Arabella POV.....
"Beep" the sound of my phone vibrating on the kitchen counter broke my concentration on chores, with soap still on my hands, I washed my hands, before I grabbed the phone eagerly. It was a message from Joseph, my husband. In five years of our marriage, it was the first time he had reached out to me directly rather than delivering his message through Ruby or his mother, but now his direct message filled me with a mix of surprise and happiness, "Bella, meet me at the Blue Royal Hotel at 7 PM, let's celebrate my appointment as CEO." I still couldn't believe whether it's a dream or real, for a moment, I allowed myself to believe that Joseph was finally recognizing my love and support, maybe tonight, he would publicly acknowledge me as his wife, maybe all my dreams might come true tonight, this is moment I've been waiting till now. But my brief moment of happiness was shattered by the cold voice of my mother-in-law's cursing echoing from the living room, "Bella! You useless wench, when are you going to get the refreshments for my guests? Do you expect me to serve them myself?" "Coming mother" I quickly set the phone down and hurried to the fridge, grabbing juice and snacks to prepare a tray, as I balanced the tray, making my way to the living room without messing up with my clumsy actions, I couldn't ignore the disdainful glances and whispered insults from the guests. One of them had the audacity to question my mother-in-law, "where did you find such an ugly and useless wife for your son?" My mother-in-law's cold glare only added to my humiliation, "isn't serving completed? Get lost from here." Before I could retreat to the kitchen, my sister-in-law, Ruby, appeared, scolding me, "hey trash! You are a useless fool, you didn’t iron my dress properly, I had an important meeting, and you ruined it, did you ever do a single job properly?" Her harsh words in front of everyone are hurtful, but I apologized softly hoping she would understand me, "I’m so sorry, Ruby, I’ll do it again right away," I took the crumpled dress and hurried to the ironing board, smoothing out the wrinkles carefully, so that Ruby will not be disappointed again. As I finished ironing the dress and prepared to return it to Ruby, my mother-in-law's cold voice once again loud and clear, "Bella! You bitch, where are you?" I hurriedly went towards her, she sighed coldly, "go and bring coffee for Mrs. Carla" I nodded, and rushed to fulfill another demand from my mother-in-law, when I handed the dress to Ruby, her insults were never ending, "you're good for nothing, at least feeding a pig is better than feeding you" Without speaking back I retreated to the kitchen to prepare coffee for Mrs. Carla, one of the guests, gave it to her before going back to the kitchen once again. By the time I finished cleaning, I felt totally drained. The entire day had been spent looking after my in-laws, leaving me feeling like a mere servant without any wages in my own home, despite five years of marriage to Joseph, I still felt like an outsider, clinging to the hope of being accepted into this family one day. As evening approached, I completed all my work, and prepared for my long-awaited date with Joseph, it is my first time going out on a date, and I wanted to make a good impression. Standing before my wardrobe, I wished to have an elegant dress to wear, something that would make Joseph see me as beautiful. While I was thinking about a dress, Ruby who was passing by approached me with a stunning green dress, "looks like you're dolling up yourself for a special occasion, here, you can wear this tonight, I no longer needed this, so I'll let you have it." Her unexpected kindness touched me deeply, "thank you so much Ruby, I'm so grateful for your help" she just rolled her eyes before leaving the room. I quickly changed into the dress, mesmerized in its softness and beauty. It is the first time I had worn something so elegant and comfortable, and I felt a spark of excitement as I prepared myself with minimal makeup for the evening ahead, my thoughts are full of spending time with Joseph, I can't help but imagine a romantic dinner. Heading downstairs, I realized I hadn't informed my mother-in-law about my plans earlier, nervously, I called out to her, "Mother!" She looked at me top to bottom, her expression cold as usual, "What?" She snapped shifting her concentration towards the mobile. "Umm mother, I'm going out for dinner wi" I began, but she cut me off before I even continued further, "Go wherever you want, just don't disturb me," she replied, being not bothered about me going out. It was surprising, but I felt that maybe they were finally starting to understand me, perhaps Joseph had already informed her about our date, I didn't want to waste any more time, "okay mother, take care." With that I left home, taking a cab, I arrived at the Blue Royal Hotel, my heart pounding with excitement and disbelief that Joseph had invited me to dinner at such a fancy place. The staff greeted me warmly and led me to a beautifully set table. "Welcome, ma'am, your husband has booked this for you," the waiter informed me with a smile. The table was adorned with rare blue tulips and candlelight, creating a romantic atmosphere, I don't regret waiting all these years since Joseph is keeping efforts to recognise our bond. As I settled into my seat, a waiter approached with a welcome drink. "Ma'am, it's a welcome drink," he explained pouring wine into my glass. Thinking about it as a proper dining etiquette to accept a welcoming drink, I took the drink with a smile since I don't want to tarnish my husband's reputation with my foolish behaviour, as I savored, it is pleasant and refreshing flavor, it is something I had never tasted before, it is amazing as the taste still lingering on my lips. However, soon, I began to feel dizzy, and my vision blurred. Struggling to keep my eyes open, I heard a voice offering help, "Ma'am, you seem to be uncomfortable, sir booked a room too, shall I take you there?" Nodding weakly, I allowed that person to guide me to the elevator but as we ascended, I couldn't even see which floor I was brought to, everything became even more blurry, I felt like I was being handed over to someone, the muscular body, husky voice and strong Cologne made me to understand it's a man, but I couldn't see the face of that person, all I was able to see was those blue eyes, "let me go, please." Before I lost consciousness, I heard an unfamiliar husky voice whispering in my ear, unzipping my frock, "Enough with your hard to get drama, I don't have time for your silly games, let's get started."The warm rays of the sun straight on my face pulled me out of a deep sleep. My head is extremely heavy, and everything felt like a blurring image, still sleepy, I mumbled to myself, "What's the time? If I'm late and miss making breakfast, Mother will kill me." The moment I opened my eyes completely keeping aside the sleepiness and looked at my surroundings, the reality hit me hard that I wasn't at home and this isn't my room, this realisation turned into bewilderment.Memories of last night started to appear in front of me as I saw my clothes scattered across the floor. "I can see that you're loving it by the way you're moaning with pleasure under me, right, little lamb?" That husky voice ringing in my mind even now. The man from last night wasn't Joseph, nothing is my imagination, moreover the bloodstain on the bedsheet confirmed it I had lost my virginity to a stranger, this confirmation clenched my heart.Tears began streaming down my cheeks, not because of physical pain but from
I was stunned by her words, "a wild night with an old man?" I repeated her words, unable to understand what she meant by, she just shrugged casually, "Come on, Bella, I thought you were smart since you excel in everything, but you're a real fool to be frank, you're an emotional fool."My silence seemed to make her happy, "just one message from him and you rushed to the hotel without thinking about anything? Is there any fool like you?" She taunted at my helpless situation, I snapped back, "Whether you believe it or not, I got a message from him.""Oh, I know you did," she smirked with a proud smile, "Bella, meet me at the Blue Royal Hotel at 7 PM, let's celebrate my appointment as CEO, isn’t that what you got?"My eyes widened in shock, how did she know the exact message I got from my husband? She tapped her fingers in front of my face bringing me out of my thoughts, "you must be wondering how I got to know the message, it's because I sent it to you."I was speechless as she continued
"Mommy... mommy!" The sound of my children’s voices pulled me out of the nightmare that has been stressing me, I opened my eyes to see Abigail and Alexander, my everything, looking worried, seeing me opening eyes, they quickly hugged me."Mommy, we were so worried," Abigail was the first one to jump on me with a worried look, while Alexander mumbled wiping my tears, "You were crying in your sleep, are you okay, Mommy?"I smiled at them, trying to ease their concern, while ruffling their hair, "Yes, I'm fine, just a bad dream, Mommy's okay." They hugged me tighter once again, and filled my face with kisses."These are good luck kisses," they announced with a proud smile."Oh my goodness, I’m going to have so much luck," I chuckled at their innocence playing along with them, these past six years of hellish life, they’ve been my only ray of hope to dream about the future.I thought back to the day of the accident, the day I lost consciousness in the arms of a stranger, when I woke up, I
"I thought I was on time. Am I late?" My presence in the dining hall left everyone stunned, the surprise on their faces was quite evident, I had anticipated this reaction, after all, they never expected me to return, since they wanted to hide their sins forever. Their hateful glances made that clear.As soon as she saw me, my grandmother approached with a warm smile, "Oh dear! You're finally here, I missed you a lot," she exclaimed, pulling me into a loving embrace, I hugged her back and smiled, happy to meet her after a long time, "Yes, I'm here for you, grandmother, happy birthday."Holding her hand, I glanced at her smiling face just as always, but she is weak than before, wrinkles on her face more visible now, "How is your health, grandmother?""I'm fine, especially now that you're back, I'm much happier," she replied, her eyes brighter with full of happiness, her glance shifted at my children, and I introduced them, "This is Abigail, and this is Alexander, they're my children."S
The moment I decided to give my grandmother a limited edition Sapphire and Pearl necklace from Star Light Jewels as a gift, I anticipated this kind of reactions from everyone. This necklace, a limited piece even among VIPs who are in queue to get this into their hands, but this is something I designed personally for my grandmother.Britney glared at me, with suspicion, "Don't tell me you brought a knockoff as a present for my mother's birthday, you should be ashamed of yourself and your actions."I smiled calmly being surprised by her confidence to call it a knockoff without any proper knowledge about what she is speaking, "A knockoff?"Natalie sneered with a frown, "If it’s not a knockoff, do you really think you could get your hands on a limited edition necklace from Star Light Jewels? When even Joseph struggled to get one for me."My father sighed in disappointment as always, "If you can't afford something like this, why embarrass yourself and us with your foolish actions? I'm sorr