"Hey, babe! My boys!" Riley greeted enthusiastically as she pulled the door to her house open for Frema and the twins to enter. It was her daughter, Halsey's birthday that evening and the house was already full by the time they arrived."Hey, babes. Wow, we're really late, then." Frema observed and Riley laughed."Not really. Most people are just early." She replied, walking towards a set of chairs. The boys took their seats dutifully and then Riley whisked Frema away for some gossip in the kitchen, while they worked."Where's birthday girl?" Frema asked when they got to the kitchen. Riley sighed."Sleeping." She responded, shaking her head as she did. Frema gasped and then burst out laughing immediately after."What?" She questioned and Riley began to laugh as well. "I swear, I shouldn't have fed her so much before the party. We're literally just playing games with the kids first, to keep them entertained while we wait for the queen's wake." She reported. "I can't relate." Frema sta
The blinding rays of the early morning sunlight poured into the room without restriction, causing Frema to squint as she stretched and yawned simultaneously. She had fallen asleep on Riley's bed, which was not a surprise. Riley was not on the bed when she woke up, so she got off it and began to look for her."Riley?" She called when she got close to the kitchen."I'm here." Riley shouted back from the kitchen and Frema walked into it, leaning against a counter once she was inside. "Did you dream of me? Sweet dreams, I mean." Riley questioned, putting a frozen container into the microwave. Frema picked up one of the chocolate tarts she had made and stuffed it in her mouth before replying,"No sweet dreams. Fortunately for me, no bad ones either." Riley glared at her for talking with her mouth full of food, but Frema only laughed at her expression. Barely a minute later, Riley was rushing to the sink. She threw up immediately she got there and just as she was about to turn back, she fe
BONUS SCENEArsen slammed the door shut and staggered in, turning on the light in the living room. Even with blurry eyesight, he caught Riley's image seated on the floor and he saw the bowl in her hand. He ignored her and went up to their room, falling to the bed immediately. But even as he lay there and pretended to be falling asleep, his mind still wandered off to Riley; everything about her kept him awake. He wanted her explanations, but at the same time he did not want to hear it. She was driving him mad and making him drunk with not just liquor, but disturbing thoughts concerning their marriage as well. Sighing, he lifted himself off his bed and began to walk towards the living room. He met Riley there—puking again— but he was too drunk to ask her what the matter was, so he sat there, beside her, with his eyes tightly shut. She threw up again and his eyes opened."Are you okay?" The words escaped his lips before he could stop them. She nodded wordlessly. Arsen wondered why he th
"Kayla texted. She wants to see you." Eron lifted his head from his office desk and stared up at his fiancee, who held his phone out to him with an indifferent look. He took the device from her, silently peering at the message and in seconds, the door opened and slammed shut, indicating that Frema had left. Eron rose to his feet then, dialing Kayla's number—the woman had been pestering Eron all week, asking to talk, and by the way Frema had reacted, he was sure she had read the other desperate texts."Hey, babe." Kayla drawled as soon as the call went through."Straight to the point." Eron bit, right away. She hissed into the phone but spoke up anyways,"We have to see. This shit isn't stuff for casual phone calls." Kayla said matter-of-factly. Eron almost laughed at how she thought he would be seeing her after the stunt she pulled when he went to see his daughter. Drugging him into unconsciousness and stripping him out of his clothes for her selfish pleasures was unforgivable and it
Riley groaned and dragged her hand along her face. It was already a day after the incident already and Frema was currently in Riley's house after she had dropped her kids off in school."I just can't believe she also sent you pictures and videos. What the hell is this bitch trying to prove? She's doing too much at this point." Riley spat, whilst pacing about her living room. Frema said nothing, just sat on the couch with her face buried in her palms."Now, I hate to say—I told you so, so I'm not going to say that. I'm going to say instead, I'm so sorry this happened and I cannot even be mad because I also am a cheat. I'm just like Eron." Riley said regretfully. Frema scoffed."Do not dare compare yourself to Eron. You didn't get the man pregnant, it was only a kiss." Frema interrupted angrily. Riley sighed and kept pacing. "You're messing with my vision, Riles, sit down." Frema groaned and Riley finally took a seat beside her friend."I don't even know what to say to comfort you right
Frema stayed with Riley for hours, until it was time to pick up her kids and Halsey. When she drove her car into the school premises and parked, she rested her head on the car's steering, drifting into deep thoughts. She would drive the children to her brother's house, she decided; she could never allow them go home to a man like Eron. She would not let him touch her children ever again, never let him in her life again."Ma'am?" Her head jerked up on impulse and she brought down her window to see the dark woman outside the car, half glaring at her. Frema smiled, nonetheless."I'm sorry, is there a problem?" Frema asked."Wrong parking space." The woman announced and Frema apologized, following her instructions to park right.Then, she went inside the building and picked the kids from their respective classes. After a long while of greeting kisses and playfulness, they were on their way home. Drake chattered on about how he missed his father and Frema ignored him, turning on the radio
"Unfortunately not. Now, if you would excuse me, Eron." Frema pushed past a fuming Eron and was marching towards the entrance until Kayla blocked her."Come on, why are you so mad? I promise I have something you'd be interested in. Don't you want to see if your fiance is truly lying, or telling the truth?" Kayla queried in a sickly, sweet tone. Frema glared at her for seconds before shoving her aside and storming off. Titi grasped her hand and pulled her back. Kayla then shoved the phone in her line of vision and the first thing that Frema saw was Eron, eating the life out of Kayla's fake lips. They looked so sensual together, Frema wanted to throw up. She hated herself even more at that moment, for being so blind in love. Obviously, that was the kind of sex life he wanted, and not the amateur positions she engaged him with."I get it. Y'all had sex. Can I leave now?" She asked, now wishing she had allowed Riley to come with."No, we didn't just have sex. We made another baby. I mean,
Eron walked into his company's conference room, feeling as lifeless as he looked. He had not yet figured out what to do with, or to Kayla for messing his life up like this. It was obvious that he had been drugged, but he was sure at that point, that he did not have sex with Kayla. But only if his woman would believe him. How could she? There were tons of evidence pointing to the false notion that he was guilty, and until he came up with something that would vindicate him, he knew he had to stay away from her. "Let's go straight to the point with the meeting. The presentation first, any other thing will be postponed until the next meeting." Eron spoke rigidly, as soon as he took his seat. A nudge here and there, some mumbling, before the board member responsible for the presentation stood up and began to dish out his speech. Eron zoned out during the course of presentation—a habit that was very much unlike him. He missed everything that the man said and as a result, he had to tell hi
EPILOGUETHREE YEARS LATER"She was such a beautiful young woman, she did not deserve to die." Someone murmured behind Frema, but she couldn't bring herself to turn and feed her curiosity by seeing who it was. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and at this point, she truly had no tears left to cry. All she could think of them, was the fact that Riley had promised. How could she not keep her promise afterward? She'd obviously not been there for her friend enough, she hadn't even guessed that Riley would lose her life so soon. She died in the most painful way to her—chatted with her all night and then slept, never waking up after. How could she not notice the emptiness in her friend's eyes? How could she have missed the pain?"I'm sorry, Riles. I'm so sorry." She muttered weakly, staring at Riley's immobile figure. Her beautiful face and body stayed stiff now, . She could not count the amount of times she'd looked around, hoping for a miracle—just like what had happened with Eron, b
"I'm pregnant, you assholes! Could you let me out of here first, so I can get this baby out of me?" Kayla yelled, clutching the protectors tightly, even trying to climb it. Titi was in juvenile prison and the truth was, she was almost going crazy without her daughter by her side. No one paid her attention, though and she kept screaming until a figure walked up in front of the cell. The other inmates in the cell, glanced up at the visitor and on seeing who it was, the women sprang up and watched him intently, like he was a favorite snack. Only Kayla shook in fear."We meet again, Kayla." Eron spoke and she shook her head."I'm pregnant, you can't hurt me." She responded. He chuckled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes."You think I'm here to hurt you? What are the guards for, then?" He queried and she didn't reply, just stared at him. He continued, "Wow. Never thought I'd see the day where you'd finally shut up." She scoffed now, replying nonchalantly,"Well, surprise surprise." She b
Blood spluttered inside the sink, creating a gruesome sight. Riley was hunched over said sink, trying to catch her breath. "No, no, no, please. This can't fucking happen, not now, please." She complained, but her voice was filled with genuine anger instead of pity for herself. She was more concerned about staining her dress, in fact, than the actual ailment that had caused her to throw up. Today was Eron and Frema's wedding and Riley could not let her 'stupid cancer' get in the way if their happiness.A knock resounded on the door of the washroom. "Riles, are you okay?" Her husband's voice came and she shouted back right away,"I'm fine, babe. Honestly, you don't have to look for me every two hours. I just needed to pee." "Oh okay, we'll be heading to the church now with the groom. I'll be expecting you all later, okay?" He said and she replied back with an 'okay', waiting to hear him leave. He finally began to head out and then she turned on the tap, washing every evidence of her b
"I cannot believe I'm at Eron's funeral. I've always wanted to meet the man, but not like this, you know." It was yet another fangirl, on the phone with her friend as she passed by Eron's open coffin.Frema stood over the coffin, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she watched him solely.. or better still, what used to be him. She was the only one who stood there now, as she had chosen to be the last to see him again. His body no longer smelt so bad and she realized it must be from the preservatives they'd used on him. She shook her head when more memories of them started to flood in. Her chest was constricting with so much pain and the tears now flowed at their own will but she stood there and let it all out.He had no family member to be here for him and everyone who came were either acquaintances or business partners. And then, her family. Almost everyone walked around nonchalantly, they even looked like they were at a mere business event and the only time she saw them twist t
Frema shook with tears as she caressed her son's hair. Eron had set everything right and the truth was finally out in the open. He had just kept the properties and everything else to multiply everything tenfold. Maybe at first, his plan had been revenge but when he had said he changed, it was actually for real. Everything about him was real and now, it was too late to say sorry. Too late to make anything right. Eron might have died alone, but he'd taken a part of her to his grave while he was at it. A part she was afraid she would never be able to recover. So, the tears flowed down her cheeks until she had to hide her face in her palms as she cried uncontrollably. The boys were asleep, so she tried to be as quiet as possible, but she still got nudged by a small arm after a while. She wiped her eyes frantically and took her time while looking up. Josh spoke first, "Are you okay, mommy?" She nodded immediately, flashing a fake smile in his direction. Josh did not seem convinced. He car
"Mom, I think I'm being followed." Titi complained, breathing heavily as she took out a bottle of water from the fridge and began to down its content. Kayla raised a brow."Followed? Girl, what the hell are you saying? Why would anyone follow us?" She questioned, becoming alert at the same time. Titi finished drinking and tossed the bottle, taking a seat to catch her breath."Hell, if I knew. One minute I'm walking back from this boy's home and the next, a black car—""Hold on, what boy's place?" Kayla snapped, cutting her off, to which Titi rolled her eyes."Stay with me, mom, that's not the problem here. I was being followed. FOLLOWED, by God only knows who, and I was being followed for almost one hour, but since I didn't have money for any Uber, I kept walking faster, hoping I'd lose the creep. I didn't. He only drove past our house when I got here but I swear he was following me." She said and Kayla stared at her daughter some more before grabbing her, only to spin her around to c
Frema tried visiting Riley's ward which was in the same hospital, but she was told that Riley had been discharged. Arsen had actually let her know that Riley was surprisingly getting better and she had a long time to live, according to the doctor. Frema did not want to pay much attention to the announcement of a deadline, so she didn't. If she did, she'd be counting her last days with her bestfriend and even if it seemed like they had some more years, Frema had actually been banking on forever, so it was hard to settle for less.Riley was back in her house, when Frema finally got home and she clapped her new nails in her friend's face as welcome."Your bitch is back." She mouthed and Frema could've burst with joy."Damn right, she is!" She replied, going in to hug her senseless. The two women shook with laughter, and then tears.. but they remained in the same position for long minutes, sapping a feel of comfort from each other. They reluctantly pulled away after a while and Riley cupp
Frema could not help how shame covered her entire skin like a cold blanket. Her flat shoes thankfully produced minimal noise against the tiles of the hospital as she tried to find the ward she'd been directed to. She tried to convince herself that she was only here because of the dream Josh had but it only seemed like she was lying to herself. She had only needed a reason to be here, and upon getting that reason, she called in sick at the ‘new’ place she worked in and prepared herself to see him.On getting to the door of his ward, she pushed it open warily and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her before she looked up at him. Her lips parted in shock at the sorry sight in front of her, and she gripped the door handle for support when she stared on. The person on the hospital bed was anything, but recognizable. The pictures on TV was censored, and did not do him any justice. In real life, he looked like a lost cause. He resembled a corpse, a literal one. He was covered with a f
Monday arrived, three days later and Frema ran around the house again, trying to set everything up for her now ‘three children’. She checked her watch minutes later, while the twins and Halsey ate breakfast quietly. She sat with then too, but she had no appetite to eat.Her phone beeped while she was twirling the contents of the plate around and it made her sigh in relief as she picked up, without bothering to check who it was. She could not have her children know that a woman had called her fat to describe her the other day at the grocery store and a handful of people agreed with her indirectly. She couldn't tell them that. So, she answered with a cheerful voice,"Frema Michelson." "Dad's lawyer called." Arsen's voice resounded from the other end. She sat straighter."What? Why?" She queried, curiosity eating her up already."He refused to tell, but he said it's something very important. You know he stopped talking to dad, right? I'm surprised." Arsen said, sounding as confused as s