-- Alexander --
Everyday, I found myself becoming more depressed despite all the success and riches that surrounded me. I felt incomplete without Grizelda by my side. I had searched for her for years and found nothing on her. Like she had disappeared completely just as she'd planned to from a heartless man like I was. I could never forgive myself for what I did to her and it ate me up everyday.
I tried her phone number severally on different occasions, hoping it would go through one day, but I was only deceiving myself. She had probably changed her number. I wanted to see her just once and apologise for the pain I caused.
My company grew bigger and bigger and I grew richer and richer. My mother had everything she ever wished for. All she had to do was snap her fingers and I would have everything being sent to the mansion I gifted her.
Everyone was happy, even my new wife and her son, Spencer, who was now five years old. He looked nothing like me. I had blonde hair and hazel eyes, whereas he had aurburn hair and brown eyes. Yet, my mother never suspected a thing. The joy of having a grandson had clouded her mind. I was tired of lying and I wished I could just tell her the truth.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look here! See what I built!!" Spencer screamed to call my attention to a castle that he created using the sand on the beach. It was weekend and I was taking my family out as usual.
I tried to give him my best smile and simply nodded my head. "That's great, Spencer. Keep it up." I further clapped for him.
"Yay!!" He threw his hands up in the air and smiled so widely.
I felt pity for the boy. He really thought I was his father. I turned in time to see his mother approaching me with cocktails in hand. I stretched out my hand to collect mine and she sat in her deck chair next to me while sipping hers.
"Such a sunny day, isn't it?" She smiled, warmly.
"Yes, it is." I agreed and managed to have a glimpse at the sky. "When are we going to tell him?"
"Tell who?"
"Spencer. That I'm not his father."
"Oh my God." Her eyes went wide. "Shuush! Don't be loud about it." She quickly checked Spencer to be sure he wasn't listening and still focused on the sand he was playing with.
"I know we're planning never to tell my mom about it, but don't you think the boy deserves to know?" I urged.
"Ugh! I hate when you bring this up, okay? Is it really that hard for you to just forget about his father and love him as your own son?" I was shocked on her reaction on the issue. I wasn't expecting her to be so pissed about it and I wondered why.
Wasn't I just being honest?
"That's not what I meant. I..." I tried to explain but she wouldn't give me time to talk.
"No wonder! I've noticed the way you never want to sleep with me in bed, either. This isn't fair. This isn't how it's supposed to be, Alex. I came back to you. When you thought I left, I came back." Her eyes began to show signs of tears.
"And for five years that we've been together, I haven't slept with anyone. Doesn't that speak a lot? What am I really to you? Do you not love me anymore? Is it because I have a child for another man? Is that why you refuse to touch me? Can't you just..."
"Hey, don't cry!" I stood up from my chair and sprang to her side. "Stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought it up. I do love you and I do appreciate you sticking by my side. I won't bring up Spencer's matter anymore."
"I know that's not true. You'll keep on seeing him as a fake son and you'll keep on seeing me as just a mere substitute."
"No, no, Lucy. Listen, I love both of you. I'm being honest, dear. Please don't say that about me."
She kept on shedding tears and I pulled her to my chest.
"Mommy, Daddy. Is everything alright?" We both separated after hearing Spencer's voice and I turned to see the worry on his little face.
"No, no, honey. Your mommy is just..." I tried to explain.
"Mommy is just having cramps, baby. Come here." Lucy finished for me and she opened her arms to receive him. He came closer and she wrapped him tightly while I stepped aside a little.
"What's cramps?" He asked.
"It's a pain that happens here." She answered, touching a spot on her lower belly.
"Sorry, mommy. I hate cramps." He pouted.
"Me, too." She kissed his head and I smiled. It was lovely to watch.
At last, the weekend went well and on Monday, I was back to sulking alone in the big space of my office. My phone rang and I picked it up. It was my PI and I was wondering what he must be calling to tell me.
"Hello, Jerry." I answered with a serious tone.
"Mr Kingston." He responded hastily and his voice shook. "I have found your Ex wife."
"What did you say?" The information made me rise up from my chair. "You're talking about Grizelda, right? The Grizelda we've been looking for?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where?!"
"Mr Kingston!" Someone else barged into the office before I could get the answer to my question.
I turned my head and was startled to see Nicholas panting like he was just chased by a horrible beast.
"Sir, there's an important issue you need to know about as soon as possible."
I gritted my teeth as I felt Jerry waiting for me on the call. I couldn't imagine anything being more important than what I've waited a whole five years for.
"I'm on a phone call. Give me a few more minutes and come back."
"Sir, it's about the company."
"Nicholas, please come back. I'll hear what you have to say after this call."
"The William's corporation have terminated their contract with the Kingston's group." He blurted out nonetheless, causing my heart to stop beating as soon as the last word left his mouth.
"They have what?!" I exclaimed. I felt my blood pressure rise.
Without waiting another second, I told Jerry I'll get back to him and ended the call. I shoved my phone in my pocket and slammed my fist against my office table.
"Why would they do that? Why now? Have we offended them in any way?"
"Nothing I know of, sir. But what I did hear is that the decision was made after the family's second daughter returned to town after so many years. Only that it still doesn't make any sense. They seemed to have no specific reason except saying they no longer want to work with us."
I felt my head start to spin as I heard the most horrible news in my life. The one company that was the sole reason for my company's growth was suddenly no longer interested in my company. It felt like a child being dropped by his father in a very expensive school and being told to start fending for myself from there.
The William's corporation was the biggest tech company in the whole country and if people were to find out that I no longer had ties with them, it could seriously affect my company. They would assume I was on the bad side of the most influential family in the entire country and I was a finished man if I didn't find a solution to this mess as soon as possible.
-- Grizelda --I stopped by my favorite restaurant to have a meal alone. It was an expensive restaurant. It was such a great news that I could finally use my husband's money to pay for the food I ate.I missed the restaurant, anyways. I was always at home unlike before I got married. I had to quit my job just to become a housewife, but all for the sake of my husband. My Alexander. The one and only person that managed to keep my heart from being snatched from any other man. It was like I was under a trance. I loved him so much that I was willing to do anything for him.Recently, he broke the news to me that his ex girlfriend would be staying with us in our mansion for a while since she just got discharged from the hospital. I hadn't thought twice before I agreed to the decision. I had turned deaf ears to everyone, including my best friend, Jax Grey, who claimed that it wasn't normal that my husband was very willing to pay his ex girlfriend's medical bills, not to talk of wanting her to
-- Grizelda --"No, mom. I need to understand why she did this to me." Alexander said, countering his mother's statement."Did what?" I spoke up. I didn't understand what was going on and I was determined to.What was enough to make him want to divorce me?"I asked a question, Grizelda. Where are you coming from?"My heart constricted upon hearing my name out of his mouth. It was so long since he referred me by my name."I... I'm coming from my favorite restaurant." I dutifully replied."With whom?" He further asked and the question took me aback."With no one. I was alone.""Enough of this, Grizelda. Can you please stop lying to me? I've had enough of this already." Alexander covered his face with his hand and dragged it all the way down, getting me more confused than I already was."What do you mean? I'm telling you the truth, dear. I'm not lying-""And enough with the dear!" He thundered and finally fled off his seat. "How can you still be pretending to love me after cheating on me
-- Grizelda --I woke up to the feeling of someone trying to snatch my purse from me and I was right. Right in front of my eyes, an old man in rag clothes was determined to tug my purse out of my arms where I held it tightly. He hadn't realised that I'd worn it over my shoulders soon enough or he would have just opened the purse and taken whatever he wanted to take, rather than trying to snatch it out of my arms and pulling me awake instead."Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"He shook when he realised the person he was trying to steal from was awake and he immediately began to pull at the purse even harder this time."Give me the purse, you stupid lady! Give me the damn thing!"Just in time, I heard the sound of the police pulling up and I immediately felt relieved that I was going to get help from being mugged just at the right time."Help! This man is trying to steal my purse!"The old man heard the police had arrived and immediately, he stopped trying to snatch the purse from
-- Grizelda --After the two police officers were sacked without consideration and my purse was eventually returned to me, the higher ranked officer refused to stop begging us."Please, ma'am. I will make sure to have the real culprit arrested by officers who are more reliable in the job than those other two.""No, no. Nevermind about that." I said as I figured Alex could be the real culprit behind the theft of the one million dollars from an innocent man's account and pretended to be me. "I don't want you looking for the culprit anymore, you hear me?""What?" The man was shocked to hear my words. Even Jax was shocked as his eyes scanned me with refusal to believe that I meant what I said."I will pay back the million dollars if that's what it entails for you to stop looking for the culprit. Just forget about it, please.""Um, okay... okay ma'am, but I suggest you don't worry about that as well." I could see the sweat forming on the man's head as he addressed me with much respect. "It
-- Grizelda --I blinked back confusion and tried to make out the doctor's face. He wasn't joking. The smile on his face was huge."Who is your husband? He must be happy to hear the news." I traced his vision to the ring on my finger. I was still wearing my wedding ring so now he must have thought I was still married. "Your first pregnancy?""Hold on a bit, doctor. It must be a mistake. I can't be pregnant. I don't remember sleeping with any man since I got married.""Not even your husband?" The doctor's eyes flew wide open."No, no, that's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is that my husband is impotent. So there's no way I'm pregnant for him. And neither have I slept with another man that wasn't him. Please you have to recheck again.""I'm sorry, ma'am. But it's the truth. We can't be wrong here. You're pregnant and it's up to four months now." The doctor reaffirmed. "Or do you want to abort it?""No, no." I tried to breathe as my head struggled to digest the information.I l
-- Alexander --Alone in my office, I stared at my phone, wondering if I should text my ex wife or not. A few days had passed since she left me and it felt like a whole month, already. I couldn't seem to get her out of my mind. Was she really gone forever?Out of frustration, I dropped my phone on my office table and ran my fingers through my blonde hair. For the past few days, I'd been fighting with myself not to text or call her. I had my pride to feed. She was the one who left me. She was the one who cheated on me. Sleeping with other men behind my back for how long now?And how could I be so foolish to still be thinking about her? Why couldn't I just let her go? Why was I so unwilling to accept what life had given to me? I didn't want to believe that the woman I fell so deeply in love with on the very first day I set my eyes on her, could have never loved me the same way in the first place."Alex!" I jumped when I heard a voice in my office. I sat upright and adjusted myself immed