelia and her brothers had never liked me. They often mistreated me, and while I had thought that getting married would bring my own happiness and family, this very same family that didn't want my happiness wouldn’t let me be.

As I rushed to push Amelia out of my house, she fell down and pretended to be hurt.