6. Sold off

KIMBERLY

~•~

Not wanting to add to my embarrassment, I left the house before the guards could throw me out. It had been a very long day and I needed rest before I would think about what to do next.

I hated the situation I was in. I hated Jack for treating me the way he did, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I hated Paige for ruining my marriage. I even hated her son for being born! It was because of his existence Jackson divorced me. I didn’t know where to start and how.

Wiping my tears, I found another taxi and went to my parent’s place. Jackson said my stuff would be waiting for me there. I didn’t know how he could be so cruel to throw me out like that without even giving me time to prepare myself to face my parents.

The ride back to my parent’s house was short.

It seemed like the universe was not done laughing at me because when I arrived home, I saw all my suitcases outside the door. I frowned. Were my parents not home when my stuff was dropped off?

Moving them to the side, I knocked on the door. Since I moved out three years ago, I no longer had a key so I couldn’t get in by myself.

A few seconds passed and the door was pulled open. It confused me even more. I looked from my mother to my suitcases and back to my mother.

Before I could speak, she slapped me. I gasped as my head whipped to the side.

“You useless child!” She wailed. “What did you do to Jackson that made him throw you out? Why couldn’t you be obedient and submissive like I taught you?”

“Mom…” my voice cracked, not believing the kind of treatment I was getting from my own mother. I had the worst day already and she was adding to it.

“Don’t mom me.” She scolded me with a glare. “I don’t care what happened between both of you, but if you know what is good for you, go back there and beg him on your knees. Beg him to accept you. Tell him you’ll change.”

For the umpteenth time that day, tears gathered in my eyes. “I’m your daughter.” I reminded her, my voice breaking with each word.

“And I wish you weren’t.” She said as though it was a normal thing to say to your child. “You are embarrassing me, Kimberly! How hard is it to keep a husband? Your father and I have been married for thirty years. Three years down the line and you’ve already signed divorce papers. What right do you have to make such decisions without asking us?”

“But–“

“But nothing.” She didn’t even want to know what happened. I knew my marriage was to help our family business but they literally sold me off and didn’t care what happened to me. Not then and not now. “Go and beg for his forgiveness. Do whatever you have to do for him to take you back. Until then, you're no daughter of mine!”

Her words were more painful than the slap she gave me, but I bit down on my bottom lip, not wanting to retort. I didn’t have the energy to exchange words with her. I didn’t even know how to. “Where’s dad?”

“He’s out on a business trip but I have told him about your misconduct.”

“Can you just let me in? Just for tonight?” I was so tired. It didn’t matter how much she had insulted me because of a man that did me wrong. I just needed to rest.

“Over my dead body.” She swore. “Don’t come back to this house until you settle with your husband.”

“Mom–“ she closed the door in my face, not waiting for me to finish my sentence.

A chuckle slipped past my lips, but there was no humor to it. I didn’t know how but it seemed my mother was brainwashed by the wealth of the Clarkes. It wasn’t like we were poor. The Clarkes were just ten times richer and that was exactly why they made me marry him.

When they arranged the marriage, I didn’t oppose it. I had always known I’d be married out for business purposes so I accepted my fate a long time ago. It wasn't my fault my husband’s ex came back with a child. I couldn’t control that and my own mother didn’t even want to hear me out.

My mother was a lot but my father was even worse. If he was around, he’d drag me back to Jack’s house and plead on my behalf. I despised them for turning me into this. I’d never hated my life like I did at the moment.

I looked at the three huge suitcases that were on the porch. Knowing there was no way to get through to my mother tonight, I rolled them one after the other to the front of the street. People stared at me, but none of them dared to approach me. I was thankful for that because I looked like a mess. I could only hope they didn’t take pictures.

I didn’t want to see myself in the tabloids looking as I did now. The times I ended up in the newspaper, I was always dressed elegantly as the wife of Jackson Clarke. Now, I was no longer Kimberly Clarke but Kimberly Watson. I was a different person, no longer with the affluence that Jack’s last name came with.

I found another taxi and the driver helped me put my suitcases in the car. I had one last place to go to.

Arriving there, I rang the doorbell, hoping to God she was around. I wouldn’t dare go to a hotel tonight. They would end up taking pictures of me and uploading them everywhere with several theories.

Luckily for me, Reiya opened up in less than a minute. “Kimberly.” She was shocked to see me but as soon as she saw the expression on my face, she gathered me in a hug.

In the comfort of her arms, I finally let myself break down.