Betrayed

Ashley’s heart thumped nonstop in her chest even when she was trying so hard to balance her emotions.

She clasped her hands together for a quick prayer but she was interrupted by the familiar footsteps from behind.

Tracing the family doctor to his seat but her attention was on the test result in his hand all through.

“Mrs.McCall…” The doctor said and paused.

Ashley’s blood ran cold watching the doctor’s neutral face, her breath wavered with the thought of getting ahead of herself. She thought that her husband’s absence from home for a long time must have driven her to imagination.

“Congratulations Mrs.McCall, you’re two weeks pregnant,” the doctor said with a motivating smile as he handed over the test result on the table.

A very sweet feeling exploded in her chest followed by a sigh of relief, excitement spreading to every part of her body

“Husband would be so proud of me!” she muttered and hurried to her feet.

“Please do not share this with anyone, I want to be the one to announce this good news” She informed the doctor who responded with a bright smile.

“Easy steps Mrs.McCall,” The concerned doctor said.

“Thank you” Cheerful Ashley commented loudly waving the text result behind her.

On getting to the parking lot, She smiled at the driver who had a confused look at the sudden change of her mood.

She settled down the seat and lowered the glass for intake of the fresh air.

What a perfect news to make the night! Ashley’s husband has been so busy with work lately that he barely comes home. From one business trip to another and finally, he was thoughtful enough to make their first wedding anniversary special by abandoning all his work and trips for her.

“What more can I ask for?” She giggled, rubbing her belly gently. She now has a little life growing in there.

Ashley’s marriage was a dream come true for her and she’s promised never to fuck it up by being useless to the family.

Her husband was her boss at work and a crush of many years.

She was happy to know that he had liked her all along too and he didn’t care about her background.

When everyone said to him back then not to marry a nobody like Ashley because she was adopted, he ignored them all for love.

Ashley had always thought that it was okay to settle for less considering how she was treated by her own family but Rhett became her haven and since then her family refused to support her.

They went as far as asking her to earn her keep while providing steadily for the stepsister, the real one.

But in the house of a kind lover, she found hope.

“Ma’am, is everything okay?” The driver’s voice came in and their eyes met immediately from the mirror.

“Is this how pregnancy works?” She mumbled and turned away.

The news of the baby, barely some minutes old is already making her feel so overwhelmed.

With a soft sigh, she wiped the tears clinging to her lashes.

Even though Ashley will forever remain the adopted daughter of the Roland family, her husband loves her to death.

…….

Ashley wasted no time in preparing for dinner the moment she got home. As the Madame of the Great McCall household, she learned a lot about how things should be done. Especially house chores since she was forced to stop working after the wedding.

On the long golden table lies different delicacies of food prepared with love. A satisfied smile lit up her face watching the maids decorate the mansion with rose petals.

With romantic music playing on the low, it’s all looking perfect.

“More surprise, more love” she uttered, eyes twinkling in overwhelming anticipation of her husband’s reaction.

Ashley picked up the phone to check for her husband’s messages but turns out that she was left on read with no reply.

A worried sigh escaped her lips and she decided to call his number but there was no answer.

“But his flight should have landed by now” she wondered to herself.

Ashley ended up falling asleep while waiting then with a loud gasp, she woke up from the nightmare she just had.

Tired, she stood up and hurried downstairs to ask him but was told that he hadn’t come back home.

“He’s working so hard for my sake 'cause I have nothing to contribute to the family… ” she says with guilt and picks up the phone again.

Beep! Beep!

The line got disconnected from the other end twice.

“This is unusual, Rhett would never get me worried”

At that point, she was already thinking in a bad way but then her phone vibrated and a life-changing message popped up on the screen.

“Since you don’t know how to keep your man, he is here to be loved by me”

It was as if she was struck by thunder… her heart ceased beating for a slight second and her vision became blurry with the heat arising from inside. Her phone fell.

Trembling and confused. Another beep from the phone made her pick it up again and this time, an address came up on the screen.

With pursed lips, she approached the phone with the screen mirroring her ghostly face.

The address shows the Rolands’ family vacation home and she wondered why her husband would be there.

But then she saw that the number belonged to her stepsister.

“No…” She uttered before storming out of the house.

The Vacation House

“Rhett! Are you in there?” Like a mad woman, Ashley called out for her husband as she pushed open the large door of the family vacation home.

She hadn’t even moved a step when the most horrific scene came into sight.

Her step-sister in her husband’s warm embrace.

“Husband!” She yelled, voice cracking with uncertainty as salty tears stung her face ready to drop any minute.

But to her utmost surprise, Rhett McCall, her beloved husband only turned back casually and flashed her a disgusting look.

“You came right on time,” Rhett said simply, his hands resting firmly on Rachel’s waist and she in turn linked her arm around him tightly. An evil smirk playing on her lips.

“What’s going on here?” Ashley questioned, puzzled.

“Dear sister is blind I guess. I’m the hotshot don’t you know? He wants me now and not you” Rachel said boldly, eyes twinkling with mischief.

“I want a divorce, Ashley, I can’t do this with you anymore. Grandfather and everyone prefers Rachel over you” he said to her like he was reading a poem.

“What? But we’ve promised to try our best so why are you changing your mind?” She cried out hoping to change his mind for whatever reason he might have.

Rachel threw some papers on the center table to divert her attention “We have the papers ready, sign them and let me know how much you’ll be needing”

Rachel has always been up to no good but when she went low-key in the past few months, Ashley have gotten too relaxed but now she’s scared to the brim because Rachel is the type to mean everything she does.

The floor suddenly felt cold underneath her feet, she had lost her shoes on the way.

“How dare you, Rachel!” Ashley yelled in pain.

“How dare a lowly adopted street cat yell at me? You’re getting exactly what you deserve. Who do you think you are to compete for love with me? You forced him to marry you anyway so just disappear and never come back!”

“Honey, let’s go home okay? I need to tell you something” Ashley hurried forward to grab Rhett’s hand but he stepped back and walked away instead.

His steps came to a standstill, and her breaths ceased. Rhett tilted his head over his shoulder “You can’t return home unless you sign the papers”

She blanched. Ashley fell butt flat to the ground, watching her husband’s figure becoming distant. Tears blurred her vision almost immediately.

“You can’t do this to me! We promised to love each other for better and worse” Tears filled her eyes as she looked on.

“The worst is not to cheat on me Ashley, you’re a shame to both families” He spoke and dropped a picture on the floor for her to see.

Ashley couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the ugly pictures scattered on the floor.

The pictures are clear evidence that Rachel had set her up.

Ashley had rushed to a hotel after receiving a call from Rachel for help, she was full of hope that she finally considered her family enough to ask for help, only to be trapped in a room full of men who tried to rape her.

With guilt, Ashley crawled to her husband’s feet but he snatched himself away.

“You can die for all I care”

Hearing that, her whole world came crumbling down. They’ve known each other for 6 years but he was quick to wish her death… along with his baby.