A whole week later Aaron had decided to only then leave the hospital to go back home to freshen up. He'd been by his wife's side, holding onto her hand and praying for her recovery since he'd been there. He didn't even decide to leave himself - if it was up to him he would've stayed, but he was practically forced to.
After having her moved from a public to a private hospital - partly because he was starting to get recognized, he had much more freedom to visit her and stay with her as much as he could. But even private hospitals had their limits and they'd finally asked him to go home, mostly because they wanted him to recharge as he wasn't at all looking well.
Aaron simply couldn't leave his wife's side, what if she'd woken up and asked for him and he wasn't there? He would never forgive himself.
He'd used to avoid being at home as much as he could, that was because of the fights. But even when they weren't fighting he knew she'd thought of it, he could always see it in her eyes. She had so much she wanted to say to him but she didn't, she'd kept quiet.
That used to drive him crazy. He certainly didn't want that, he didn't want her to feel like she couldn't say anything to him. He didn't want her to be afraid to talk in fear of starting another argument, but at the same time, he didn't want to start another argument. So not being at home made it easier. For the both of them he'd thought.
That was what their relationship had sadly become.
But his current situation had him begging to have that back. He would much rather be arguing with her than not have her beside him in their bed. He wanted more than anything to take it all back.
In retrospect, the arguments were stupid - they were very unnecessary.
He'd wished she would understand why he'd kept his ex-wives around. It wasn't at all that he was still in love with them, his heart belonged to her and she knew it. They were just people who'd shared so much with him through the years and he simply couldn't just dispose of them once he got married again.
He had kids with some of them. Why couldn't she just understand? If she did then they wouldn't have been where they were then. They wouldn't have fought as much as they did and he wouldn't have avoided going home as he did.
He'd wondered if she'd ever thought he was having an affair. He wasn't.
He actually really was going on business trips, the gag was that he didn't necessarily have to go on them, he could've simply sent one of his associates to handle them for him. Or he could've brought her with him.
But he didn't because he couldn't handle the fights anymore, the tension.
But now, it was all he'd ever craved. He'd take the tension, the fights over not having his wife anymore. He needed her.
Aaron let another round of tears make their way out of his eyes as he picked up his phone to make a call that didn't take long at all to be answered.
"She was pregnant."
He ignored the break in his voice at the revelation.
He'd been trying really hard to ignore the pain in relation to that. His wife was three months pregnant and he didn't know. What did that say about him?
"It hurts Brit."
More than any pain he'd ever felt. And pain he'd felt before.
Aaron was an orphan, he'd suffered through the worst childhood possible. From being passed around from foster home to having to accept at a very tender age that nobody wanted him. It hurt a lot.
But not even that compared to the pain of not only losing a son but having the love of his life laying in a coma because he was a lousy husband.
"I told her I don't want.. and now she - Brit, I -"
Words simply couldn't come out.
He hated himself.
Because he'd told her many times that he didn't want kids, she didn't tell him when she'd gotten pregnant. But if she had maybe things would have been different.
Maybe they would've been forced to fix their issues for their baby. But he didn't blame her at all for not telling him. He couldn't.
He was sure he made it seem like he absolutely wanted no babies with her. Which was true, partly. But that would've changed had she simply just told him. He would've loved that baby more than words could ever describe. But now the baby was gone.
"Aaron, don't do that. Don't beat yourself up about this. You didn't know."
He'd heard the lady on the other line say to him calmly. He'd smiled because he knew she was going to make him feel better. That was why he'd called her.
"I'm sure she won't hate you for this. She loves you and you know that."
"That's if she comes out of the coma." He'd attempted to joke with a chuckle but that came with sharp pain in his chest. She had to come back, his life depended on it.
"Hey, of course she's gonna come back to you. She always does remember?"
She does, always.
Aaron felt his face form a smile slightly. And then,
"What would I do without you Brit?"
He genuinely didn't know.
Britney was Aaron's first wife.
She was with him when he was going through the roughest patch in his life, before things started looking up for him.
No one knew him like she did.
And that was one of the things Kayla couldn't understand. Why they'd been so close.
They'd met in college where they fell in love and got married not too long after. He wasn't still in love with her of course and that was what made the friendship a lot easier.
*Flashback*"It's Kyla right?"Kayla ignored the strong urge to roll her eyes. She laid back on the couch to get herself comfortable then took a deep breath, she needed to prepare herself for the hurricane that was looming.The older lady knew exactly who she was, they all did. It wasn't the first time they were meeting her, nor was it the third."It's actually Kayla, but you can call me Mrs. Miller."If she wanted to be petty she could've just said. She'd thought she'd find that easier since she too was Mrs. Miller. The only difference with them was that Kayla was the real Mrs. Miller, not the one who'd kept the name because of the status that came with it.She ignored the looks she'd felt on her form from all directions, they clearly didn't like her comment. She knew they were trying to intimidate her, she needn't let that happen."Oh yes, you're the one who's younger than all his kids."You could tell by the wide smirk on her face that she was extremely proud of her remark. They d
"Where is she?! Where's my daughter?!"Aaron could hear the loud noises that made it to the hospital room he was in with his wife, seemingly coming from the main reception. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, a storm was looming.He'd contemplated breaking the news to them, mostly because they'd very clearly stated that they wanted nothing to do with the girl. They'd disowned her and hadn't seen nor spoken to her since they'd gotten married. But Aaron was never one to stop believing in family, no matter what. It was the most important thing to him, after his wife of course - though he knew he didn't always show that. So he'd eventually reached out. The girl had been in hospital for a few weeks and he'd finally thought to let her family know. Whether they'd then decided to come and see her or not - it would've been up to them. As long as he'd done his part of letting them know.He was going to get one of his secretaries to get in contact with the family on his behalf, but he'd
*Flashback*"Over my dead body!"I hear my mother shout at the top of her lungs as I go upstairs to pack my bags as instructed."You don't know anything! You're 18!"She continues to yell. I chuckle lightly at that because she'd always told me I'm one of the smartest people she knew despite my age. And that wasn't only because I was her daughter, she'd always reiterated. She's finally doing it, she's kicking me out. Months and months of threatening me and she's going through with it. I'd thought she was bluffing to be honest. I knew she didn't like the fact that I'm dating an older guy but I'd always told myself she would accept it one day. That it would take a while but once she sees how happy I am she would have no choice but to accept it.But as I stand taking out clothes from my drawers and putting them in my bags, I finally let my tears go. Because it hurts, more than anything I've ever experienced in my 18 years of living. My mother basically asking me to choose between my fami
"Mr. Miller, I was told to bring this to you."The young lady said as she approached the older man cautiously. He'd thrown a fit a few times at the hospital and she didn't want to become one of his victims for the day."Thank you so much Uhm... " He'd waited for her to tell him her name."Susan.""Thank you Susan."He'd said with a smile as he took the tray of food from her hands. He wasn't hungry but he didn't want to be rude to the poor girl, not anymore at least. He'd admittedly been a bit difficult on more than a few occasions but that was only because of the well-being of his wife. Everything needed to be done right, otherwise he would lose it. He would lose his cool.He'd then decided to stop after realizing what he had become, Kayla wouldn't like that very much he'd thought.Aaron could see the terror in the young girl's eyes as she nodded her head and turned around to leave."Susan..."He was turning a new leaf.It had been over 5 months since his wife had been in the coma. He
*Flashback*I've always found it easier to talk to Brittney, more than a lot of other people. She's never judged me off of my age nor disrespected me because of it. Yes she's my husband's ex but she's understanding. Certainly a lot more understanding than his other ex-wives.She'd warmed up to me from the very first day she'd met me. I was this young girl in a world I didn't belong in and she'd helped me navigate my way into it, and I guess also deal with the other evil ex-wives. Although her approach has always been to be nice to them, I've always preferred avoiding them as much as I could. Obviously that hasn't been exactly smooth sailing with my husband basically forcing me to get on with them.Point is, she's someone I've really taken a liking to in a place where no one seems to want to like me. She's become someone I can truly open up to.That is why,"I'm pregnant."I'd been keeping this inside for too long that saying it feels like finally drinking water after a week-long hiatu
Aaron hastily checked his watch as he hurried onto the elevator to go to his office. He had to be back at the hospital.He'd hated not being there when she woke up but he needed to sort a few things out at the office. He was going to make his way there soon after.But what he hadn't been expecting was a full office that morning. It was too early he'd thought.Aaron owned the whole building but only a few people were permitted on his office level, the highest level. And that list didn't have more than 5 people on it.So his shock was justified when he'd walked in and saw more than a few people seemingly in police uniform talking to his secretary.So the worst possible conclusions made it to his mind, naturally. It better not be about his wife, it can't have been. He was with her just a few hours before, she was ok. Could it be about his kids? Was there fraud in his company he didn't know about?"Morning Officers."He'd settled with just finding out from them, to not drive himself crazy
*Flashback*"Pathetic. What is she? 16?"I hear the lady whose name I believe is Sandra whisper/yell from the other room as I look around for the bathroom. Left and then right, I let my mind remember. This place is huge, it's even bigger than his house. I walk further down the long corridor until I finally come across the right turn that leads me to the bathroom. I breathe a sigh of relief.It's only been a couple of hours and that's not even the worst thing she's said about us. I think, "She's just a plaything, he'll get over her soon enough," was just about the most hurtful, so far. Or maybe, "She's just with him for his money, he'll realize it." I can't decide.The conclusion here is that they really don't like me.I guess I didn't really expect them to but I wasn't also expecting to get so much hate from just meeting them. They haven't even bothered to get to know me, they're judging me off of my age and I think that's not fair.It sucks because I really like this guy. Yes he's a
He refused to believe it. It cannot have been, there was no way.It had been a few weeks since he was given the news. No name was given but a few names were implied and one name, in particular, was insisted upon.Sandra was not perfect, not even a tiny bit but she wasn't at all capable of murder. Aaron was certain of that. There must've been an explanation.He entered the elevator of the massive hospital to get to the VIP floor where his wife was. It was time to finally tell her what was going on, he had been delaying it for too long. He knew that she could sense that something was wrong, she'd probably even thought he was cheating on her. That was how bad the tension was.He closed his eyes once inside the elevator and then laid his form against the walls. He needed strength.He was sure of what his wife was going to say about the news. He was sure she wasn't going to be jumping for joy so he needed to prepare himself."Hey Deena, is she in her room?"He'd asked the sweet receptionis
To truly understand someone, you have to go back to their past, what they'd been through.I, just like the majority of humanity have been taught that one can either be good or bad. That it can either be black or white, yes or no. But I think that's not true.I think that people do really bad stuff sometimes, but that doesn't necessarily make them bad people. It just makes them well... human.I also think that mental illness is a part of it. When you've been hurt so much, you start to expect it. And when you've hurt people so much, they start to expect that from you - so you give them what they expect.Of course that's not the 'mental illness' portion of it. I just think that our minds are really fucked up.It's been a year.The 'Aaron Miller Massacre' news took the world by storm. There wasn't a news channel that didn't cover the story, nor a person who didn't speak of it.When I'd heard about what had actually happened, I was shaken beyond words. Literally.See after they'd removed h
'My dearest Kayla,If you're reading this it's because I'm either serving life in prison or my life has been taken from me.I know I haven't been the greatest partner and I'm sorry that I'll never get a chance to make it up to you. You were right, I should've put you first. You were the most important person to me and I should've shown it.I'm writing this with so much sorrow in my heart because I've been utterly betrayed, by the people I'd thought had my back. Because of that, I've had to do some things you wouldn't be very proud of, things that have either gotten me in trouble with the law or got me killed. But I would've done that and more to make sure you're safe.I put my trust in people I thought were my family when I should've considered you family to start with. You were the only person who truly cared about me, you were the only one who loved me. I'm so sorry I didn't realize that sooner my love.It's too late now but for what it's worth, I wish for you to know that I was wor
"Oh don't act all mighty, you never liked her. You just acted like you did so he doesn't get rid of you.""Excuse me? We were friends. She trusted me.""Oh yeah but I bet you wanted to take her place so bad, didn't you? She was a constant and painful reminder that you lost it all. That he was finally over you and you would never get that perfect life back. You cheated on him and you wish you could take it back.""Shut up! Shut the hell up, you don't know what you're saying."Britney heard herself shouting at the girl who stood in front of her. She was not one to lose her cool but she hated how the girl always ensued the worst out of her.Yes she'd always regretted cheating on Aaron but she'd long gotten over that. It was a long time ago, he'd since gotten married plenty of times."I gave up on any kind of future with him when he'd gotten married the first time. You're just looking for drama where it doesn't exist.""Oh but does it not? Sweet little Britney... Everyone's best friend. I
"What did you do?"He felt his heart beating a mile a minute. Somehow he knew what he'd done but he'd hoped otherwise."Boss, you know this was for the best. It needed to happen."He had to be dreaming, there was no way it was real."Mike...""They've done nothing but cause you pain and heartache...""Mike... no..."He was not one to cry but the tears had taken on their own life because they'd started pouring out without his permission.Words failed him as he looked at the man he'd trusted with his own life."Get them to talk, that's all I said."He'd heard himself say barely audible. His chest was weighing heavy on his heart, he couldn't breathe."I'm not the enemy here boss. They've done nothing but...""That doesn't mean they deserve to die!" His calm betrayed him, he felt himself shake as the words left his lips.Who was he to decide their fate? That was exactly the reason he'd always kept a distance when it came to the people who'd worked for him, he'd always remained stern becau
"Gosh, I love it here."It was the lake, the trees, the breeze. But it was mostly the fact that they were alone that made her love it so much. It was peaceful."Yea."Kayla agreed as she closed her eyes feeling the wind blow against her skin softly. She'd missed such simple things in life."So...""So...""How's everything going with you-know-who? I've barely seen you the past couple of days."Elisa asked ensuing a blush from the other girl.Their friendship had transcended through the weeks and they'd somehow become closer each day."Well, nothing's official yet. I like him but I'm taking things really slow. I don't wanna jump into anything too quickly y'know?"The truth was that she was afraid. She'd done the whole falling in love thing and it didn't quite work out for her."It's been months Kay, the man clearly likes you."It was true and she knew it.He'd planned to stay for the Christmas holidays but decided he'd stay around a bit longer to help out his mother. Kayla knew he'd pa
*Flashback*"What do they have on her?""Uhm... Mr. Miller. Maybe let's not get too focused on the details. It...""What do they have on her?!!"They knew he was the wrong person to play that game with. He'd always preferred people to be straight up with him, no beating around the bush."Uh...""Talk Brandon! Use your words!""Fingerprints! They found her fingerprints on the door handle."Aaron felt his world shatter as the words of the man who stood in front of him registered. It can't have been, his ears must've been playing tricks on him."They think it was when she went inside to take her belongings after the accident. They claim she didn't want her to be found so she Jane Doe'd her.""Sir, they're making it look like she wanted to kill her because of jealousy. It would be a miracle if we won the case...""Shut up! Shut the hell up!"He knew that and he needn't have said it. They'd had so much evidence against them and there was no way the verdict was going to go in their favor.
He didn't care anymore, he didn't want to know who exactly was at fault. The simple fact that they'd even thought to harm his wife and his little boy who was now in heaven was reason enough. Aaron had never felt so much rage in his life. The people whom he would've given anything for, the people he'd thought cared for him, how could they?"Aaron please...""Aaron no.""Aaron!"He'd ignored their cries. He was tired and his heart hurt so much it felt numb."Do it."He'd simply said to his ally then turned around to leave ignoring their cries getting louder.----"She's having a baby.""What?""I said!! She's having a baby! She's damn pregnant!""Shit... that means.""Everything will be ruined. Yes!"That had been the worst thing that could have ever happened. It was bad enough that the man had changed so much because of his wife, now she was pregnant. They knew that would change everything.They never had to worry about much before as they knew the man didn't have a biological child th
*Flashback*Third time wasn't the charm so the fourth time had to be right? Well that was what he'd told himself. He was never one to give up so he wasn't going to do that. He was going to keep trying.Besides, Sandra was great. She was nothing like the others. She was confident, she knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to go for it. She was sassy and took no nonsense. He'd be lying if he'd said he hadn't found that attractive. Not to mention she was easy on the eye too.She'd had striking features that made you do a double take. When she walked into a room people stopped what they were doing to simply admire her beauty and the way she walked like the world was her platform. He couldn't help but feel attracted to her energy, her aura. She was the kind of woman you'd want to have by your side.So,"How hasn't anyone swept you off your feet?"They'd been sitting having dinner at a very fine restaurant she'd strongly recommended. He would've taken her anywhere. It was beyond him how s
"How old were you?""16 when I met him but we didn't do anything until I was 18.""Did he Uhm... force y...""No no, not at all. If anything I practically begged him." She'd said remembering the day like it was yesterday.'Please. I can't take it anymore. Please Aaron.' She'd practically cried. She knew he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. She couldn't take the waiting anymore, the sexual tension drove her mad.It had taken him a while but eventually, he'd given in."Oh. How old was he?""He was 35 when we met."The questions were getting a bit too judgmental but she'd understood why he was asking them. She probably would've too.Their relationship had been frowned upon pretty much since they'd met and at some point, they'd gotten used to it, It didn't phase them anymore.And as much as Kayla was over her soon-to-be ex-husband, she never wanted anyone to think he forced her into anything. The relationship was consensual on both sides. He never took advantage of her."But was