“No, no, no, this is not possible. This cannot be possible,” she shook her head, taking multiple steps back.“Where is she going?” Mia rushed over to her and took her hands in hers.“What is wrong?”“I can’t… I can’t take this. I can’t… no, no,” she sniffed, yanked her hand gently from Mia’s, and then wiped her tears with the back of her hand.“This is too much. I can’t…” “You know what, guys,” Martha clasped her hands together.“Let’s leave the two of them for a while. We will return to celebrate with them,” she ushered them out and then turned to leave too.After they were out of sight, with the door closed, Lorenzo stood up from where he sat, covered the space between them and then pulled her into a hug without saying anything.“I know this is going to overwhelm you. I know it does,” he said, as he patted her back.“Lorenzo, you can’t do this… again. No, please.”“Why?” He bore his eyes on her as he broke the hug.“I don’t… I don’t deserve this.”“How? In what way? Talk to me.”“
“I am sorry to inform you that we lost the baby.”......Silence ensued as Leilani tilted her head and stared at the doctor for a few minutes before he moved closer to her and shook her gently.“Are you okay, ma’am?”“I… I didn’t get you,” she shook her head.Did he intend to pass that news to someone else?“We are sorry. We tried our…”“Hold on. What baby?” She cut him short, her brows pulling together.“What?”“You said I lost my baby. I don’t understand you,” she let out a dry chuckle.“You… you didn’t know that you were pregnant?”Leilani stiffened and widened her eyes. Pregnant?She had never been pregnant for once since her four years in marriage, so how could she have miscarried a baby she didn’t even have?“You are mistaken,” she shook her head.“I'm sorry, ma’am.”“No! There is no way I was… pregnant!” She cried out.“You are wrong with the test result. Run it again.”Her eyes darted as she shook her head at the piece of information that she had just received.There was no
She was trying her best not to look at the woman who sat on the couch, her hands on her belly, like she was announcing to her that she was indeed carrying a baby in her womb.But all of this was still confusing.She needed a proper explanation as to why her husband had brought another woman home and why her in-laws were not seeing any problem with it.Jonathan returned with a brown envelope in his hand and she swallowed hard when he stretched it at her.“What is…” she sniffed.“It is divorce documents, Leilani,” he said, confirming her doubts.He had settled beside the woman again and now the paper in the envelope was already in her hand and she was scanning through it with tears in her eyes.“W… why?” her voice broke.“Why?” Nancy, her mother-in-law answered instead and burst into laughter.Nancy might actually have been the root of everything that was going on in the house.She and Jonathan had started off pretty well.Although Nancy had never been in support of their union right fr
With shaky legs, Leilani staggered up the stairs, struggling to not burst into tears so those people laughing loudly behind her wouldn’t have leverage over her. Not like they didn’t already. It was as if the world she had known was crumbling away and it hurt more because there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it. Turning the knob of the door to her room, she breathed out and then entered. However, she had not entered fully before she caught the whiff of luggage settled in the corner of her room. Her matrimonial room. Their house had just three rooms, and her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were occupying two, leaving one for her and Jonathan. Even though she was aware of how the man was displeased with them sharing a room, they still had no other choice than to. He rarely comes home and sleeps in the bed with her anyway. “Her luggage is here… already,” she stated as if anyone was there to hear her. She dropped the document on the bed, walked to the bag
Tightening her grip around the traveling box that rested gently by her leg, Leilani swallowed hard as she bore her eyes into the gate, hoping that it would suddenly open and Jonathan would rush out and then usher her in while he begged her that he had made a terrible mistake.She could only dream, of course, but she wished.Tears streamed down her face, her sweaty palm fondled into a tight fist while the other held the handle of her box gently.After she had signed the document, forcefully, Maxwell, Jonathan’s sister had taken up the task to gather her loads and had surely made sure to leave out a lot of them, obviously.“The divorce will go through with or without you around. I have my way with it. You will get your alimony from my lawyer tomorrow,” he had said before his sister and mother walked her out of the house.Dumbfounded beyond comprehension, Leilani walked out of the house, trying as hard as she could to keep her tears in and not break down in front of these people.“Ugh, f
“L… Lorenzo?” She stuttered, closed her eyes for a bit, and then opened it again. She struggled to sit up gently while the man watched her with nothing but amusement in his eyes. Or was it not? His lips tugged gently into a soft smirk. Very gently that she almost wouldn’t see that. “How long have I been out?” “Twelve hours,” he glanced at his wristwatch and answered. She breathed heavily as she finally sat up properly and looked around. She was in a very huge ward. A VIP room, as they would call it and she wondered if this was not much for just fainting. The man was still looking at her, and finally, he pressed a button on his wheelchair and it wheeled him over to her bed. Now, she was staring directly at him. He had very distinct, cold features, but all that she could think of was how a man as fine as him could be confined to a wheelchair. He had piercing eyes which bore into her each time he looked at her and a sharp chiseled jawline that seemed to have been car
Leilani leaned back, chuckling dryly as she stared at the man, hoping that he would laugh at his own joke too.But, he was unfazed.His lips didn’t even move.His eyes scrutinized her face like he was reading every detail on it, and his hands were clasped together on his thighs.“Y… you’re serious,” she stated when there was still no change in his facial expression.“Marry you?!” She widened her eyes and he only shrugged his shoulders off.“You have no idea what you’re talking about,”She shook her head.And he probably does not.First, he was asking a total stranger to marry him! Second, she was just getting the fuck out of a fucking marriage!“I mean every word of mine, Leilani. Marry me, and I will help you enact punishment on everyone who has hurt you. I will…”“What punishment?” she cut him short, frowning.“F… for someone who is meeting me for the first time, you seem too informed about me. You sound as though you know me and everything that I have been through, but you don’t!
Leilani watched as the man pressed a button from his wheelchair, and then it wheeled him back gently.“Where…” she trailed off when he wheeled to the door.“I will be expecting your answer, Leilani,” he said, and the door opened.She opened her mouth, wondering what had just happened, and then tilted her head.He was expecting her answer.She was definitely not going to accept his proposal but if by chance she wanted to, how the hell was she going to reach him?She had no phone with her and looking around the room, there was no contact card that the man might have left for her so she could reach him.“Very… weird,” she tilted her head and then adjusted gently.After a while of laying in the bed, with her eyes closed, the door slid open and she sprang up in alert as the unfamiliar, unfriendly-looking man trailed in.“Who…” she swallowed when he stopped by her bedside.“Boss asked me to give this to you,” he said and then dropped the box on the drawer beside her bed.He gave her a short
“No, no, no, this is not possible. This cannot be possible,” she shook her head, taking multiple steps back.“Where is she going?” Mia rushed over to her and took her hands in hers.“What is wrong?”“I can’t… I can’t take this. I can’t… no, no,” she sniffed, yanked her hand gently from Mia’s, and then wiped her tears with the back of her hand.“This is too much. I can’t…” “You know what, guys,” Martha clasped her hands together.“Let’s leave the two of them for a while. We will return to celebrate with them,” she ushered them out and then turned to leave too.After they were out of sight, with the door closed, Lorenzo stood up from where he sat, covered the space between them and then pulled her into a hug without saying anything.“I know this is going to overwhelm you. I know it does,” he said, as he patted her back.“Lorenzo, you can’t do this… again. No, please.”“Why?” He bore his eyes on her as he broke the hug.“I don’t… I don’t deserve this.”“How? In what way? Talk to me.”“
“I can't find Lorenzo in the room. Did he go somewhere?” Leilani asked Martha as she descended the stairs.“Enzo? I think he’s somewhere in the perimeter. Do you wanna go to him?”“Yes. Could you tell me where he is?”It’s been three days since she resumed her class and so far, it was better and together with Anna, they had been staying back at the academy for two more hours just to practice as the competition was fast approaching.If it was up to Anna, she really doesn’t need to be staying back as she could do all the practice that she needed at her space. Unlike her.“Let me take you to him,” Martha stood from where she sat and took her hand in hers.“You do not need to bother yourself, Martha. Just tell me where he is.”“Come with me, really. We could have a little chit-chat while we walk also, don’t you think?”She nodded her head and chuckled gently, “I agree.”Together, they exited the living room and then started to walk slowly around the house.“How has it been? At the Academ
Mia glanced at their grip that was both on the bottle of apple cider, looked up at the man again, and then snatched it from him.“Thank you,” she raised the bottle gently, and then dropped it in the basket in her hand.She turned around and moved away from him to continue with her shopping, but then, she felt his movement behind her.“Mia…”She ignored it and kept trailing her fingers on the goods on the rack.“It has been… a while.”“What?” She turned around swiftly and beaded her brows.“I mean…” he swallowed and smiled.“I haven’t seen you in a while.”She looked at him from head to toe, chuckled dryly, and then shook her head. “Oh, please.”With that, she walked away from where he was and moved fully to another compartment.Jason stood still in his position for almost a full minute before he exhaled and shook his head.He had just been disappointed.He had expected that the woman would flash him her usual wide smile and then call his name the way she used to.But, he was wrong.Sh
“Setting it up? A new workspace?” She raised her brows.“She needs somewhere to practice and paint. I know she is not gonna ask after what happened to the previous one, but it needs to be done.”“Aww, brother,” she sniffed.“You’re gonna keep it a secret from her till it’s ready. Can I trust you on that?”“Of course! I would be so glad to be part of this with you.”“Good. Since you’re in on this too, all you have to do is meet with Martha. I have talked to her too so you both should get started.”“Okay. And… Thank you for this.”“Okay.”“I really appreciate this, Enzo. You have no idea how much…”“Can we leave the cringe part and get back to business, please?”“Ah, you’re a killer joy!” She exclaimed and then he laughed out unconsciously.===Leilani kept walking awkwardly till she arrived at her space, settled on it, and then buried her head on her table.They wouldn’t stop looking at her with pity in their eyes and that was one of the things she hated the most.Anna was not around y
“Oh, come on. It’s been two weeks already,” Leilani shook her head gently and groaned.“You’re not completely healed,” he said.She was sitting on the bed, and he knelt behind her, her bare back facing him.Leilani tightened her grip on the blanket that she used to cover her chest while the man applied the ointment to her wound.This had been their normal routine every morning and night since they had removed the bandage on the wound.At first, Leilani had insisted that Mia would be doing it for her but the man had disagreed, telling her that it would seem weird if she did that for her while she had him around.Still, she had tried to prove stubborn before she eventually agreed that he did it for her.And so far, it was okay.It was as if that simple ritual was making them closer as the two of them always had something to talk about while he applied the ointment and massaged the area of the wound.“I truly believe this is gonna heal so fast and won’t leave a scar,” he smiled softly, s
“Hi, guys! I'm home!”Mia exclaimed as she entered the living room, her handbag hanging loosely on her shoulder.Leilani sprang up from where she sat beside Lorenzo and then gasped.“Sister in law!”“She truly came,” Lorenzo mumbled under his breath and then pulled his laptop closer to himself.The two women hugged so tightly like their life depended on it and after a while, Leilani pulled back and grinned.“You really came!”“Told ya!” They both moved to the side as the men entered with her boxes.“Greetings to you too, brother,” she moved over to Lorenzo.Lorenzo glanced at her, rolled his eyes, and then returned his attention to his laptop.“I know you’re not pleased that I am here, but let me tell you two something.”“What?” Leilani raised her brows.“With me here, you don’t need to visit any marriage counselor or whatever. I am here to give advice and my listening ears whenever you need.”“Since when have we announced to you that we need an adviser?” Lorenzo hissed.“You might n
“W… what is this? What are you doing?”Agnes widened her eyes as she ran down the stairs after her daughter.“What do you mean?”“Where are you going?”She asked.The men who were in the living room preparing to leave the house stopped on their track and then turned to look at the women.“What is going on?” Aaron asked.“I am moving out,” she announced.They all fell silent for a while and then Agnes chuckled dryly.“Is this a joke?”“Oh, come on. Does this look like a joke?”Agnes glanced at the two big bags that the lady had dropped outside.“Mia?”Mia clasped her hands together and then gasped, “I still have more bags up there!”She turned around swiftly and they all watched as she ascended the stairs.“Who knew about this?” Agnes looked around.Shane raised his hands and Arthur shook his head. “No one?” Aaron asked.“Where is she moving to?” Agnes asked again.“I guess we’ll have to ask her,” Arthur nodded his head at the lady who struggled down the stairs with two big bags again.
“Who do you say is moving in with us?”Leilani choked on the smoothie she was drinking and then raised her head.“Take it easy,” he sighed, moved over to her, and dabbed the corner of her mouth with the handkerchief.Frowning gently at him, she pushed his hand away gently and then asked again.“Mia is truly moving in?”“I hadn’t even agreed before she ended the call, thanking me. But I think she is going to move in. We can just tell her…”“Yippee!” Leilani cut him short with an exclamation and stood up.“You are not excited, are you?” he beaded his brows.“Should I not be?”“No, you should not be. I was hoping that you would be opposed to it and then I can just tell her that, ‘no, my wife is not in support of this,” he demonstrated, shaking his head.“Why would you want to use me to lie like that?”“Lie? Come on. Let's just tell her that.”“No! Let her move in. at least, i can finally stop sleeping in your room and stay with her instead.”After she said that, she dropped the straw in
Shane raised his brows as the door to his room pushed open and Arthur barged in.Sitting on the couch, he leaned in, crossed his legs, and then tilted his head.“Ah, you have finally come to see me.”“Why? Have you been expecting me?” Arthur walked fully into the room.“I know you, Arthur. I know when you know something. Or, when you have something to say.”“Oh…” Arthur nodded his head and then folded his arms tightly across his chest.“Spill.”“Why don’t you start?”“Why should I? You came in here because you have something to say to me, is that not it?”“Regardless, I would like you to speak first,” Arthur shook his head.“Welcome to the staring competition, then.”“Tch, you asshole,” Arthur smacked his tongue.“What?”He covered the space between them and without saying another word, he pulled Shane up with his collar and then shoved him to the side.“Why?!”“Do you know what kind of pickle you put in?” He pointed his index finger at him.“Me? Pickle? Speak straight, brother,” he f