ALINA'S POVFLASHBACK She was feeling her shoulders throb from carrying the weight of Michael's head all night as he lay peacefully. She didn't feel like it was something she needed to complain about. He had needed a shoulder and all she wanted to do at that point was to help. She had been so fearful and worried for her mother-in-law despite what everyone thought. She just had to push aside her fears to provide hope and support for the family. Something she wished someone had done for her when her mother had been first diagnosed. She had had to be strong at that point for both her mother and her. Even though they didn't have the resources for her surgery and had to rely on the over-the-counter medication that would only help with the pain and not solve the main issue, even then, she still had to have faith that everything would work out well. The one thing she dreaded most at that time always was losing her mother suddenly as she had done for her father.Now her priorities had change
MICHEAL'S POV"Let me go! Where the hell is Micheal?! How could he do this to me?!"He reclined back on his chair, and a knowing smile crept up on his face.He knew who was at the other end of the door frantically trying to get into his office. He knew sooner or later she would find out about it."Micheal! let me in!" She roared, slamming the door open with a loud bang.He looked up to see her cold steel eyes glaring back at him as her chest heaved up and down in fury.He gave her a smug smile as she stomped on her heels towards his desk with her clutch in hand being gripped so tightly it was a wonder it was still intact. His assistant and secretary were still trying to appease her and with a raise of his hand, he signaled for them to leave.She slammed her clutch onto the desk in fury. He arched a brow up at her in response and reclined back into his chair. "How could you do this to me?! Me!" She shouted raising her claws in exasperation."It took you long enough "He commented with a
ALINA'S POV Suddenly she was regretting what she had done earlier today. But she had been so worried about him and their future...their possible future and besides, the dismissive way he had handled their conversation in the car on their drive back to the house wasn't reassuring or convincing to her. And after getting off the phone with her mother, she knew what needed to be done and that was getting some necessary answers. FLASHBACK "Hi, mum. How are you feeling today?"She had asked on the first ring. "Am doing much better sweetie "Her mother had said. She smiled because she did sound much better. Her voice had gotten back to normal and she sounded more bubbly than more than she had been throughout her illness. "Are you doing okay? How is your husband doing?" she asked. She hesitated. "He's okay. Am doing much better. Are the doctors treating you nicely over there? And your treatment, is it working?" she questioned changing the subject quickly. "Everything is fine o
MICHEAL'S POVHe couldn't wait for the meeting to be over so he could go home to give Alina a piece of his mind. He tapped heavily on his desk as Donald read the minutes of the last meeting, his thoughts drifted to his difficult wife who always managed to find a way to infuriate him more than she should.Unable to hide his impatience, he stormed off in the middle of the meeting with an important client for his company stating that he had unavoidable family issues at that time. It was fortunate that the man in question was a family man who had a grown up teenager and knew what kind of crises he could be having, although he must have greatly miscalculated but all the same, it served a good purpose for him to be able to go home that day. He ordered Donald to reschedule all of his meetings for the rest of the day and bolted for his car.He had sped up in a frenzy, zooming past headlights and traffic signs until he was parked outside his lobby where he flung the key at his chauffeur and ga
ALINA'S POV"What?"She muttered to herself. Replaying the conversation she had just had with Micheal over and over in her head.She couldn't believe it. He had just walked in, given such heartwrenching news, and stormed out.She was still sitting on the floor where she had tripped in her quest to stop him from leaving. How could something she had done for love evoke such a reaction from him? How could he think that their marriage wouldn't work just because she had asked a few questions? Was she so wrong?She was still dazed but leaned in gratefully to the arms that had encircled her. It was Eugene who was helping her stand straight.With much difficulty, she had managed to take her to the couch where she plopped down still lost in space."It's okay Ma'am, he's just angry. Am sure he will come around sooner or later. Don't you worry? Everything will eventually play out in your favor" Eugene advised."How? How will things get better? He's determined that I don't trust him enough to cont
MICHAEL'S POVThe whole week he had chosen to stay away from the house had been one of the worst weeks in his whole 3o plus years of life. He had been stuck at work and had found it hard to sleep whenever he went back to his hotel where he had lodged in long term. He had thought about the contract over and over and filing for a divorce was definitely a very drastic step to take. He groaned as his mother's phone number flashed across his screen .It was his mother that had been calling him for the past few days asking for his whereabouts. No one except his house staff knew of the current situation in his house and he wanted to keep that underwarps for a few days until he finally decided on what he had to do.He let out a sigh.The whole week ha been spent thinking about her, missing her. The expectant smile on her face always seemed to do a number on him whenever he was tired and that was the first thing he saw once he came back after a long day of work. She had tramsformed his house in
ALINA'S POVShe was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Micheal had not been home for the past 2 weeks and every second that ticked by created a constant fear that he could be walking in through those doors at any minute and slam the divorce papers in her face, urging her to sign it. Coupled with all that stress she had not been able to contact her mother, neither has her mother called. The worry was eating away at her day by day. All she held unto was the fact that her mum would return to her in two months time, assuming he didn't cut off her treatment. And rightly so, she had not had any sort of breakthrough in getting pregnant. They didn't have sex and definetly the fault was on her part.She was the one causing him all the pain he must have been experiencing. She had thought about going over to his office to talk to him to ask for his forgiveness but had always managed to talk herself out of it.She let out a resigned sigh as she pulled the cookies out of the oven o
MICHAEL'S POVIt's been three weeks since he had left the house and a week had passed since his episode that had landed him at the hospital.The only thing he had heard from her was the distress call she had put out to him a week ago when he was just coming out of the hospital. At first he had been worried and had tried to call back but he realized that her calling once must have meant that she might have pressed it by mistake.It was a cool summer afternoon.They were just coming out of the cold winter months when his phone buzzed on the table.It must have been his mother. He thought. Ignoring the first ring.Then subsequently, a ping followed. He opened his eyes to see a text message pop in. It was a video. It showed his wife laying naked in bed while his security guard smiled placing his lips on her lips.He felt his hand grip the phone hard as he zoomed in on the video, replaying the short second clip video looking for a clue that it wasn't what he thought was happening. He was re
ALINA'S POVWhen she opened her eyes she felt her eyes sting at the brightness of the over head light. She raised a hand to shield her eyes."Alina" She heard Micheal whisper breathlessly.He let out a sigh of relief.She turned to see her mother and her fiance on the couch seated, holding hands with worried looks on their faces. Her hand instincitivley came up to her belly. "The baby is doing okay" he told her, reading her mind. He gave her a wide smile."My beautiful daughter,how are you feeling?" her mother said, sniffing.She was by her side in an instant."Water" She croaked out.She stretched to get her a glass which she drank generously like she had been in a desert."Mum, what are you doing here?" She asked once she was satisfied."Don't you want me here?" Her mother questioned."No, no, that's not the reason. I just thought that you shouldn't have been so worried " She said weakly."I almost didn't. I came to your house and found that it was empty. I had to call Micheal who
ALINA'S POV"Ma'am, don't you want to see Micheal? he has been downstairs all night waiting to talk to you" Martha said as she walked in holding a tray of breakfast for her.She took the tray from her, forcing a smile."Thank you Martha, that will be all." She said dismissively.Martha stood for a few more seconds, about to say something but reluctantly walked away without saying a word.She let out a tired sigh as soon as the door shut behind Martha. She buried her face in her palms and cried like she had done all night. She felt the embalming of a headache reminding her of last night's cry.Her mind wandered to the confident way the woman, Paulina had told her about the baby.***FLASHBACK***"You can't be serious" She chuckled."Do I look like am joking?" Paulina said, sneering back at her."That can't be. When did this happen?" She questioned.Paulina puffed her chest,digging into her purse with a triumphant smile playing on her lips. Almost as if, she had been waiting to hear tha
MICHAEL'S POVWhen he returned home that day he was extremely tired. He dragged his feet across the flight of stairs with a backward glance at the clock to see it read 10:09am.He paused in his tracks.It was too eerily quiet.He frowned in confusion. It was never this quiet. Usually, whenever he got back she was always perched on the couch munching on whatever she craved at that moment.He spun around at the foot of the stairs, his eyes darting around the room in search of anything, even though he didn't know what exactly to be looking for . Right on cue, Martha walked in from the kitchen pantry holding a bowl of chips and guacamole decorated beautifully in a flower patterned tray. "Hello sir "She greeted with a sad smile on her face as she hurriedly walked past him .His frown deepened.His arms stretched out reaching out to still her actions."Are those for Alina?" He asked.She stared up at him questionably for a while before nodding in response.His eyes widened in fear."Is som
MICHAEL'S POV"What happened?!"He shouted."I have no idea! One minute she was with me,trying to start a fight with me.Mind you,she insulted me. And the next thing I know,She's on the floor." She stated."That's not possible mum!" He retorted."It cannot be just an accident! And who the hell is this woman?!" He shouted."She was just helping me out when Alina was busy insulting me.She was defending my honour. We should be grateful to her son. Come on,say Hi to her."His mother urged.He glared straight at the blushing woman and looked away as soon as she smiled shyly at him."Mum please leave "He instructed.His mother gasped in disbelief."What? Why?!" She cried."Is it because of that thing?"She said with her face scrunched up in a wealth of disgust, pointing in the direction of the emergency room behind her.Micheal paced the length of the waiting room, taking deep breaths as he turned to still his laboured breathing."Son, you cannot possibly be worried. After all ,the baby isn't y
ALINA'S POVWaking up that morning had been relatively quiet and peaceful,apart from the fact that Micehal had to rush out that morning without even a passing greeting even while she had called for him from the kitchen. Her belly was growing bigger and her waist line had grown thicker as she felt the weight of her baby while parading around the house in comfy sweatpants before settling on the couch.Her mother was supposed to come help her out today. And her gynecologist had said she was doing extremely well taking care of herself and the baby.She let out a frustrated sigh as a repeat episode of her favourite series came on.The house was relatively lonely and quiet on most days just like they were now.The only solace she had was either reading to her baby or watching a tv show and whenever her mother was less busy she would come over to keep her company.She smiled at the sound of the doorbell and without hesitation padded briskly towards the door without looking at the intercom, un
MICHAEL'S POV.His bag slipped and fell from his hand as he froze in shock.She had on a sly smile."What?" he asked in disbelief."You heard me." She replied, giving him a sly smile."Yes we made a baby that night you came over at my place." She explained.Micheal padded towards the living to see Alina seated in the couch flickering across the TV channels smiling distractedly.He breathed out a sigh of relief. She was out of earshot and thankfully was so engrossed in the TV program that she couldn't have heard anything that had been said a few minutes ago.His hand reached out to clutch her arm and dragged her upwards towards his study. Giving Alina a forced smile when she sent a worried glance their way.Paulina protested all the way till they were safely in his office. "Why are you acting suspiciously?" She said wryly. "It's not like she had any say to what happens in this house, you're the head of the house." She stated matter of fact."What was the meaning of the rubbish stunt
ALINA'S POVShe had been shaken up after his mother's visit. But the past three months have been quiet and distant.Micheal had seemed more distant than normal. He had chosen to spend his days at work and he was rarely at home. Even when he was home he was distant, he only spent silent hours eating and once dinner was over he was leaving without so much as a word. She wished he would at least open up and let her know what was bothering him but he was sworn to silence. Everything had relatively stayed normal except her mother visited more often.She had chosen to come to terms with the fact that Alina was pregnant and there was nothing that could be done now.She still didn't like Micheal but she was careful not to be present whenever he got back from work.She was nestled on the couch watching a rerun of the show "housewives of Johannersburg" When the knock sounded on the door.She paused the show and headed to the intercom to see who was knocking.It was a unfamiliar face.She frowne
MICHEAL'S POVA FEW DAYS BEFORE..."Paulina what are you doing here? In my bed?" He asked panicked as he looked under the covers to find that she was wearing nothing underneath.He quickly closed it,wrapping the bedsheets around him sarong style as he jumped out of the bed trying to get some distance away from her. She had on a satisfied smile and he could clearly recognize that smile from all the times they had made love in the past. He chastised himself inwardly for being unable to erase that part of his past and memory."You're the one in my bed " She clarified.His eyes darted around the room and his eyes widened in recognition."How did I get here?" He asked in disbelief."I brought you here. You needed a place to sleep because you were drunk and I couldn't let you drive home like that. So I offered to bring you to my room, and it's a small apartment, I don't have a guest room at the moment. "She stated sitting up and letting the duvet slid down her breasts without the least bit
ALINA'S POV"No! No! Please, somebody help me! Please! "She cried as she fought and scratched whenever she had the opportunity to. But she wasn't strong enough. She felt powerless and helpless. "Felix stop! Please am begging you" she pleaded, her eyes streaming down with a pool of tears. She felt her body loose all its energy as he inserted himself into her. She was numb to the pain now as he begun to move. She was at the brink of giving up when she heard a voice. His voice guiding her back."Alina, am here. No one is going to hurt you,I promise. Am here now" She heard him speak softly as he shook her slightly until the scene before her had begun to change. The disgusting smile of Felix atop her slowly disappeared and she found herself lying on the bare ground staring into nothingness.She finally opened her eyes to find Micheal's face towering over hers. His forehead were creased in worry as he stared intensely into her eyes. He gave her a warm smile and lifted her up in his arms