CHAPTER 2

ARIA'S POV

I am speechless for the next few seconds as his words hit me like a freight train. I wait. I wait for his hard eyes to soften with remorse at the harsh words he threw at me but that doesn’t happen.  He is glowering at me, nose flaring angrily.

“Adam, how…how could you say that to me?” I say, my eyes crossing over to Sophia who is now hiding her own frame behind his tall, muscular one, “In front of her?”

“Because it’s the truth!” He yells again, startling me into making a small helpless sound. Adam has never yelled at me. And even though it hurts me to admit that  he is truly saying the truth, he has never said it to my face and I never really thought he would. I have always known it yet it hurts to hear it come from him. It feels like a thousand needles are pricking my heart and making me bleed out with so much pain.

He runs his fingers through his hair, seeming frustrated. Like he would rather not have this conversation with me. And just when I think it is over, he continues to speak, breaking me even further.

“You were nothing but a mere secretary who wormed her way into my life. If you hadn’t forced yourself on me that night, none of this would have happened! This marriage would have never happened and you know it.”

He brings up the past. Our past. The night that meant everything to me but clearly means nothing to him. I swallow over and over again till my throat and mouth become dry. I can’t cry. No, I can’t appear weak. Not in front of Adam and definitely not in front of Sophia so I keep my tears at bay, urging them to return before they spill down my cheeks.

“I never forced myself on you, Adam. Why won’t you believe me?” I manage to say but he raises a hand to tell me to stop talking and I clamp my lips shut.

“Do not stand there and try to look innocent, Aria because that is far from who you are. I simply said the truth and I do not care if you cannot take it.” He says and stares at me intently.

“Do not let what happened today repeat itself again. Know your place and I will not have any reason to talk to you like this. Do you understand?”

He lays emphasis on every word of warning he is giving me and turns his back against me before I can even open my mouth to speak again.

“Are you okay?”  I can’t believe how his voice goes from hard to soft in the next second as he fusses over Sophia. Sophia makes a face that has me balling my fingers into a fist. A face that clearly says she is not okay.

“The coffee was hot and I think I might have to visit the hospital to prevent the burn from leaving a scar.” She says in a quiet voice. I look down at my own body that is also drenched in the same coffee. The coffee wasn’t hot enough to cause a burn but Adam believes her instantly. He pulls her into a hug and embarrassment washes over me like a bucket of ice.

“I’ll drive. Wait here, I will get my keys.” he says as he pulls away, rushing to his office table to grab his car keys before coming back to her side. He takes her purse from her and leads her out. They both seem so lost in each other that they forget my existence totally, leaving me to stand alone in the middle of the room.

Silence falls over me and I am left with my thoughts, licking the wound that his words caused. I have never been able to convince Adam that I didn’t force myself on him yet till this very day, he still believes I drugged him into sleeping with him on the night we were having dinner with his family three years ago.  I can never forget the pure look of disgust and shock on his face when we both woke up in each other’s arms the next morning.

I knew since then that Adam would never love me, yet I was hopeful. As the years go by, the hope keeps dwindling with his grandfather, being the only support system in everything.

Sighing, I return to my office and pick up my phone. My eyes widens when I see that a number has called my phone repeatedly all the time I was in Adam’s office. The dread that fills me stems from the fact that I recognise the number as the hospital’s number.

I call back instantly, my heart racing. They pick up on the second ring.

“Mrs Miller, we have been trying to reach you all afternoon!” A female voice says.

“Why? Is something wrong? Is my grandmother okay?” I ask, rushing my words as I am filled with dread and panic.

“You need to be at the hospital, your grandmother—”

I don’t wait to hear the rest of her words. I race out of the room and call on a taxi to drive me to the hospital. I go straight to her hospital room but the sheets and blankets are already being neatly arranged and the bed is empty. More panic. More dread.

“Where is my grandmother?” I ask, “Where is she?”

The nurse cleaning the room gives me a look of pity that nauseates me.

“I am sorry, Mrs Miller but your grandmother died ten minutes ago and has been moved to the hospital’s mortuary. I am sorry.” She says.

The world around me stops and I don’t know how I am able to walk on my two feet to the mortuary where the Nurse leads me. She stops at the door and points to my grandmother laying on a table in the room, her body covered in a white sheet from head to toe.

I walk to the bedside with shaky legs and the moment I take the sheet off and set my eyes on her pale face, I burst out into a loud sob, wishing I could go back to a month ago so I can prevent that accident that made her this way. The accident that took my only living family away from me.

“Grandma…” I call in a broken voice as I reach for her hand. They are too cold, so lifeless and the tears begin to leave my eyes in torrents as I remember how warm these hands used to be when they held my face.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry.” I cry, holding tightly unto her and hating myself for not being there in her last moments. I should have been there with her but I was too busy worrying about my place in my husband’s life.

The nurse comes into the room and says, “She asked us to give you this.”

I wipe my tears, sniffling as I take what seems to be a key chain from her. I couldn’t think of a reason why grandmother’s parting gift to me would be a key chain but I can’t seem to care. Her cold hands slammed me into the reality of what had happened. Grandmother is dead. I fall to my knees by the bed and weep, muttering and calling for her to return to me.

“Aria.” Adam’s voice calls from behind me. I am both surprised and relieved to find him there. He must have been contacted by the hospital as well and stopped by since he already came here with Sophia anyway. Sophia is standing in the room with us but I ignore her. I focus on Adam because I need him. I need someone to hold me and tell me everything will be fine.

“Adam.” I cry as I walk over to him and hug him without a second thought, my tears gathering and falling again. His body stiffens at my touch but I don’t let go. I need his warmth. I need him because he is really all that I have left and I can’t bear to lose him too. I expect him to push me away but he doesn’t. He doesn’t hug me back too but I can’t find it in me to care as I sob uncontrollably. My tears subside and I sniffle repeatedly and slowly let go of him.

He clears his throat and takes out his phone, saying; “I’ll place a call to start making preparations for her funeral.” He turns around to leave with Sophia also following him but I can’t bear the sight of him turning his back to me and leaving. I grab his hand.

“Stay.” I sound so weak and helpless but I do not give a damn, “Please, don’t go. Stay with me.”  I beg.

Adam opens his mouth to say something but a sharp cry stuns us both. We spin around at the same time to the source of the cry and she is crouching, holding her stomach with an expression of pain. Adam rushes to Sophia’s side in a heartbeat and my heart sinks further down my stomach.

“Sophia, are you okay?”  He asks with concern ringing high in his voice.

She shakes her head, “There is something I’ve been wanting to tell you but didn’t know how.” She says, holding her stomach as she looks directly at me.

“What is it?” Adam asks, still very much concerned.

“Adam…I…I am pregnant.”