02

Jardine stood there like an epitome of beauty, her face calm and innocent. She was richly dressed in a knee-length gown of simmering silk, the fabric hugging her curves in all the right places and accentuating her natural grace and beauty. 

While Adira glared at her, Jardine's expression remained unruffled. She returned a soft stare at Adira, her blue eyes clear and bright. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Adira stepped forward, wrathful veins protruding on her brows. "How dare you even think of coming here?"

Jardine sighed, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Please Adira, I didn't come here to fight."

"So, why are you here? To see my misery? To watch me cry?"

There was a brief silence. Then, with Jardine staring down at the floor, she said: "I know you're very mad at me, and I know you must think I'm a bad person. But I want you to know I'm truly sorry, Adira. I'm... I'm so sorry for ruining your marriage. This sounds stupid, I know, but I never thought I'd be so interested in a married man."

Adira looked at her with a ridiculous scoff. She honestly couldn't understand if the lady before her was a lunatic. Was she seriously apologizing after ruining her family?

"Are you for real?" She chuckled. "You convinced my husband to divorce me, now you're sorry?"

"I'm not a bad person, Adira" Jardine stated calmly. "Those who are closest to me know this. I'm truly sorry you got to know me the wrong way, and I hope someday, you get to forgive me for this." 

Dipping her hand into her bag, she brought out some bundles of money. "Here. This is a lot of money. You can use this to take care of yourself. I'll see to it that you get more money from..."

"You crazy bítch!" Adira slapped the money from her palms, making them fall to the ground. "Have you completely lost it? For over a month, you slept with my husband and made him not to come home to me. You convinced him that I wasn't good enough for him and led him into a divorce. All those times, where was your conscience? How dare you come to me now and try to talk about being good, you bítch!" Tears welled up in her eyes instantly. 

She also noticed some tears in Jardine's eyes, but she quickly blinked them back. 

"Believe me," Jardine sniffed. "I'm truly sorry for what I did. All I wanted was a man to love me. I'm truly sorry it had to be your husband."

Adira scoffed and lowered her head. Few seconds passed, then she looked back at Jardine. 

"If you're truly sorry, will you let him come back to me? Did he...tell you I'm pregnant for him?"

There was a sudden and sharp switch in Jardine's eyes, like a bolt of lightning cutting through a clear blue sky. The calm and innocent expression that had been there just moments ago got replaced by something different - a dangerous intensity that seemed to burn like a flame. 

Slowly, Jardine's eyes moved down to Adira's tummy, lingering there for a moment. 

"What the hell did you just say?" She asked in hushed tones, her eyes still remaining on Adira's flat tummy. 

Adira took a nervous gulp. "You heard me. I'm two months pregnant for..."

"Well, get rid of it" Jardine interrupted huskily, taking a step closer to her. Her eyes shimmered with rage that appeared dangerous to Adira. 

She scoffed. "You really think you can get Lancelot back with this? You must be joking, Adira. No matter what you do, Lancelot will always chose me. Remember that."

"You're so sure, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am" she gritted. "Why on earth would he want to leave a rich classy lady like me for someone as low as you? I didn't even need to convince him much, you know? All I did was make him see reasons you weren't good for him. I took him back to his family, now his father is putting him back in the company. I changed his life, Adira. All you did was raise him down. So, don't ever think you stand a chance against me."

Just then, Adira's step-mother - Soraya - came out of the house. She gasped at the sight of the money on the ground. 

"Oh, my goodness! Are....are you ladies giving out money?" She skittered towards them, wearing a grim smile. 

Looking up at the advanced woman, Jardine wore a smile. "Yes, ma'am. I actually gave it to Adira here, but she rejected it."

"Are you serious?" Soraya scrowled at Adira. "Please, never mind. She can be shy at times." Quickly, she crouched to the ground and began picking up the money. Adira knew there was nothing she could do to stop her stepmother. 

Jardine went closer to Adira and whispered into her ears: "Get rid of that baby, Adira. Yes, I'm sorry for what I did, but I'm never losing Lancelot to you. Trust me, you do not want to be my enemy."

With that said, she walked away, heading for her car that had been parked at the entrance of the compound, but Adira went after her and pulled her by the wrist. 

"You'll pay for this, Jardine," she grunted. "Someday, I'll make you pay for this."

Jardine gave a ridiculous laughter. "And how exactly will that happen? You think this is some movies? Have some sense, Adira; my family's net-worth alone will feed a thousand of your generation. In the world of business, you're not even qualified to be my cleaner." Twisting her lips in a smirk, she opened her front door and got into the car. 

Adira stood there, seething with wrath. Watching her drive away, she let her tears fall freely. Again, she had been humiliated and insulted. How could she? How could that lady show up in her place and say such hurtful words to her?

"Foolish girl! You have such rich friends, huh? Why were you rejecting the money, anyway?" Soraya grumbled from the floor, but Adira didn't give her a chance to nag as she sniffed and left the house. 

***

All the time she walked down the street to an Automated Teller Machine, Adira couldn't stop sniffling. Jardine's words had broken her so badly, she never thought a woman's words could hurt her that way. 

She kept sobbing and wiping her tears until she had finally gotten to an ATM where she cued up to make use of it. 

'You'll get over this, Adira. You'll get over this' she kept reassuring herself. 

When it got to her turn to make use of the machine, Adira inserted her card and followed the normal procedures. But she was shocked when her transaction was declined with instructions telling her to see her account manager. She tried for two more times, but it still didn't work. 

'What the hell is this?' she mumbled to herself. Her account has never had an issue before. 

Deciding to follow their instructions, she took a cab and headed for the bank. After a while, she arrived and went in to lodge her complaint. She was directed to the bank manager who went through the system and informed her that her account had been blocked. 

"What're you talking about? Why's it blocked?" Adira inquired, confused. 

"I'm sorry, ma'am. You can just fill this form and I'll lodge a complaint to the headquarters. It might take a couple of weeks, tho," the manager informed her after dropping the form in front of her. 

Adira was broken. All the money she had was in that account. How could it be blocked all of a sudden?

She looked at the form and felt strength seeping out of her body. So many requirements. She was badly in need of the money, how could she possibly wait for weeks for the issue to be resolved?

"You can fill it over the counter, ma'am. I have other clients to attend to," the manager said, barely looking away from her screen.  

Weakly, Adira stood up with her bag and the form and exited the manager's office. She had barely gone far when her phone began ringing from her bag. Taking it out, she froze when she discovered it was Madame Winslet - Lancelot's mother. 

Her fingers shook as they struggled to pick the call. Finally receiving it, she placed it over her ear. 

"Adira," the voice hooted with laughter. "Little girl, I heard you're at the bank - filing a complaint 'cause you're unable to make use of your account. Just so you know, I'm responsible for that. I made sure your account was blocked, foolish girl, because I can't have you leave with a dime from my son. Remember when I offered you some money to stay away from him? You rejected my offer, and I made it clear to you that you'll regret it someday. Now, I hope you're truly regretting it, Adira."

Adira's legs grew cold. "You..." her breath came in short gasps. "How could you..."

"Enjoy your misery in the slums where you belong," Madame Winslet taunted and dropped the call. 

Adira remained rooted on the spot like a statue, finding it difficult to breath. The realization of things dawned on her and caused her so much pain that she could not absorb.

Her phone started ringing again, and glancing at the screen, she noticed it was Lancelot calling. 

"What're you doing, Adira?" He yelled at her when she received the call. "How dare you tell Jardine about the baby? I thought I told you to get rid of it? Are you seriously trying to ruin me?

"Listen to me, I'm done with you, okay? And not even that baby will make me come back to you. So, just sign the God-damn divorce papers and let me move on with my life. Please!" Then he ended the call. 

It was too much for Adira. Standing there in the middle of the bank, she felt the world around her fade as the entire place began to go round in circles. 

The harsh words echoed in her head, every bitter word she's ever gotten from people. She was hated by everyone. Not a single person cared about her. 

Her chest began to rise and fall heavily. A cold liquid came streaming down her legs, Adira had no idea it was blood. Finally losing herself, she crashed to the floor and passed out.