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Living with a hostile Jessica
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2024-10-29 19:42:56There was silence in the car for a minute or two as Carol contemplated what Sebastian had just said, not liking it one bit.
“You want Jessica to come live with us?” She asked him incredulously, at last, her tone rigid.“That’s not what I said. She’s the one who asked me, so I said I was going to have to inform you first … which is why I’m asking you now.”“Have you seen how that woman glares at me each time I walk into a room she’s in? She stares at me like she wants to kill me. How do you expect us to live in the same house?”“I told you before that she’s a nice person once you get to know her. She’s just cranky because she’s been confined to a hospital bed all this while.”“Is that so? How come she’s never cranky with you then? Why is she only always cranky with me? Look, I know when someone, especially a woman, doesn’t like me, and I’ll bet my bottom dollar that Jessica doesn’t, not even in the slightest."“Carol, please. She has nowhere else to go. The house isRelated chapters
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At this, Carol rubbed her forehead wearily, resisting the urge to push Jessica outside the room and slam the door shut in her face. “Can we just not do this right now? I’m not feeling too good.” She said instead. “I don’t give a flying fuck about how you feel. I just want you out of my room. I can’t be staying in a smaller room, as though I’m a damn guest in a house that is mine while you are staying in my big comfortable room and in my bed, so if you don’t want any problems, just pack your things and leave now.” “You know what? Fine. I’ll leave the room for you. Can you just stop yelling? I’ve got a massive headache.” Carol conceded, not mentioning that her boobs were really sore too and she kept having this urge to throw up, not that it was any of Jessica’s business, neither would Jessica care.
The Substitute Bride Saga Confronting Sebastian
As the days passed, Carol lived in abject fear, despair, and anger. She was scared of the fact that Sebastian could find out that she was pregnant. The despair was both because of the fact that Jessica was trying to make her life a living hell, and the fact that Carol did not know where she stood with Sebastian, nor was she bold enough to ask. After all, each time she hinted at the end of their marriage, he pretended not to hear her and changed the subject to something else. If that did not hint that he did not want the marriage to continue, then she did not know what else would.Lastly, the anger was because she had caught Sebastian kissing Jessica that night. She had not confronted him about it, and she was not sure she should. The thought of even having to bring up such a subject in the first place was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat. In fact, what she had been actively doing was avoi
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The atmosphere in the house was a tense one. For the first time since Jessica came to the house, they were all eating together at the dining table downstairs. Carol attacked the food on her plate gamely, although everything in her was pushing her to throw up the contents of her stomach. It had been two months, yet she still had not informed Sebastian about the pregnancy, although she had no doubt that she would inform him about it before their marriage ended in less than two months. Jessica kept up a steady stream of chatter, but she was only talking to Sebastian, who kept answering in monotones. The fact that she was only talking to Sebastian was fine by Carol, who was not in the mood to converse, anyway. It seemed that she was not in the mood for a lot of things nowadays.“So, I was thinking. You are both getting a divorce ending of next month, not so?” Jessica asked Sebastian, who focused on his food and mumbled something in reply. Carol’s heart began to beat faster as she wondered
The Substitute Bride Saga Extending her stay
“Carol! What’s going on?” Sebastian asked, rushing over to where Jessica was still lying motionless on the ground. He searched for a pulse, heaving a relieved sigh when he felt a faint one, and lifting her up in his arms while asking a petrified Carol to get one of the drivers. She remained frozen on the spot, staring with wide, scared eyes at Jessica.“I’m sorry … I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to push her, but she kept hitting me and I got angry, so I pushed her. Oh, my God! I killed her, didn’t I? She’s dead and it’s all my fault. I’ve killed someone and I’m going to go to jail. I killed her!” Carol exclaim, still standing where she was while Sebastian was already carrying Jessica out of the garden.“Snap out of it, Carol. She’s not dead. Go get one of the drivers now.” Sebastian yelled at her, immediately propelling her into action. She scrambled past him and the unc
The Substitute Bride Saga Quizzing and telling Sebastian the truth
“Oh,” Carol said, gulping hard.“Yeah.” Sebastian continued, feeling the need to explain further. “I just feel that children need all the love that they can get, so having a father who is not ready to father a child yet might do more harm than good.”“I understand. What if it happens by mistake, though?”“Come on, Carol. I’m too experienced to make such a silly mistake, so I'm sure that I’ll never find myself in such an awkward position.”“Mistakes can happen to anyone though, can’t they? What if you make a mistake and got a woman pregnant? Are you going to want her to keep it?” Carol asked, unable to leave the subject alone, at least not until she got her answer. Sebastian sighed before answering, so she knew that the numerous questions were beginning to get him irritated.“I’m not going to make such a mistake. Besides, why are you asking me all these quest
The Substitute Bride Saga False accusations
At first, Carol wasn’t sure if Sebastian had heard what she said or not, because he kept looking at her without expression and without saying anything. She looked back at him, willing him to say something, anything, but he did not say anything until the silence became unbearable, so she cleared her throat and tried again.“Sebastian, did you hear what I said? I said I’m preg…”“Don’t … don’t say anything else,” Sebastian said tersely, his face still devoid of emotion as he held up a finger to silence her.“O … okay.” Carol gulped, her insides churning and the urge to retch coming over her. She had expected anything else, but what she had not expected in the least was this weird behavior that he was displaying. She sat there in the same weird silence as Sebastian got up and went to the bathroom to take his bath, not knowing what to do, or even understanding any of what was going on. Sebast
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The rain was now pouring down as heavily as though large drums of water were being poured down endlessly from the skies without any respite. No other car was on the road, except for Sebastian’s, probably because of the heavy downpour. The angry downpour and storm matched Sebastian’s mood perfectly. He drove around the cold, gloomy-looking city with angry recklessness, not having any particular destination in mind, but his anger was directed at himself. He was feeling like a piece of shit, and also like the world’s biggest jerk because of the way he had talked to Carol before leaving the house. He had not even bothered to hear her own side of the story but had gone off at her, pouring his anger, frustration, aggression, and guilt on her, when she did not deserve it in the least bit. Carol was one of the nicest people he knew, and deep in his heart, he knew that there was no way that she would have done what he was accusing her of, but he had needed
The Substitute Bride Saga Goodbye, Sebastian
The shock of what had just happened was too much for Carol, who sat still in stunned silence for over ten minutes after Sebastian had left, to bear. There was a ringing sound in her ears, which refused to go even after she shook her head several times to clear them. She had stopped crying, in fact, her tears had been shocked dry due to what just took place. Of course, she had known that there would be more than one outcome when she told him she was pregnant, one of which would be that he would be outraged and tell her he wanted nothing to do with it, or that he would accept it, whether he was happy about it or not. What she had not expected was that he would accuse her of something so horrible, accuse her of deception, and even worse, do what she had been afraid of all along, even when she was not yet pregnant … decide that he no longer wanted anything to do with her. Sebastian, whom she loved so mu
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The sun was shining brightly this morning, and Carol was in lively spirits. It was her vow renewal day. She and Sebastian had opted to just renew their vows, and this time, make them with more meaning. Her joy knew no bounds, and her face radiated with it, as Mrs. James noted with pleasure. “You look very happy, my dear.” Mrs. James stated, cradling a three-month-old baby James in her arms, her face taking on the radiant look that many-a-grandmother had when they had the pleasure of holding their grandkids. “I can say the same about you, aunty. You’re really glowing.” Carol complimented in turn, taking care not to ruin the work of the lady who was doing her makeup. “I know, right? Baby James here has brought such sparkle into our lives. I’m more than thankful that I live close to you guys. I will be able to see as much of this handsome little face as I want.” Mrs. James said, looking down at the baby she carried in her arms. He stared back at her and babbled some meaningless baby wo
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The weeks after Sebastian came to plead with Carol to come back into his life were the sweetest ones of Carol’s life. She had thought that Sebastian was attentive and sweet to her before, but now, she knew that that was an understatement. He treated her like a fragile egg that could break at any time, and Carol was happily soaking up all the attention and affection. She still hadn’t gotten used to the way he just seemed to throw money around, but was more than grateful and touched, when he bought two flashy cars and a huge mansion not too far from them for her father, whom she could tell was very lonely.“I know that you’ll love to be close to your grandchild once he’s born." Sebastian had said as though it was nothing, waving away Donald’s thanks when the latter had broken down in tears, telling him that he did not deserve it. Now, Carol could easily hang out with her father anytime she wanted, and she was so happy about it.Sebastian didn’t work as hard as he did before any longer,
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“Carol.” It was just one word, but that one word was enough to break the stupor she had been in as soon as she saw him.“Sebastian.” She said in turn, standing up to go bring another chair for him to sit down, but in essence, she was trying to buy herself some time to get her breathing under control. He looked so good and smelled so nice that it was all she could do not to throw herself straight into his arms and breathe in his essence as though her very life depended on it. She saw Sebastian’s eyes widen at the small bump under her loose gown, and her hand went to hold it selfconsciously.“It’s growing.” She told him needlessly and then slammed her mouth shut. She sort of felt nervous being in Sebastian’s presence and wished that she had worn a more flattering dress than the one that she had on now, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Sebastian collected the chair from her and brought it over to place it i
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It was a warm, sunny, and bright day, but it was also a slow one. Carol sat in the tiny bookshop in which she had gotten a job the very day she got here, waiting for customers to come in and fighting sleep. She was the only one in the shop, as the owner had dashed off to prepare for her birthday party, leaving Carol all alone in the shop.“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to handle it. Price tags are on every book, so you don’t need to worry about not knowing the prices. If you need anything, my number is pasted on the wall over there, so you can call me. Bye now.” The middle-aged woman had said, sailing out the door before Carol could even say anything else, so here she was, bored beyond measure and counting the seconds as the time ticked slowly by. She had managed to sell two books, but it seemed that the shop did not get any customers, because, for the remainder of the time, she just sat there alone, staring into space … and missing Sebastian,
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Sebastian fought the urge to retch as he observed his surroundings and the woman in front of him. If this was where Carol was staying, then he would drag her home with him today, even if he had to drag her kicking and screaming. He would not have her stay with this woman who did not like her and was clearly very irresponsible.“Hello, Belinda. Sorry to disturb you, but we’re looking for Carol. Is she here?” Mrs. James asked.“How the fuck am I supposed to know where she is, huh? Anyway, what is it to you? Is the contract not supposed to be over? Why are you still looking for her?” Belinda asked suspiciously, and he could see that she was also high on drugs.“Well, um, we had a little altercation, and I haven’t seen her since then, so I was wondering if she was here. Do you perchance, have her number? Her dad is also not answering his calls.”“Look, I don’t have any business
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It was raining cats and dogs once again, exactly as it had been raining on that fateful day when Carol had left him till now. Sebastian was sitting in his aunt’s house, sipping a mug of hot coffee and ignoring everything that she was currently saying. He looked like a shadow of himself, which was not a surprise, considering the fact that most times, all he did was drink and have to deal with a nagging Jessica, who was still in his house, even though he had taken her name off the deed to the house. Because of her, he was hardly ever in his house again, but preferred to stay here at his aunt’s for a better part of the time he was not working himself to death … literally. “Are you even listening to anything I’m saying, Sebastian?” Mrs. James asked, shaking him a little to get his attention.“No, aunt. I can’t say that I am. I’m sorry, but I think I zoned out a little there. What were you saying?” He asked finally. Mrs. James shook her head, reminding him of when he was still a recalcitra
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“Wh…what does he mean by this?” Donald asked at last, after scanning the text message. “Your guess is as good as mine,” Carol replied, rubbing at her face, hardly able to believe the level to which Sebastian was willing to stoop to be cruel to her. If he thought that she was going to just lay low, act like a sheep and allow him to ride all over her, then he had another thing coming. She just couldn’t get the image of that text out of her head. Good morning, Donald. How are you doing? So, have you heard from your daughter yet? I just wanted to let you know that she’s with something of mine. Something invaluable. I don’t know if she told you about it or not, but she’s pregnant with my child and according to the contract that she signed, if such a thing were to happen, then I’ll have full custody of the child. Tell her to come out of wherever
The Substitute Bride Saga Crippling loneliness
“I don’t think that what you are doing makes any sense at all, Carol,” Donald said worriedly, looking at his daughter, who averted her gaze and tried in vain to stop the tears welling up in her expressive blue eyes.“Why do you say that, dad?” Carol asked him, wiping away her tears.“Well, maybe because you’re pregnant and you choose to slave away at doing a regular job instead of taking proper care of yourself.”“A lot of pregnant women work at regular jobs, dad.”“I know that, but not a lot of them have huge lumps of money lying in their bank accounts untouched while they look malnourished. Why are you punishing yourself this way, my dear? I mean, it’s only been one month since you left Sebastian. In that one month, you’ve become almost as thin as that girl Jessica., whom we do not like at all.”At this, Carol burst out laughing despite herself. Her father was acting like a
The Substitute Bride Saga Nowhere to be found
It was with a growing sense of urgency that Sebastian drove away from the hospital, Jessica's insults and curses trailing after him until he could no longer hear them. It was a sad thing indeed that she was now the way she was, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He had offered to help her, but she kept turning down his help at every turn, so there was nothing he could do for her anymore. He could not do the very thing that she wanted, which was to be with her, as he did not love her anymore. He stopped by a flower shop on his way back to the house to get some flowers for Carol, knowing that women loved things like that. Hopefully, she would forgive him, and even if she did not, he would keep trying until she did. He still did not know how she managed to wind up pregnant, if she was taking her pills like she had claimed, but he knew that sometimes, those things were not foolproof, especially if the lady who was taking them fell sick during the period. He remembered that C
