Chapter 1

Natalie Jackson;

I watched my husband, Franklin Howard, laughing so hard with my elder sister in the living room. What pained me the most was seeing how well he got along with her.

Franklin had not laughed like that with me before, and here he was, laughing loudly with my elder sister in the living room.

Amelia Jackson was my elder sister. We shared the same father but had different mothers. My mother was a mistress to my father, and because I was the unwanted child, my family never liked me.

I had three older brothers—James, Asher, and Felix—all of whom doted on Amelia.

Amelia and I were the same age, but she was only a month older than me, which made her my elder sister. We both had fair complexions, but while she was tall, I was short and chubby.

Frank is a billionaire in this part of the city where we live, and he didn't like me, even though I was his wife. Our marriage was a mistake that I should never have accepted.

Taking you back three years, my father and Frank's father were best friends. During a business party at my father's home, he invited many tycoons. One thing led to another, and Frank and I were caught in my room.

I knew Amelia had set us up, but no one believed me—not even Frank. He thought I had drugged him and lured him to my room so that he would sleep with me. We were forced to marry to hide the embarrassment, as Frank's family was disappointed. Everyone knew I was my father's illegitimate daughter, and they wondered why he had kept me instead of kicking me out and letting Amelia marry Frank.

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

Many guests had brought their adult children, 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, claiming that Frank was supposed to be her husband.

Frank didn't like me. After that night, we never slept together, and I didn't conceive, even though it was my first time. We lived like neighbors who hated each other, and now that Amelia had graduated, Frank wanted to divorce me so he could marry her.

How shameless for a sister to want to date her younger sister's husband? Amelia was so shameless. Frank is five years older than me, and as I am now 25 years old, he is 30.

I watched as Frank, wearing a white singlet that revealed his masculine abs—he loved to gym—sat there. He was fair-complexioned and more handsome than any other man I had seen. His skin glittered like the sun, and I could see the way Amelia was drooling over him.

Frank was very tall, with bigger arms and thighs. I barely reached his chest, as I am quite short, although I have an hourglass shape. Frank didn't find me attractive in any way.

"How was your studies, Amy?" I heard Frank asking Amelia. He had switched from calling her Amelia to Amy, her shortened name.

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

We had no maid at home because Frank insisted that I shouldn't work, as I didn't have any meaningful qualifications. As the illegitimate child of my parents, I wasn't allowed to pursue higher education. Instead, my stepmother forced me to learn tailoring, while Amelia went to university and became a certified accountant.

I wasn't even allowed to pursue sewing, as Frank considered it a useless profession, like becoming a fashion designer. He called me ugly and said I wasn't fashionable. He never took me out to hang out with his friends and rarely gave me money for my upkeep. I only managed to save money for myself when he gave me funds to restock the house with food.

"It was fine, Frankie," Amelia replied. I hated how she and my husband were using pet names for each other.

This was my matrimonial home, and Frank only ever called me "Natalie!" In fact, he shouted my name with so much rage, as if he didn't want to see me.

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

I had just finished preparing a 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 shouted at me again.

"Hmm, no food for you both," I replied, and covered the food that I had already served.

Firstly, I hadn't invited Amelia to my home, and I wasn't about to serve her any food. She should go back to our father's house and find her own husband to exchange pet names with.

Frank immediately rose from the couch and dashed over to me. "Where are you taking the tray of food? Have you lost your mind?" Frank said, slapping me as he approached and taking the tray from my hand.

I looked at him irritably, and at Amelia, who smiled and rolled her eyes—I knew her goal was to take my husband. She had sent me a text message the previous month, saying she was coming back to take everything I had "stolen" from her, including my husband.

"Frank, you slapped me for what? I cooked this food, and you can't eat it."

"Why not? Didn't I give you the money to prepare the meal? Did you earn it yourself? Move away and get me a bowl of water to wash my hands. And don't think I'll apologize for the slap. Come on, Amy, don't mind your sister. That's just how silly she is," Frank called out to Amelia.

I watched as she seductively stood up from the couch in her brown dress, which made her look like a model. The dress accentuated her hips and bosom as she walked to the dining table.

Frank served her a delicious plate of pounded yam and vegetable soup—the one I had suffered to cook. I knew Amelia was my sister and I wasn't supposed to be jealous, but Frank had not served me food before, let alone something I had cooked myself.

Franklin also noticed that I hadn't brought a bowl of water, so he went to the kitchen himself and got one for Amelia to wash her hands. He sat across from her, and she blushed, not even bothering to ask me to join them.

"Frank!" I shouted, walking toward the plate of soup I had served for myself—the portion Frank had originally intended 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," Frank said, standing up from the dining table. I hated it whenever I put in the effort to cook and my husband went out of our matrimonial home to eat.

"Frank!" I tried to stop him, but he warned, "Stay away from me, Natalie. Just go and eat your food, since you don't want your sister and me to have any. Who knows if you poisoned it?"

"What??" I frowned, as Franklin's words broke my heart. He quickly took the stairs in the living room and dashed upstairs to his bedroom.

Yes, Franklin and I had separate bedrooms. I looked back at Amelia and shouted, "You shameless slụt, aren't you ashamed to be pursuing your sister's husband? As beautiful as you are, can't you find your own?"

"Get out of my house!" I was enraged, remembering how Amelia and her brothers had always mistreated me. I had thought marriage would bring me happiness and a family of my own, yet this very family that didn't want me to be happy wouldn't leave me alone.

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