Humiliated at his wedding

Valerie’s POV

It took me a minute to understand what had just happened, and like a reflex, I called him back.

“What do you mean, come to the wedding?” I demanded, my head still pounding from crying.

“I mean, come to the wedding,” he replied, his tone clipped, and I started to grow irritated.

“Well, no. You can't just tell me where to show up. I am not your wife,” I snapped.

“Even better, you're my mistress. So be there by eleven A.M,” he replied.

“No. No. I won't be coming. Don’t you see how I would be embarrassed? I could lose whatever face I still have with your family in less than twenty minutes sitting at your table, so no, I won't be coming to your wedding,” I said harshly. My phone beeped with a message, and my eyes widened at what I saw.

“I just sent half a million dollars for your brother’s treatment. I heard there are more treatment agencies for leukemia. See you at 11 A.M. tomorrow, and don’t make me repeat myself again,” he said and ended the call.

I was frozen like an icicle while the raspy respirator echoed in the dooming silence.

“There is no way I am allowing you to get dressed and go to that wedding on your own. You need your emotional support even though you won’t tell me why in God’s name you would be going to the wedding of your ex when the press and lots of magazines will be there covering the whole damn thing,” Jasmine gave a heavy sigh as she rolled my car into the over packed driveway of the wedding event happening at Drake’s house.

“But I will be here for you. Even if it kills me,” she said, holding my hand for support while I struggled to hold it together.

We arrived fairly early, and the moment I walked into the house, ferocious snaps and shutters echoed. My eyes were clad in dark shades to evade my face showing up in the papers tomorrow. I didn’t want anybody saying anything meaner than what they were already saying.

A ring of laughter rang out as we struggled to find seats at the back, my body growing colder with each second that I spent here.

“I just want to say, it's been a long time coming!” Drake suddenly spewed into the microphone with a smile big enough to hurt my eyes.

“I love Charlotte, and I am sure everyone can attest to that. It’s a shame we are getting married now, but at least we are getting married, right?” he asked, and everyone agreed as he held Charlotte, as beautiful as ever, by the waist, drawing her close as they merged lips in a passionate kiss, sealing the deal.

Drake never looked at me the way he looked at her, never held me the way he held her, not even by accident. Everything always had to be cold with him.

“And to think, my father had to leave a will for me to realize whom I've been restless about all these years. I love you, babe,” he said, and I wanted the ground to swallow me.

“Wait, isn’t that the ex?” someone asked harshly, and I struggled to keep my eyes screwed forward, but I couldn’t.

“Bold of her to even come here in the first place. How shameless can someone even be?” another person whispered, and I felt a fever coming on, my body hot and having difficulty breathing. The moment Drake tried to pull Charlotte into another wet, passionate kiss, I stood up abruptly, my eyes biting back tears.

“Val?” Jasmine called through gritted teeth as she fixed a fake smile on her face while I couldn’t get a hold on my emotions. Everyone’s heads turned towards me, but I didn’t care. The strong urge to hurt Drake and his fiancée the way they have hurt me was as fierce as my need for oxygen. Jasmine tried to grab my hand, but I moved out of her grip, tearing my eyes away from Drake’s prolonged eye contact.

I wanted to feel something so desperately that when we shared eye contact, I felt something soften in his countenance, but I was wrong. I just had to be wrong. You can't demote me to the post of mistress, kill my self-worth and respect, and then have a moment of a softened gaze. Hell no.

I walked out of that hall with more than a thousand eyes peering at my back, my eyes pouring tears. It wasn’t until I got to a secluded part of the house that I let the angry tears I had held down inside me rack me till my shoulders shook. Who was I really doing this for? My brother, my baby, or the unrequited love I possessed for a cruel man?

“Val?” I heard Jasmine’s voice echo, but I couldn’t wipe my tears away as I hugged my stomach. The touch felt more personal knowing there was a life within that I couldn’t even share with Drake.

“Val,” she said, touching my shoulders as she got close to me. The tears seemed to increase with each syllable of my name that she called out. Eventually, she pulled me into her warm embrace, snuffing the sadness out of me in an instant.

“Why don’t you tell him?” she suddenly asked, and I snatched my body away from her grasp with an urgency I didn’t realize was possible.

“Tell him what, Jas?” I asked, unsure if she was saying what I was thinking.

“The baby. I am sure if you told him, then he could kick that icy bitch out right now, right this minute. He wouldn’t be cruel if he knew because this is torture and you’re drowning, Val,” she said, but I grabbed her hand by the wrists, bringing her to me as panic arose within me.

“He can never know, Jas,” I whispered to her, and she was wide-eyed.

“Valerie. It's his baby,” she said, and I pushed her away from me.

“Tell him!” she yelled.

“No! Jasmine, he must never know, and you have to promise me. Promise me that nobody in the Chase family will know that I am pregnant with Drake’s baby!” I yelled.

“You’re pregnant?” came a cool voice from behind. I whipped my head around, shock and fear instantly making me realize that Jasmine wouldn’t need to promise as I stared, wide-eyed, into the deep, unsure grey eyes of Ron Chase, Drake’s stepbrother. He smirked, his gaze dropping to my stomach, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

“Oh, this just got interesting,” Ron suddenly said, his voice dripping with something unknown.