Chapter 2

“Welcome back, Miss Audrey.”

The housekeeper and the housemaids greeted in unison when Audrey stepped out of the car. She drove herself home alone after what happened. Audrey said nothing in response and straightly trod the way to her room, not the master’s bedroom, leaving the others inside the house clueless on what she was behaving about.

She slumped her chest on the bed and there, she burst into tears. She felt sick and anguished. It was never in her wildest dream that Shane would actually say something scrupulous right after they went back to the city from their honeymoon.

At first, she thought the man was only going to drop by on the company or maybe meet up with his manager after a month of leave he took to spend their honeymoon. Shane told her to call the house and ask someone to fetch her at the airport, but she refused and insisted on coming with him. It was the first time after they got married that Shane yelled at her saying, “JUST GO HOME,” in his cold yet irritated voice. She kept quiet even though she wanted to defend herself for being treated like that. When he noticed her solemn look, he tried to reach for her hand in which she pulled away in reflex, she also flinched when his hand slightly brushed on her arm.

“It may take longer and I want you to rest as soon as you can. You probably haven’t felt anything yet but having jet lag is not by any means enjoyable,” Shane mumbled after several minutes of silence between them inside his car. “Baby,” he called out sweetly when she didn’t reply.

“Do you really have to go now? You should be feeling the jet lag as well,” Audrey said. She wouldn’t say anything against Shane’s plan if it was something urgent but the latter didn’t mention the reason why he was in a hurry to send her home without him.

Shane brushed his face with his hand, looking frustrated he clenched his jaw. “I might be gone for a few days. You should go home and rest. I’ll tell you about it once I’m back.” He sounded troubled, unsure, and hesitant to talk about whatever was going on that she was not aware of.

Audrey nodded her head like an obedient child. She seemed to agree with what he said, but she was planning something else. She didn’t like the way Shane answered her inquiries. Her instinct even reminded her to grasp at her husband’s hand, tightly enough to keep him for herself and away from others. The thought made her confuse thus she tried to sound him out which almost led to an argument.

“All right. I’ll go, see you around,” was Audrey’s reply. “Do I drive myself home or should I call for a taxi?” She remembered asking him, and he told her she can use his car which she did without any hesitation.

Ever since she overcome her trauma, she made sure to drive as much as she could to completely rid of the remaining fears she had whenever she happened to reminisce the past. Shane got off the car and watched her settle on the driver's seat. He kissed her lips and bid his goodbye when she started the engine to leave.

Audrey left and headed to the nearby fast-food restaurant to order herself a piece of chicken and potato fries with a large size cup of cola. She opened the window by the driver’s seat after she parked the car in the restaurant’s driveway. She was amused to find one at first but it was to her convenience anyway, so she didn’t say anything but WOW.

A few minutes had passed, and she finished eating her take-outs. She even burped slightly after sipping a bottle of coke empty. Audrey took her phone and check whether Shane sent her a message asking if she’s home or to be careful like how a man who’s in love treated his woman- she actually saw these kinds of scenes from the movies that Shane had starred in. She sighed finding out her dear husband sent no message at all.

“Oh, he must be busy,” Audrey remembered convincing herself that Shane was probably busy and had no time to type any short messages like how she expected he would. She laid her back on the backrest of the car seat and browsed on the internet. She was having a good time stalking her husband and reading the gossip news about him when a particular headline on a certain article.

“The Country’s Nightingale Stephanie Solis allegedly pregnant,” she read the title of the article. Audrey’s heart slowly beat erratically as she skimmed through the pages.

“The singer-actress was recently known to be in an intimate relationship with the superstar Shane Vargas. Their relationship started to blossom while working together in one of the superstar’s recent project where the singer played the role of his leading lady. The movie gained more popularity after the on-screen couple revealed their ‘real relationship’ behind the camera. It was a few weeks ago and a month after the movie was released when the singer announced her break-up with the superstar. Shane Vargas, however, didn’t say anything about the reason why they split up.

“It was also speculated that the superstar was terribly affected with the said falling out with the singer and went hiatus for a few weeks.

“However, according to some trusted sources and witnesses, Solis is now showing signs of pregnancy while working on her second project in the acting industry. Fans of both parties are asking for the truth about the spreading rumors.”

Audrey was holding her breath as she kept reading to the last word written in the article. Her breath hitched each time she saw Shane’s name mentioned in the news.

She remembered starting the car and how she stepped on the gas to increased its speed- almost breaking few traffic rules while heading to the location where Shane would have a press conference as mentioned on the last page of the article. Audrey knew she shouldn’t worry and just trust him but her heart wouldn’t calm down no matter what. Not when her guts were telling her something fishy was about to happen.

And her instinct was right. She only spent a few weeks of honeymoon with Shane, her supposedly loving and loyal husband, and later turned out to be someone else’s baby’s father.