CHAPTER 1

Genevieve Tessa Roberts

I was fidgeting.

I heaved a deep sigh and pulled the hem of my dress to cover my knees. Taking a glance at the wristwatch strapped to my wrist, I noted with great angst that it's been over twenty minutes since the Doctor walked out of the room on an excuse to get back to me soon. 

Sighing again, I rubbed my palms together before picking up my phone to check if I had any missed calls or anything of the sort but nothing stood out to me. I started to put my phone away when the door opened and I stopped and turned toward the woman that had walked in.

Sitting up in my seat, my eyes followed Doctor Brown’s movement till she finally settled back in her seat which was right in front of me, separated by a huge desk that had a bunch of stuff I wasn't interested in on it.

“Sorry for the long wait, Mrs. King. Here is the test result.” She smiled softly before handing me the results.

 I hesitated for a second, my heart leaping with what I didn't know as I eyed the unsealed envelope she was currently holding out to me. Whatever was in that result had the capacity to change the state of my life and my relationship with my husband. So, yes, I was a bit hesitant to take it from her. As if she sensed my nervousness and worries, Doctor Brown smiled softly to encourage me and I swallowed before reaching out to take it from her.

“Will you just tell me what's in the result, please?” I whispered, holding onto the envelope with all the emotion I could muster.

Doctor Brown nodded quietly as she rested her back against her swivel chair, watching me. “If you want me to, yes.” She told me and I nodded to urge her on. “Mrs. King, congratulations, you are four weeks pregnant!” She announced.

I blinked.

Twice.

I was pregnant. I was four weeks pregnant. I was going to be a mother. I was going to save my marriage.

The kaleidoscope of emotions running through my veins at that moment were indescribable. I didn't even know what I did next. If I screamed or cried or shouted, I had no idea but what I did know was that I sat in a shocked silence for a few seconds, my heart filling with all the hopes I had lost in the past five years.

Five years, that's how long I'd been married to my husband without a child.

Seven years since I'd known him.

Kyle Jordan King, my husband whom I'd known since my Junior days in college was the man after my heart. I loved him since the moment I set my eyes on him. Our relationship was like a fairytale, the prince charming who had rescued the invisible princess from the brink of death or destruction and whisked her away to a place she had grown to love.

Kyle was my happy place.

He was the man I'd always loved and would forever love. 

We had gotten married after two years of knowing each other which was a few months after I graduated from college with a first class degree. My husband who was the heir to his family dynasty needed to provide his family with a child but that was not the reason we had gotten married. We had gotten married because he loved me and I loved him and we wanted to be together.

Five years after marriage, I was starting to think not.

Although Kyle had never brutally said to me that he wondered why I couldn't have a child or if all those fertility drugs I was taking would ever make things work; he had never outrightly said them to me but I could feel him slipping away. I could feel them in his actions. I could feel them in how he didn't look at me anymore and how he didn't even relate with me as much as he used to.

This was why I needed this gleam of hope so badly. I needed this baby Doctor Brown had now confirmed that I was carrying. I needed the baby in my life. Not just to save my marriage but to prove myself right and all the other people who thought I was barren.

“Thank you, Doctor Brown.” The immense relief in my voice as I uttered those words to the woman could be heard from miles ago. She shook hands with me and I skipped out of her office filled with the joy and gratitude I seemed to have lost over the years.

When I got to my car, I put the test result into the black chanel bag I had brought with me to see the Doctor and went on to get into my car. For the first time in ages, I blasted the music at full volume as I drove over to the company my husband now owned and where I worked.

“Welcome, boss.” 

As the CFO of the company, I was entitled to my own personal assistant, Imogen who was proving to be a great asset to me and the company in general. I had a good eye and I had thought she was the best for the job I needed her to do when I employed her as a fresh graduate out of college.

“Thanks, Gen.” I smiled at her as I walked into my office. Taking off my coat which I had worn because it had been slightly cold, I passed it to Imogen who quickly went ahead to hang it. “Anything to know?” I inquired as I settled in front of my desk, opening my laptop.

Although my husband was only offices away, I planned to inform him about my pregnancy on the way home. He would be working and I would hate to disturb him while he was at it. Kyle didn't enjoy being distracted when he was knee deep into his work.

“Yes. Layla called at your office. She said she already emailed everything you need to know to you.” Imogen read off her notepad while I booted my laptop.

“Oh,” I glanced up at her and nodded.

“Did you have lunch?” Imogen asked, hand planted on her waist while the other one held the iPod in her hand. 

I stopped typing on my laptop to glance at her, taken aback by the question. It wasn't that the question she had asked was surprising to me. It wasn't. It was just that the thought of eating anything all day hadn't crossed my mind in any way. I barely even drank coffee, too anxious for any of it before coming to the office in the morning. And when I left the office to head to my Doctor's appointment, I hadn't thought of eating either.

“Uhm, no.” I swallowed. 

“I knew it,” Imogen shook her head at me like she was disappointed, her hair brushing over her face. I grimaced. “I thought you were going to grab lunch on your way out.” She sighed like she was tired of having to bring this up.

“I forgot,” I tapped my fingers against the table and pouted my lips at her. We were at the stage where we had graduated from being just an employee and her employer. We were friends.

“I’m going to grab you something now. Juice?” She asked me on her way out of the room. I gave her a thumbs up, too busy logging into my G***l to give her a proper reply.

By the time I was done addressing the email Layla, another colleague in the office had sent, Imogen returned with my lunch which was just hamburger and juice. I grabbed the take out from her, my stomach rumbling with hunger but as soon as I opened the package, the smell that hit me in the face had me pulling back. Imogen, who was still standing in front of me, frowned at the movement as she tilted her head to the side to stare at me.

“Anything wrong?” she inquired.

“Not really,” I pushed back the plate and grabbed my cranberry juice instead to take a sip of. I was okay with that. “I feel like I'm forgetting something.” I told her which was the truth. I did feel like I was forgetting something.

“Oh. That must be the dinner you are hosting with your mother and sister-in-law tonight.” She reminded me and my eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

“Crap!” I shot out of my seat while logging out of my account. I needed to be at my house in less than an hour since I had only about three hours more until dinner time.

By the time I finished up with everything I needed and was on my way out of the office, I decided to take a turn and remind Kyle of the dinner since he tend to forget things like that. Christine, his assistant shot out of her seat when she saw me approaching but I raised my hand to stop her. I didn't need her stupidity on display that moment.

“Is he in a meeting?” I asked her but didn't wait for her reply nor the disapproving scowl on her face before I took the turn that led to my husband's office.

I was about to knock on the door when I stopped, noticing that the door was slightly ajar. But that wasn't what made me stop, it was the words I heard next that had me freezing on the spot.

“My mother wants me to divorce her. And I'm planning on doing so.”