Chapter 1

NATALIE:

On Saturday evening, I stand in the kitchen preparing dinner when the sound of an arriving car cuts through the air.

Swiftly, I set out the dinner to see who it is, and I step out to the dining table.

However, I see my half-sister, Amelia Jackson, has visited.

I watch my husband, Franklin Howard, laughing so hard with my elder sister in the living room.

What pains me the most is seeing the way he gets along with her.

Franklin has not laughed like this with me before, and here he is, laughing loudly with my elder sister in the living room.

Amelia Jackson is my half-sister. We have the same father but different mothers.

My mother was a mistress to my father, and because I am the unwanted child, my family does not like me.

I have three older brothers: James, Asher, and Felix. They all dote on Amelia.

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

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

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

It is all a mistake that led to Franklin's and my marriage. It is a mistake that I should not have accepted.

Taking you back to three years ago: my father and Franklin's father are best friends. During a business party at my home, my father invites a lot of tycoons.

One thing leads to another, and Franklin and I are caught in my room.

I know Amelia is the one who sets us up, but no one believes me. Even Franklin does not believe me. He feels I am the one who drugs him and lures him to my room so that he will sleep with me.

We are forced to become a couple to hide the embarrassment, as Franklin's family is also disappointed. Everyone knows I am the illegitimate daughter of my father, and they wonder why my father keeps me instead of kicking me out and allowing Amelia to marry Franklin.

It is after my wedding with Franklin that I discover Amelia has a hidden crush on him. She regrets drugging my drink because that is what I serve Franklin when he comes to speak to me on that eventful night.

Many invites also come with their children, who are already adults, but none of them come to speak to me.

I am already 22 years old then: naive, and with Franklin and me caught in a compromising position on the bed. We get married while Amelia weeps that Franklin is supposed to be her husband.

Franklin does not like me. After that night, we do not sleep with each other, and I do not conceive either, even though it is my first time.

We live like neighbors who hate each other, and now that Amelia has graduated, Franklin 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. Franklin is five years older than me. As I am 25 years old now, he is 30 years old.

I watch as Franklin wears a white singlet that reveals his masculine abs because he loves to gym. 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 drools over him.

Franklin is very tall. His arms are mascular, and likewise his thighs. I am not up to his chest, to tell you; I am a shorty. Although I have an hourglass shape, Franklin does not in any way find me attractive.

"How are your studies, Amy?" I hear Franklin asking Amelia. He switches from calling her Amelia to Amy, her abbreviated name.

Amelia blushes as she picks up the glass cup of wine that Franklin refills, while I sit at the dining table setting up our dinner.

We have no maid at home simply because Franklin mandates that I will not go to work since I do not have any meaningful certificate.

As the illegitimate child of my parents, I do not further my education. I am forced by my stepmother to learn tailoring while Amelia goes to the university and becomes a certified accountant.

I am not even allowed to sew, as Franklin feels it is a useless profession, like becoming a fashion designer.

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

He does not like to take me out to hang out with his friends. Neither does he give me money for upkeep.

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

"It was fine, Frankie," Amelia replies. I hate that she and my husband are calling themselves pet names.

This is my matrimonial home, and Franklin only calls me "Natalie!" In fact, he shouts my name with so much rage, as if he does not want to see me.

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

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

I look at the food that I have prepared and at my husband and my half-sister.

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

"Hmm, no food for you both," I reply and cover the food that I have already served.

Firstly, I do not invite Amelia to my home. Neither 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.

Franklin immediately rises from the couch and dashes up to meet me.

"Where are you taking the tray of food? Have you lost your mind?" Franklin slaps me as he approaches me and collects the tray from my hand.

I look at him irritably and at Amelia, who smiles and rolls her eyes. I know her target: she wants to steal my husband.

She sends me a text message the previous month, telling me that she is coming back to collect everything that I have stolen from her, including my husband.

"Franklin, you slap me because of what? I cook this food, and you cannot eat it," I say.

"Why? Did I not give you the money you use to prepare the meal? Did you work for the money? Move away 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, Amy, do not mind your sister. That is how silly she behaves," Franklin calls out for Amelia, and I watch as she seductively stands up from the couch in her brown dress that makes her look like a model. The brown dress accentuates her hips and bosom.

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

I know Amelia is my sister, and I am not supposed to be jealous. But Franklin has never served me any food before, not to mention the food that I cook by myself.

Franklin also sees that I do not serve any bowl of water, and he goes to the kitchen by himself and brings a bowl of water for Amelia to wash her hands.

Franklin sits across from Amelia, and she blushes, not caring to ask me to join them in eating.

"Franklin!" I shout and walk toward the plate of soup that I serve out for myself, as that is the portion that Franklin serves for Amelia as her own plate of soup to eat.

"What is wrong with you, Natalie? Should we leave this food for you to eat? Come, Amy, let's go out to get something more palatable to eat," Franklin says, standing up from the dining table. I hate it whenever I suffer to cook and my husband goes out of our matrimonial home to eat.

"Franklin!" I try to stop him, and he warns me.

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

"What??" I frown as Franklin's words break my heart. He quickly takes the stairs in our duplex mansion and dashes upstairs to his bedroom.

Yes, Franklin and I have different bedrooms. I look back at Amelia and shout at her, "You shameless slut! Are you not ashamed to be dating your sister's husband? As beautiful as you are, you cannot use your beauty to look for your own husband!" I curse at Amelia, and she hisses.

"Get out of my house!" I am enraged, remembering that Amelia and her brothers never like me. They mostly maltreat me, and while I think that getting married would give me my own happiness and family, this same family that does not want my happiness will not let me be.

As I rush to push Amelia out of my house, she falls down and pretends to be hurt.