Chapter 6

Juliette.

The paparazzi did attempt to eat me alive using this accident as time went by but James managed to put it under control.

The family of the driver was compensated, and I was discharged the day after that, making it exactly twenty-four hours that I spent in the hospital.

During that time, I managed to convince myself that I needed therapy and had probably only imagined everything.

There was no way this loving guy had done all that I saw.

It must be my imagination.

I smiled slightly at him and closed the door of the car with his help once we made it to his car outside.

Mine was at the mechanics for repairs.

"Thanks."

He shook his head and kissed my forehead after getting into the driver's seat.

"The kids will be so happy to see you."

Well, I couldn't wait to see them too.

Thankfully it was the weekend, so there wasn't the case of them needing to go to school.

"Yeah..."

I smiled slightly when he slipped his hand around mine as he started the car and we drove like that in comfortable silence - well, it might seem comfortable but I was anxious for some reason - till we got to our house.

There, I waited for him to park properly before going into the house with him and I waited for the shouts, yells, screams and little bundles that jumped for joy at random times.

My children.

Olivia and Ethan.

Huh?

I walked deeper into the living room when all I heard was silence, though.

What was going on?

"Where are they?"

I heard no response from James as I went up the stairs to check them in their room, and I came back downstairs confused when I didn't find them anywhere in the house.

Didn't he say they couldn't wait to see...

I stopped in my tracks as a head full of red hair came into view at that moment.

It was long, wavy, and similar to a particular person's own.

I felt my heart drop to the bottom of my stomach.

"Ahh..." Vanessa said as soon as I summoned up enough courage to take the last step into the living room.

Behind her was the man who had stared at me coldly while having an affair with my stepsister.

My husband.

The sound of that left a bitter taste in my mouth that had me blank for a second.

As much as I had tried to deny it, accept the facade that was my loving husband, I had also been kind of expecting this.

It had just been too real in my mind to be a dream.

I stood in front of them limply as Vanessa clapped.

"See who is back from the dead."

Her voice was high pitched and mocking as well as the look she gave me.

"It would have been better for everyone if you just stayed dead, though."

I wasn't listening to her, to be honest, much less looking at her.

Instead, my gaze stayed focused on the man behind her because he was the one I had married, he was the one I had made a vow to and received a vow from, and he was the one who had betrayed my trust, not the sister who I had little to no relations with.

He took a sip of alcohol from the glass in his hand as she stepped forward to me. "You must have been so eager to hold on to this idea of a marriage to still be here by now, don't you think? Ugh, pathetic."

She took another step in my direction and suddenly burst out laughing when I muttered something.

I didn't even realize I had said that until he glanced up at me.

"Why?"

The question hung in the air, except for the hysterical laughter that accompanied the silence.

"God, you must have been so clueless, huh? Ah, James should have been the one to win that Oscar instead of me. He did a good job."

I felt the goosebumps start rising on my skin.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" She finally got to my front and closed in on my space, "I mean he never loved you. He never cared for you. The vows he said to you on the altar, yeah, bullshit."

"No..."

"Your marriage was planned, meeting him was planned, everything was planned, even the amount of children you're meant to have. All of that was planned."

I shook my head, trying to step back away from her, "No..."

That couldn't be true.

Yes, maybe he had cheated.

Yes, maybe he had cheated on me with my stepsister.

But telling me that the life I've been living for the past six years was a lie...

I couldn't accept that.

"No!"

I lashed out blindly, trying to stop her from backing me into the wall and her yelp filled the air almost immediately.

"Oh my God, Nessa."

I watched as James ran to her side, looking concerned right before she started sobbing.

"My God... The baby. My..."

We both stared confused at her until she muttered silently to James, heavily sobbing now. "My baby."

"Your baby? Are you... Are you pregnant?"

He gasped slightly when she nodded.

"I was going to tell you, but..."

"It's fine. It's fine. Are you okay?"

Her sobs turned into sniffles before she replied. "I don't know. I don't feel too well, but..."

James was pulling me up against the wall and yelling in my face before she could complete her statement.

"James..." She gasped as if surprised.

"Just know I'm going to kill you if anything happens to her."

I literally had no response to that.

I scoffed when I saw her smirk behind him.

The irony of it all.

Really?

It had me laughing hysterically before I could even comprehend what I was doing.