Chapter 2

Maybelline.

The slap sent a sharp sting across my cheek, leaving me momentarily stunned. My hand flew up to the burning spot as I stared at Nelly in disbelief, her eyes wild with rage, tears smearing her mascara. The entire hall had gone silent, with every pair of eyes staring at me with something more than a look of disguise, the kind of glare you’d give someone who would wants to snatch her husband elder sister’s husband.

"How dare you?!" Nelly screamed, her voice breaking at her last word. "How dare you try to ruin my marriage?!"

"I—I don't even know him!" I stammered, my voice trembling with shock and fear. Sasha walked up to us immediately and shoved her sister aside carefully,

“Let me deal with her,” she mumbled to her sister

“Liar!" she spat turning to me as she raised her hands and slapped me hard across my face, my purse and shoes fell out of my hands immediately as I staggered backwards wincing in excruciating pain.

"I had always told my brother you were nothing but a slut! But he wouldn’t listen!”

“We picked you up from the gutter, changed your life! gave you a good life, made you comfortable! What else do you want?! You’re just a very greedy harlot!” My mother in law yelled in my face. I tried to defend myself but she slapped the words out of my mouth again.

My heart burned in my chest with an excruciating pain, how dare she say that they made me comfortable when everything her and her family did was to make my life miserable?

Just as their other friends reached forward to attack me, the groom stepped forward and stood between me and them.

“You dare not!” He thundered authoritatively, my heart pounded in my chest. I wanted to scream, to tell him to get the hell out of my face, how dare he shatter my already ruined world like this? I just wanted to count my losses and move forward quietly, how dare he ruin me like this? But the words stuck in my throat, I was choked by every single thing that was happening to me today.

The guests began to murmur among themselves, and the groom slowly turned to me.

“It’s okay Babe, no one can hurt you now,” he muttered calmly, rubbing my hair slowly. Even I started to think if I had ever seen him at any point in my life. My brows furrowed in confusion, what sort of psychopath is this?!

I slapped his hands away from my hair immediately and pushed him away from me,

"I swear, I don’t know him!" I stuttered again, but nobody believed me. They all looked at me like I was crazy, murmurs rose around me asking why I was pretending to be innocent.

I shook my head, tears falling down my cheeks freely.

I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All I wanted was to escape this nightmare.

"He’s lying!" I shouted, my voice breaking with desperation. "I don't even know who he is! I’ve never met him before today!" I tried to plead with Sasha, of everyone, she knew me to an extent. I clasped my two hands against each other hoping for her to believe me but she clearly did not.

Just through the corner of my eyes I saw Fred and Nora walk through the passage, they both seemed confused and caught unaware of how the whole event turned out to be this rowdy.

The groom seemed to have seen them too and he turned to me, his eyes softened as he stepped closer to me. Even I was almost deceived to believe his words, I see why everyone didn’t believe me.

"Babe," he said softly, his voice laced with fake concern,

"You don’t have to keep pretending. I know this is all overwhelming, but we’re in this together. Remember?" His words sent a cold shiver down my spine as the reality came rushing through me. My entire body recoiled at the sound of his voice, the familiarity he pretended to have with me. How dare he try to pull me into his twisted game, he could have used another person, why the hell did he choose me?!.

Suddenly, I started to blame myself for wanting to leave the wedding early, I should have just sat in my seat and let what I saw with Fred and Nora earlier run me crazy, maybe he wouldn’t have noticed me.

"I’m not your babe!" I spat, my voice shaking with anger and fear and my eyes not leaving Fred.

"I don’t know you, and I’m not pregnant with your child! The baby I’m carrying is my husband’s!" I yelled and a wave of “ohh” crossed the hall immediately I admitted I was pregnant.

Sasha let go of her sister again and stormed towards me,

“Ohh so you are pregnant, why didn’t you mention it to us if it was my brother’s, you cheap liar! How did only him know you’re pregnant,” I looked fearly between her and the other members of the family my lips quivering, I didn’t even know how to prove my innocence again.

“Nora, Nora knew about the pregnancy, I told her,” I stuttered turning to Nora even after everything I saw with I and my husband, I still pleaded desperately with my eyes for her to help me out atleast, but she simply folded her hands across her chest and looked away from me.

“Don’t involve me in your lies, I don’t know anything” she muttered, my heart shattered as I watched her once again let go of our twelve year long friendship, I should have known she wouldn’t support me, she wants nothing but for me and my husband to get divorced.

The guests around us began to murmur again, I could feel their eyes on me, each gaze heavy with disdain, as if they were waiting for me to confess, to admit that I was the one ruining their Nelly’s marriage.

Fred slowly began to make his way towards me, immediately he got to me, he scoffed with a sinister chuckle.

“I should have known, my family was right! You’re just a cheap lying slut,”

“I was faithful to you! I provided everything you wanted but I guess, even if I took you out of the dirt, the real dirt is still in you!” More tears gushed out of my eyes immediately he said that, not from sadness, but from sheer frustration and anger.

Imagine this good for nothing man I call my husband, this good for nothing man who just got down with my bestfriend in a Godforsaken public bathroom, had the audacity to call me a slut and say that he had been faithful to me. How blinded must I have been to have missed the manipulative side of him. Thinking back on my life, I had actually missed it big time.

The groom reached out to touch me again, but I stepped back, shaking my head. "Stay away from me!" I pointed my finger at him in a warning manner, my voice rising in desperation.

"I don’t know you, and I don’t want anything to do with you!"

At that instant, I felt a sharp piercing pain in my abdomen, my hands flung to my stomach immediately and I parted my legs to try and ease the pain, immediately I did that I saw blood streak down my thigh.

Blood drained off from my face as I froze. My heart skipped a beat in fear, my eyes widening . I looked up from my legs and at Fred, my eyes screaming for help because I couldn’t move my lips for a reason, but everyone just stood there staring at me, like I was some kind of entertainment show.

“F-Fred, F-fred our baby,” I stuttered, the pain in my abdomen getting sharper, I staggered backwards trying to look for a pillar to hold but there wasn’t anything.

“F-Fred,” I called again desperate for help, but he just looked away from me with a scoff,

“When you’re done with the drama, let’s get a divorce!” He said curtly, grabbed Nora’s hands and stormed away.

I staggered backwards again, a wave of dizziness hit my head as the pain in my abdomen got sharper. I staggered backwards, I could see everyone start to disperse and walk away, leaving me to my own nemesis and staring at me occasionally with disgust.

I couldn’t take it anymore, I lost control of everything. Everyone’s murmurs started to slowly fade out, and it felt like I was spinning for a moment.

Before I finally slipped into unconsciousness, a prayer of desperation to God if he could actually hear me, to save my unborn child escaped my lips and then everything went dark and silent.

Next day, Sunday.

My eyes slowly fluttered open, flapping in between staying open or closed. The first thing I noticed was the unfamiliar ceiling above me. It was a stark white, the kind of color that felt cold and boring, this could not be my room, my ceiling wasn’t this high. My body felt heavy, my mind sluggish as I tried to make sense of where I was. The last thing I remembered was the unbearable pain in my abdomen, and then… nothing.

I struggled to sit up, the bed beneath me was too soft, too luxurious, and definitely not mine. Panic started to rise in my chest as I turned my head, scanning the room. It was large, with tall windows letting in the faint light of dawn, and elegant furniture that screamed wealth. But none of it was familiar. Where was I?

I turned my head again, and that’s when I saw him!