Chapter 004

Charlotte McCartney

The morning that I moved to Josh Xavier's mansion marked the beginning of our marriage. I used to have dreams of my wedding to my prince charming when I was a little girl. I would imagine my wedding dress to be as beautiful as Cinderella’s wedding dress and my husband prince charming.

But that was before I got pregnant. It was a long, long time before I gave birth to my daughter Kelcie. Even though I loved her and could not imagine life without her, I knew that my life took a new turn when I got pregnant. I could no longer marry Prince Charming or a billionaire. Mom made sure she sang it to me every day.

“No billionaire will marry you after what you have done to yourself. Which billionaire wants a woman as trashy as an Afterone?” Mom constantly repeated, referring to me as an Afterone, a name she used to describe women who gave birth to children for men who refused to marry them. In my case, though, I did not know the father of my child, so it seemed worse.

Meeting Ron was my consolation. He was not Prince Charming, and he was not a billionaire, but he was good enough for an afterone like me.

“Our marriage would be small but we would be happy. With both our jobs, we would be able to build our future. Luckily Ron already had a good position in the company where he worked”, I would say to myself constantly and daydream about our marriage.

Today, as Dad drove Mom, Kelcie, and me to my husband’s house, I knew I would never be able to dream again. It was over. I was finally getting married. He was not my Prince Charming or Ron. He was a man I never dreamt of marrying.

“We are here now everyone”, dad announced as we drove into Josh Xavier's old fashioned country estate, awakening me from my thoughts.

I was looking at the window closest to me before dad announced our arrival. His voice jerked me up a little. My initial anxiety was back again.

“You remember what we talked about don't you Charlotte?” mom asked when dad finally packed his car.

“Yes mom I do”, I replied wondering if it was possible to forget all we had talked about especially with the way mom talked about it.

“Josh Xavier's house keeper Lydia will give you your marriage agreement when you meet her. I'm sure you remember that you will need to sign the agreement”, mom said looking at me dangerously

“Yes mom, I will sign the agreement as soon as I receive it”, I answered calmly.

“You better not make any trouble Charlotte. I do not want to hear any bad report about you from the Xaviers. I do not want any complications. Do you understand me Charlotte!! I don't want disgrace brought to this family. The reason you're there is to retain our reputation, not ruin it like you have done in the past. And I hope you have spoken to that bast”, mom paused abruptly.

“I hope you have spoken to your daughter? Control her”, mom continued, correcting what had obviously almost slipped out of her mouth.

What hurt me everytime was realizing with every passing second mom’s hatred towards Kelcie, her own granddaughter. I should have noticed it before, or maybe I was too blinded with love and the need to constantly try to prove to my baby that I accepted her and that she wasn't a mistake.

That was probably the reason I totally ignored whatever may have actually been happening in the background. On the other hand maybe all this hate was only a recent development because I could recall the times mom had played and taken care of Kelcie.

But I also remembered that on several occasions Mom had complained that the child played too much.

“How can a child play too much?”, I always asked but it always seemed as though I was the one trying to just pamper and spoil her.

“Yes mom”, I replied again, determined to stay composed for Kelcie’s sake. She had seen and heard enough already. Luckily she was too young to understand the situation. Still, I needed to stay composed for her sake.

In my heart I made a silent promise to my daughter, “I would love my daughter no matter what she does”.

I made that promise because I did not want to subdue my own child the way my mother did to me. I did not want to redirect my misery and pain to my daughter because despite the fact that she was the cause of my misery and pain, she was also the only way I managed to escape it all.

Mom did not even say goodbye. She just shut the door as soon as she was done talking and asked Dad to drive. Dad on the other hand looked at me with what seemed like pity in his eyes but he did nothing other than that.

He always looked at me that way when I was pregnant with Kelcie. He gave me that look again when I birthed her. Once again he was giving that same old look, as if he somehow wished he could do something but his hands were tied.

The mansion was so massive, coming from someone like me who didn't come from a small home because my parents were not exactly poor people. But massive was the word that came to my mind as I stood there. I and Kelcie trudged on for what took almost forever till we came to the main entrance where two gigantic doors stood.

At the door, an elderly woman was there to welcome us.

“Hello, good afternoon Ms Charlotte. I am Lydia, housekeeper of the Xavier mansion” Lydia said, smiling warmly at me.

“And you must be Little Kelcie”, she said smiling down at Kelcie who immediately looked away timidly.

“Good afternoon Ms Lydia”, I replied, stretching my right hand to shake hers.

Are you not so beautiful? Remind me to take you to the stable later Kelcie

“The boss of the house informed me of your arrival. I have prepared your quarters Kelcie can sleep with you if you want or in her own room”, Lydia said as we walked into the mansion.

“I will be available to show you around the estate later“, Lydia said smiling.

When we got to the sitting room, she gave me a big brown envelope and said, “The boss of the house said I was to give this to you”.

I opened the envelope to see our prenuptial and postnuptial agreement and a pen which I was to use in signing the agreement.

“What if Josh Xavier doesn't like me? He was supposed to marry my sister, not me. What if he doesn't want me or my daughter? I know he has been through a lot lately but what if he does not want us?” I asked myself sadly and tears welled up in my eyes.

As though she sensed my worry and hesitation, she took my hands in hers as well my eyes in hers and said reassuringly,

“I promise you Ms Charlotte you would have no problem living here. The boss may be a little angry a lot of times but he has been through so much lately. You are beautiful, I'm sure my boss Mr Josh Xavier will have no difficulty with falling in love with you and in a short time our home will be filled with bliss, laughter and more children”.

Ohh how sweet, how comforting her words seemed to be. I blinked back the tears in my eyes wishing I could believe her. The worst had happened and here the seemingly lovely old lady stood trying to assure me that what was already my worst nightmare would turn out to be my best dream. I almost scoffed in her face.

I took out the pen and with it I signed the agreement. It did not really matter if Josh Xavier liked me or not. I had promised mom I would sign the agreement and that was what I would do.

Let's go sit now, rest now Kelcie”, I said and reached out to hold Kelcie’s hand so we could go home but she did not hold me back I turned to know why. Only then did I realize my daughter was not standing next to me.

“Kelcie! Kelcie! Kelcie baby!” I called out turning round with panic in my voice.

“Don’t worry Ms Charlotte she is just around. Why don't you go look for her this way while I go through this way”, Lydia said pointing in two opposite directions.