Chapter 7

It took some time for Ivan to process the information she had passed to him.

"You are what?"

"Pregnant. You heard me Ivan. I am pregnant."

Ivan laughed.

"What has that got to do with me? Send him to his father."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Your questions surprise me. Listen, I'm a busy person, okay? Let me rephrase it. Who is the father of that baby?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's your baby, our baby."

Ivan laughed again. This time, it was louder than the former. It was filled with mockery.

"Our baby?" he mimicked.

"Really? When did that happen? When was the last time I had anything with you?"

"Are you accusing me of infidelity right now? How can you say something like that? When you were pounding me hard that evening, you didn't know it will result to this."

"What evening?" Ivan questioned.

"At your grandfather's place."

"Oh! So it was you who drugged me just to hold me down with that baby?"

"Stop being silly, Ivan. How and why will I do something that lowly?"

Ivan looked at her and thought of what to say. He remembered receiving a glass of wine from Katty before he went upstairs. She was likely to be the one.

"Even if I had anything with you, didn't you have the initiative to take some contraceptives? Here you are spewing nonsense like a twelve year old. You are pregnant, so what?"

"Ivan! How...how..."

"Don't Ivan me. This was your sole plan to get me to stay by your side. But let me remind you again. Child or no child, pregnancy or no pregnancy, I will never love you. Get that into your head. I don't want to talk about the paternity of this child. I will let it slide. Get rid of that thing and don't play funny games with me. If this baby is your own way of making me accept you, then you have failed."

Nelly's legs gave way and she fell like a pack of cards. She was very hurt and heartbroken.

"Ivan, you can't say these mean things to me. What did I do wrong? I only came to let you know about your own child."

"You have done everything wrong."

"If you want to get back at me for how I treated you in the past, this isn't the best way. You are going too far, don't do this please. I apologize for those times, I love you, Ivan."

"Love indeed. This is a contract marriage and there isn't any room for those ingenuine emotions of yours. Your mistake is simple. You are not the girl I should love. If you were the girl from seven years ago, I would have loved you very much. You are not her and you will never be her. Stop trying to win my love with your cheap and dirty tricks. Now, get out."

Nelly looked at him, trying hard to suppress her tears and the urge to punch him in the face. He adjusted his tie and sat calmly on his chair.

"Leave now or I will ask the security to throw you out," then he continued his work, ignoring her completely.

Nelly stood up and left the office in shame. She went to the bathroom and re applied her make up. She wouldn't let anyone see her tears.

Ivan's hurtful words echoed in her head like a drum, refusing to be erased.

"Your mistake is simple. You are not the girl I should love. If you were the girl from seven years ago, I would have loved you very much. You are not her and you will never be her. Stop trying to win my love with your cheap and dirty tricks."

What sort of loved did he have for that girl and when did he develop the feelings? If only he knew what she knew.

She sat in her office but she couldn't concentrate. Ivan's comments pierced her heart and shattered it onto pieces. To him, she was a cheap whore looking for acceptance and trying to tie him down with a child.

"Why will you cancel our outing out of the blues and at the dying minute?" Ash asked upon stepping into her living room. He was too offended to even look at her. When she didn't respond, he went closer and realized she was crying silently.

"Nelly! What's the problem?"

"What have I done wrong? Tell me."

"Done wrong? What happened? Is there a problem? Talk to me please."

"I...I..." she broke down in violent sobs.

Ash offered his handkerchief but she refused to take it. He held her close and let her cry to her heart content. When she was done, he waited patiently for her to speak up.

"I'm pregnant."

"Is that a reason to cry? That's good news."

"Sadly, the father doesn't see it that way."

"Wait. Did you have...is Ivan the father?"

"Of course he is. You know I wouldn't cheat on my husband."

"Then why are you crying?"

"He doesn't want the baby. He said I want to hold him with the baby. He even said he might not be the father. Ash, I'm tired. I'm fed up. What do I do? I have tried everything to make him love me to mo avail. I've been married for a year now but I don't feel like it. He doesn't come home, he doesn't call, he doesn't even acknowledge me as his wife. He goes out with other women even to public functions. I know it's a contract marriage, but is it a crime to love him?" She broke down in tears again.

Ash wanted to tell her that she shouldn't have even fallen in love with him. But he didn't want to hurt her further.

"You need to take it easy. At least, for your baby, you will keep this child, won't you?"

"Of course, I will. I won't kill my own child for that bastard."

"Good. Put yourself together and stop crying, please."

"I'm fine. I made a mistake loving him. It only caused me so much pain. I shouldn't have."

"What's your next line of action?"

Nelly paused briefly as if she was reconsidering her decisions.

"Divorce. I want out. I will file for a divorce."