VIVIANNate didn't come back to the house after he left our room and I didn't bother to ask where he had gone. Gran told me later on that he had gone back to work but I didn't care. I didn't want to care and I couldn't hide my nonchalance at the breakfast table after Gran announced that Nate may keep late nights for a while, I just forced a smile and thanked him for the food then left.My phone lit up after breakfast with a text from Tracy – “Hey, girl? I miss you, how are you?” she asked, I sat on the bed and allowed the softness to welcome me as I graduated to laying on it.“I am just getting by, ” I replied. I could feel the weakness of my bones and my body, my hands went to my stomach and unintentionally cradled it.“We can't have that, now can we? Let's meet up and talk, I don't want you growing stiff and crazy because of that asshole that you share a name with,” she said and I smiled.“That asshole is my husband and the father of my baby, don't call him an asshole,” I said and
VIVIANMy heart was beating twice as fast, my body was growing colder by the minute and if there was anything I didn't want to do? It was to stand here and have Eve say something that would upset me.I looked around the store and noticed that Eve had somehow been able to once again cause a small scene. Shit. If I wanted to escape her and whatever mess she was planning then I would have no choice but to ignore her.I turned around immediately and I could see Tracy giving me a confused look before going along with what I was doing.“Now, you can't speak?” Eve asked and scoffed along with it.I squeezed my eyes and moved forward in the queue, praying that whatever madness Eve carried along with her today wouldn't be too showy and I could just pay for my stuff and get out of here.It must have been very painful and annoying to have someone ignore you when you are obviously trying to make a point and allow your voice to be heard because Eve suddenly grabbed a handful of my silk shirt fro
VivianI stood frozen, my eyes stinging with unshed tears, my vision blurring as Eve's cruel words sank in.“Did I strike a chord, hmm, sweetheart?” she taunted, her voice dripping with venomous satisfaction. All I wanted was for this nightmare to end, to escape the torment of her presence.“I am nothing like you,” I retorted, my voice trembling with anger and defiance. But even as I said it, a flicker of doubt gnawed at me. Was I just a replica, a stand-in for the woman Nate truly loved?“With the way you're talking, it seems you've thought about this longer than you'd like to admit. Good, because it shows you're starting to accept that you're a replica, a fake, an unoriginal,” she sneered, her eyes gleaming with malice.Tracy stepped forward, grabbing my arm, trying to pull me away. “Viv, let's go. She isn't worth it,” she urged, her voice tight with concern. But I couldn't leave it at that. Not without getting the last word in, something to shatter Eve's confidence.“You should ask
NATEI slammed my fingers on the keyboard, trying to focus on the work in front of me. The sleeves of my shirt were rolled up, my tie loosened, and my eyes fixed on the screen, but my mind was elsewhere. The office was a welcome distraction, a place where I could hide from the mess my life had become. Being here was easier than going home and facing Vivian. Seeing her face and pretending nothing had happened was out of the question.I couldn't do that. I wouldn't.It was impossible to ignore the turmoil churning inside me. My mental state was a wreck, and I was using work as a shield. When my meetings got rearranged, and the workload increased, I welcomed it. It was better than dealing with the confusion and guilt that plagued me.Gran was furious that I was spending nights at a hotel instead of going home to my wife. But how could I tell him the truth? How could I explain that I was avoiding home because I couldn't look Vivian in the eyes? The sorrow and sadness I'd caused her were un
VivianI couldn't believe what had just happened, even though I had seen it with my own eyes. My breath hitched in my chest, burning as if every part of my body was on fire. Tortured by my memory, I replayed the scene over and over: Nate carefully lifted Eve into his arms as if she were a fragile egg, and then carried her to what I could only assume was his car to take her to what I could only assume was the hospital.Not once did he look at me. Not even once. I was his wife, for God's sake, and he didn't even care about me, even though I was the one truly injured. The betrayal was mind-numbing, more brutal than my bruises, and with every replay, water gathered in my eyes, threatening to flood my cheeks.Within minutes, the road became congested. Cars that had been racing to their destinations could no longer move, jammed together by the obstacle ahead. For some unknown reason, there was no security official to handle the unexpected, serious traffic. I could hear the angry shouts from
Vivian "My God, you are bleeding. Viv, you are bleeding!" Tracy's voice pierced through my daze, her panic escalating. The shock of her words made me almost pass out, but I bit my lip hard and mustered the courage to look at my thighs. Tyler repeated "shit, shit, shit" as he desperately tried to start the car, while their frustrations echoed in the background. Tears streamed down my cheeks when I saw the wide red patch on the front of my dress and the trickle of blood down my legs. "My baby, Tracy. I can't lose my baby,," I sobbed, trying and failing to bury my face in my hands. If it weren't broad daylight, I would have thought I was trapped in a nightmare. Everything felt like a scene from a horror movie. The blood that flowed down from my legs started to darken and continued in a sticky texture that began to irritate my skin. I tried not to imagine the consequences of my bleeding. Thinking too much about it would make me blank out. As Tyler continued to try starting the car, I
Vivian"Mummy!""No, please! Don't go!" I cried, my voice echoing into the darkness. The figure, so small and distorted, was slipping away from me, floating further into the dark void. I tried to run, my hands moving before my body, but I was stuck!I tried to move some more, but unseen forces pulled me down, my feet sinking into an invisible pool of darkness that continued to pull me down, my heart dropping into the pit of my stomach. Panic gripped my heart, and tears blurred my vision.“Mummy!! please!” the image screamed, and I knew I had to fight to get out of this mist, to get out of this sinking feeling that created darkness beneath my feet.But the more I struggled to free myself, the more I got pulled under and tears started to fall freely. "Baby?” I screamed, but got no response. “Mu..mmy,” the voice died into a fading echo, and I fought my way out of it, but the moment I emerged, I witnessed the image get sucked into the void and there was nothing left.“No!!” I screamed, but
VIVIAN Nate stood in the doorway, his face twisted in a scowl, eyes colder than I’d ever seen them."Tracy, I think you've overstayed your welcome. You can go," Nate's voice was icy, a stark contrast to the warmth I had once known from him. My mouth hung open in shock, unable to believe what I was hearing.Anger bubbled up from deep within me, hot and sharp. Tracy began to gather her things, looking confused and a little scared, but I couldn't let her leave. Not like this. Not when I needed someone sane beside me."Tracy isn't going anywhere," I said, my voice firm, trying to protect the only person who seemed to care about me. Nate's face hardened, his eyes narrowing."I'm in a hospital, wrapped in bandages from an accident, and this is what you say to me? You don't even ask how I am or how I got here? Or what happened?" My voice rose with incredulity. It was crazy that he would behave like this at such a moment.Nate scoffed, a cold, derisive sound. He stepped closer, towering over
Her hands trembled slightly. She was staring out the window of her office at the academy but her mind was somewhere else entirely. She had been transported back in time to the fateful day two weeks ago when the doctor had made the announcement with a wide grin on her face. "Congratulations, Miss Vivian. You're ten weeks pregnant." She had said, flashing Vivian a genuine smile that reached her crinkling eyes. At that moment, a cold sweat had broken out on Vivian’s forehead as the doctor’s words hit her like a bomb. The words had been so unprecedented, so out of left field that it took her a long time to understand the gravity of the doctor’s pronouncement. When she had finally digested her words, fear caused a knot to form in her stomach."The baby is in perfect condition." The doctor had said and Vivian had smiled at her, happy but at the same time, uncertain. "Your husband must be so proud." She had said. But would he? Nate had been so vehemently against a child and even though
VIVIANI opened my eyes. But I was in an unfamiliar place. The darkness that surrounded me was not only palpable, it was suffocating. I tried to breathe but my lungs seemed to be constricted with something. I stretched forth my hands to guide my path but something seemed to be on my way. I tore at the barrier but it only grew thicker. It was the darkness. Was there any way out of here? How could I fight something I could not even see? I opened my mouth to scream but no sound would come out. I was stuck in this deep, dark pit with nowhere to go but down. Below me, it seemed like there was quicksand and if I did not find a way to get out of here quickly, I would be swallowed whole. I clawed at the space in front of me, beside me and above me but the darkness was too dense, too restricting. Where was help when I needed it the most? My determination had started to wane. My resolve which I thought was stronger than steel bars had become considerably weakened the more it dawned on me t
NATEI felt overwhelmed. I had not felt this way in the longest of times, not even when dealing with Richard's stupidity. Why were things going haywire all of a sudden just when I thought the dust had settled down? I could not pretend not to know why. Gran's announcement yesterday had triggered a lot of suppressed resentment and I just had to deal tactfully with it or everything I held dear would be taken away right before my eyes. I had been called to the company the day before because Aston was making trouble. Word had spread that he had gone around contacting all the members of the board and having a secret meeting with them. I was not sure what the meeting had been about but I could guess. "Let's hurry." I said to my driver as I looked through Vivian's mail for the umpteenth time. I was about to send a message thanking her for her hard work when my phone started to vibrate. It was a call from my personal assistant. "They are holding an emergency extraordinary meeting of the
VIVIANI typed away feverishly. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins, fueling my fingers and propelling me to think. What had this not occurred to me before? Why had I glossed over Emily's statement back then like it was nothing at all. Had I been too overwhelmed at the time that I had been unable to put two and two together? Unable to see what was right in front of me? Emily had said three companies. Three companies, but only two were behind bars. So what happened to the last one? It was a question I should have been asking for sometime now. Would I be able to find a connection that would reveal which company was the third? Would I find enough proof? I started by digging into the two companies. Their CEOs had been well known in the business world for taking over small companies after leading them into debt. There were many comments online laying complaints against them and a third name kept popping up. Could it be?... I changed the direction of my research. It w
VIVIAN It all felt awkward. Gran had made the announcement of the century and the room was thrown into chaos. Aston looked like he could combust in anger at any time and stormed off. Gran was unwilling to listen to Nate's protests and Nate's mother just looked surprised. I, on the other hand was unsure how I was supposed to react. I was not very surprised, considering how much affinity Gran held for Nate, I was only a bit skeptical about the timing. But what did I care? I was no longer a part of the family. I was practically a stranger who happened to witness the Stuart family going at each other and it didn't matter what my thoughts were. I just wanted to escape before anyone looked in my direction and thought to rope me into it. Gran shuffled out of the room, leaning slightly on his cane and I saw my chance. Nate was still looking around, confused as ever and there was just a general tension in the air that I was sure no one would notice my silent disappearance. It felt good n
NATEI swore internally. How had Ashton found out? But then again, the same idiot that had the temerity to give out company information had probably babbled again. Vivian looked stricken standing there, staring numbly from Ashton to my mother to Gran. She tried to say something but it seemed like the words would not come out. I wanted to hold her and calm her down like I did yesterday in the hospital but this was not the place or time and I was pretty sure she would push me away. Guilt weighed down on me heavily. This was all my fault. I had brought this situation on her and I wanted to fix it badly but I felt control slipping out of my hands. Ashton was pushing, tearing down the walls of support around me, trying to strip me of my confidence and painting Vivian as the black sheep. I could not understand for the life of me why he had suddenly turned bad. Or perhaps he had always been this way, lurking silently in the shadows, waiting for this chance to ruin me. "Vivian did nothin
VIVIANI sighed for the thousandth time. Why on earth couldn't I be allowed to catch a break? Had all the universal forces aligned to ensure I did not have a single moment of peace? The whole situation seemed absurd to me. I did not yet know what Ethan was going on about but it couldn't be anything good, judging by the tone of his voice. Moreover, he was never one to impose, so if he was in front of my house, it must mean something quite severe was about to go down or was even going down. The taxi came to a stop in front of my apartment and I hurried up the path. I did not have to look for Ethan as his car was parked conspicuously on the driveway and he was sitting on it's hood tapping his phone impatiently. "What the hell, Ethan..." "There's no time for this." He looked worried, confused and most notably, tired. His tie had been drawn down, probably to enable him breathe properly while driving and his hair was tousled as if he had been in too much of a hurry to brush it properl
VIVIANI was elated.I flashed a wide smile back at the sea of smiling faces. I had not felt this way in a really long time, had not felt like what I had to say mattered, like I could dispense joy so freely, so abundantly and still have so much of it left to live on. I was not sad or angry or conflicted here, I just felt like I was wrapped in a bubble of peace, woven softly into a web of comfort and it scared me that this peace was fragile. That it could easily be broken if I didn't protect it. "Do you kids remember what we learnt yesterday?" I asked, leaning towards them and adopting a high pitched childlike voice. "Yes!" They chorused with enthusiasm. I smiled and turned to the board. "Today, we will learn something even more interesting. Are you ready to learn?" They answered with as much enthusiasm as earlier. Their innocence tugged at my heartstrings. Wouldn't my baby have grown to sound like this? To make mischievous jokes and play pranks on others? Maybe it was really not
VIVIANAnother emergency. But this one couldn't be a prank because Nate had delivered the news and we weren't exactly friendly enough to pull that type of joke on each other. Also, it involved my mother. Nate was a premium jerk but he wouldn't stoop so low. Right? I wished he would. I would swear at him and maybe even hit him but my mother would be fine and I would have worried in vain. "Oh God, oh God... Oh God." Night was falling fast but I didn't care. I rushed out of the house and flagged down the first taxi I saw. If anything happened to my mother, how would I cope with the pain, the guilt. If anything happened... Thoughts consumed me and filled my head with scenarios that were probably too far fetched but seemed feasible at that moment. Panic had taken over me and my hands shook terribly as I contemplated calling Nate. What would I say? What was I trying to find out? "No, no..." "Is there a problem?" The taxi driver was looking at me through the rearview mirror and I ave