Jocelyn’s POV
Inhaling shakily, I clutched my tote bag as I gazed at the humongous structure that was my husband's mansion. I had gone to the grocery store earlier today after his mother told me to make her seafood boil and some other dishes. As we didn't have most of the ingredients at home, I had to source for them at the grocery store. Initially, I had thought it'd be an easy feat and I'd only spend about thirty minutes there but alas was I wrong. Apparently, today was maintenance day at the grocery store, thus, all shoppers had to wait outside for about an hour before they officially opened. As I trudged into the house, I could only hope my mother-in-law understood that it wasn't my fault. My heart lurched in fear when I saw the slender, middle-aged woman named Agnes sitting cross-legged on the sofa while sipping a glass of red wine. On seeing me, she shook her head as a scoff escaped her. “I was beginning to think you finally ran away with your lover,” She scorned. “But then again, you aren't exactly visually appealing enough to find one because you are an ugly, blind bat. That's why you are a liability to my poor son.” When I was eleven, I was involved in a fire accident that made me partially blind in one eye, thus, I always covered the affected eye with an eye patch. My family’s vacation house at Florida had exploded with me inside it. According to my mother, it was my father who had saved me from dying in the fire. Till date, no one knew how the fire had started. Although Agnes's words squeezed and tugged at my heartstrings, I remained composed and moved closer to her. Dropping on my knees, I said. “I'm very sorry, mother. Today was their maintenance day at the grocery store and I-” Before I could complete my utterance, she flung the remnant of her wine at me then slammed the empty cup on the stool beside her. “Do you know what you are?” She spat. “A blatant fool. You always manage to find a way to mess up the easiest situations. I don't even know what my son saw in you. Why couldn't you go to another grocery store, you idiot?” Wiping the wine off my face, I clutched my hands together and stuttered, my voice quivering with tears. “The next grocery store is about an hour away and you told me that you needed the food immediately. I'm very sorry, mother.” “That darn mother!” Agnes snarled. “I'm not your mother, alright? I know who I gave birth to, and am certain it's not an asinine idiot like you. So never in your life should you call me that, am I clear?” “B-But-” I began to say and she stood up and grabbed me by my shirt's collar. “Am I fucking clear, you wench?” She spat, and I quickly nodded. “Yes, mother, I mean, Madam Agnes.” Her face melted into a smile as she stroked my wet hair. “That's good of you.” “Thank you, ma,” I said. “Should I go and start cooking?” “Sure,” Agnes shrugged. “I mean, that's all you are good for anyway. That reminds me, how old would your dead child be if you hadn't killed it?” Her last statement sparked a bomb in my head and before I could stop myself, I exploded. “I didn't kill my child. Don't you ever talk about my baby like that. It was a miscarriage that no mother ever plans for!” Three years ago, my suffering began after I bumped into my husband, Eduardo, at a coffee shop. I was in a hurry to go to my mum's place as it was her birthday and I wanted to surprise her, so I hadn't seen the tall, sexy, and handsome man in front of me. Prior to what I had initially expected, Eduardo had apologized and had also given me his handkerchief as well as his business card, offering to reimburse me for the coffee I had spilled. Our love story started right there and then, and in the span of five months, we were engaged, and seven months later, we became husband and wife. Eduardo had made me feel like I was the most beautiful woman on earth. He'd randomly gift me several custom-made jewelleries and clothing items. On the day I told him I was pregnant, he had immediately ordered the latest range rover for me, and I had been so happy and had felt like the luckiest wife ever. Unfortunately, I ended up losing the baby after three months and it was then Eduardo changed completely toward me. He'd flare up at me at the slightest provocation and had even fired all our household staff. The final nail on the coffin was when he brought his mother to start living with us, and the both of them combined to make my life a living hell by making me a maid in my matrimonial home. It was then I realized that keeping my true identity a secret had been a wise decision. They could and would never know that I was the only daughter and child of the wealthiest family in Australia; The Roswells. My family owned Roshome, a chain of home appliance companies that spread across the whole of Australia. I had lied to Eduardo that I had no family around me, mainly because I was scared he’d be after a business relationship with me after finding out who I truly was, and wouldn’t love me anymore. In all of Eduardo's family, the only person who liked me was his little sister, Ivy. However, I had last seen her a year ago before she moved to Italy for college. She was kind to a fault and treated me like we had been best friends for years. Suddenly, Agnes bursted into tears, which yanked me out of my reverie. “I'm sorry,” She sniffled, while I frowned in utter confusion. “I was just trying to be a good mother-in-law.” Before I could respond, I heard footsteps furiously approaching me from behind, and I spun around to see my husband, shooting me the deadliest glare as he stormed up to me. So that was why Agnes's attitude had done a sudden change. “What were you doing to my mother?” He spat, and my mouth flapped open and closed wordlessly, as I couldn't even defend myself. Averting his focus to Agnes, he said. “Mum, please go upstairs. Jocelyn and I need to talk.” “Oh, okay, darling,” Agnes sniffled. “But don't be too hard on her. You know, she's still mentally unstable from losing her baby.” With that, Agnes left, darting me a smirk. “Welcome home, Eduardo,” I said. “How-” “Save it!” He spat, retracting a paperwork from his briefcase. “I want you to sign this and leave my house by tomorrow.” Heart pounding in trepidation, I collected the paperwork from him, and saw “Divorce Agreement” clearly written as the letterhead. “Y-You want a divorce?” I croaked out. “Did I do something wrong?” “The question you should be asking yourself is if you've ever done something right!” Eduardo spat. “With everything I’ve done for you, you still can't give can’t me a child. You even managed to kill the only one you’ve ever conceived!” “B-But the miscarriage was never my fault. I w-” “Excuses upon fucking excuses!” He barked. “My true love is back in town, so if you know what's good for you, you’d better sign those papers and leave my house!” Before I could respond, he stormed out of the living room.Jocelyn’s POV“Wake up, you lazy sloth,” Agnes's cold, unforgiving voice wafted into my ears as droplets of cold water trickled down my face.Squeezing my eyes open in sheer fear, I saw her hovering over me, a glass cup in her hand, and a look of disdain planted in her face.“G-Good morning, Madam Agnes,” I stuttered out, as I rushed out of bed. “Do you need something?”“Do I need something?” She mimicked then chuckled incredulously. “It’s seven in the morning and you're still sleeping like a log of wood. Just how lazy and uncouth are you? Did your mother train you at all?”“I'm sorry, ma'am,” I responded, suppressing the urge to cry. “I will go make breakfast now.”“Make breakfast for three,” Agnes sneered. “And put a bottle of champagne in ice. I am expecting a visitor and I don't want anything to go wrong.”“A visitor? Who?” I blurted out, without thinking and she shook her head in negation while eying me venomously.“That's the only thing you know how to do,” She mocked. “Putting
Jocelyn’s POV Rays of sunlight mixed with a pungent antiseptic smell wafted into my line of sight and that of eating respectively, forcing me to squeeze my eyes open.I frowned, utterly confused, when I realized that I was lying in a bed–a hospital bed to be specific, given how there was a cannula in my hand and nostrils, with machines beeping beside me.“Josie!” The familiar voice of a female trailed into my ears, and I carefully tilted my neck toward the voice only for me to see Nancy Shepherd, my best friend, since middle school, who I hadn't seen since I got married.“Nancy?” Only then did I realize something; I had vision in both eyes and my eye patch had been removed.“I can see with both eyes now!” I shrieked in utter disbelief tinged with confusion. “But the optician told me that there was no solution.”“You are really awake,” Nancy shrieked, placing her hand on mine. “We were so scared. Thank you for coming back to us, Josie. And yes you can see, the doctors here are that g
Jocelyn’s POV Three days had passed since I regained consciousness but I was yet to see my mother. However, according to her doctor, I would likely see her very soon as her health was improving at a fast rate.After I came to, I made it a mission to gather information on every aspect of Eduardo's life that I may have missed during the last five weeks. Based on what I'd been able to gather so far, he had now gone public with Sofia, and their pictures graced almost all the popular blogs, with most people adoring them and calling their relationship cute.I had also found out that Sofia, whose full name was Sofia Denzel, was a highly influential model and brand ambassador of many luxurious brands. Her father also owned Denzel group, a conglomerate in the United States.Although there were many articles that claimed Eduardo had been married and divorced, the pictures of his ex-wife, who I assumed was me, was not shown in any of them.A mix of pain and anger gnawed at my heart as I opened
Eduardo’s POV“Eduardo, you are yet to send the money,” Sofia nagged after me, as I made my way to the car. “I need to go shopping. Have you forgotten that tonight is the party I told you about?”“And I told you that I'd only give you the money if you can account for all the money you spent last week.” I retorted as calmly as I could.Huffing, Sofia crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t tell me that you're being like this over the three million I spent last week. You are bigger than that small amount, so why are you being grumpy?”The tiny bit of patience that I thought I had dissipated at her careless response and I scoffed.“Small amount? You spent a whole three million in a day on some stupid clothes and bags that you'll never use again and you expect me to still give you my hard-earned money,” I spat. “You are nothing more than a wasteful person. In fact, I want you to leave my house immediately.”Sofia's eyes welled up with what I was certain was crocodile tears as she grabbed