Chapter 3 THE BEGINNING OF A NIGHTMARE.

~Rose

My eyes slowly fluttered open with the rays of the sun which bathed it and forced me to be awake. I glided my hand over the soft mattress and just as I expected, the space beside me was empty and cold. He didn't come back home after we had that argument. This was meant to be our honeymoon, but from the first day of our marriage, everything had gone down the drain.

What was I expecting when I was nothing but a-

I couldn't bring myself to say those words about myself because I didn't know for sure if I was what he described me to be. There was only one other person I could ask and that was my stepmother.

I sluggishly drew myself out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to get ready. After a few minutes, I was done. My choice of clothes was just as gloomy as I was.

A long maxi flowing skirt with overlapping sewn fabric of dull forest green and a cotton body con black long sleeve top. My black-brown hair was worn down in waves. I paired the outfit with jade earrings and accessories, picked up my black shoulder sling leather bag and headed to my Stepmother's mansion.

I was told that she moved to one of my father's resorts to give David and I some time alone for the meantime we were going to be at the mansion.

I was done dressing up and was now staring back at myself in the mirror; this was the right thing to do.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, gathering enough courage before picking up the picture of me and three other strangers in a very crude sexual state and placing it into my bag.

I was going to search for more answers. I got into one of the cars parked in the large garage and drove off to meet my Stepmother.

After a few minutes of driving, I finally got to the resort. It was a big glass house painted white all through with some mahogany brown woods to adorn the polished floor. There was a pool out in the front of the yard. My hills made clicking sounds as I opened the front glass door and walked in.

"Amanda!" I called out to my Stepmother.

The house was awfully quiet and it made me wonder if perhaps the housekeeper who had told me she was here was wrong.

"Amanda!" I called out to her once again and moved a little past the white cushion which was strategically arranged in the lounge area, overlooking the pool at the front. There was a fireplace next to the other sofa beside the one I was standing very close to.

A long spiral staircase which had a steel handrail and glass infills, adding a more elegant and sophisticated look to the entirety of the house, was constructed behind the sofas and led to the rooms upstairs. The white walls gave the mansion an airy feel that exuded comfortability and opulence.

I was about to take a step up the staircase when I heard footsteps,

"Rose?"

I looked to the side of the staircase where an even bigger space was constructed to see Amanda standing there with an almost empty glass of wine in her hand.

Her eyes were wide with shock, "you didn't tell me that you were coming." She said with her usual soothing and sultry voice as she walked into the lounge from the space which seemed to be leading to the back of the family resort.

She wrapped one of her arms around me in a warm short hug and kissed the sides of my cheeks in a form of greeting style, which I reciprocated.

"You seem to have been busy considering the fact that I've been waiting for some time now." I said and flashed her a small smile that didn't reach my eyes in any way.

She looked about the house and held my hand with her free hand and led me to one of the couches where I sat down. She sat down on the couch very close to the fire.

I don't know but it seemed like she didn't want me going further into the house and it made me wonder what she was doing inside the house while I had been outside calling her name.

"Indeed I was." She said simply without saying anything further.

I sighed, a bit hesitant to state the reason for my visit.

"Oh! And I'm so sorry I had to leave very early after your wedding vows had been stated. I had some work to attend to." She said, "as you know, your father's business is not for me to handle. I had to start up my own business that way it won't seem as though I was relying on the money your father worked so hard to make."

She was such a reasonable and sensible woman. She also did the right things, in my own judgement, so I knew she wouldn't lie to me and what that lady said about her at the wedding ceremony must be a lie.

People after all were so used to sticking their noses in matters which are not in any way their concern.

At least she knew to apologise when she was in the wrong and I appreciated that, "it's fine."

"So tell me, what are you doing here? I thought that you and David might be out of the mansion by now, you know, going on some cruise or just travelling around the world, enjoying each other's company as you converse and learn more about yourselves." She said,

The way her voice pitched with enthusiasm was in contrast to how solemn and serious mine sounded. It was a relief she didn't really notice it as I hid it behind the small smiles I flashed at her.

"I actually came to ask you about something."

Her face contorted to one of curiosity, with her brows drawn together and her lips in a quirky pout.

"What's it about?" She asked me.

"My past." I replied.

"Your past?"

I could only nod. The thought of it was making my body curl up in disgust. My present self saw my last self as disgusting. There was nothing in this moment that hurt me more than this.

I tried to speak, I opened my mouth to speak but the words wouldn't leave my lips. It was at the tip of my tongue but saying it was so hard for me because I still found it very hard to believe that I would do such a thing or that I was such a person. It was as though it was hanging on a hook like a fish trapped by one and just dangling from it.

She placed her hand on my shoulder, "are you alright?" She asked me while staring with concern at my now pale face.

Fu*k this!

I reached into my bag and handed her the photographs. My hands were shaking so much that I thought they would fall off before she would take them from me.

"What's-" her words hung in her mouth when she brought out one of the pictures from the brown envelope I had used to package it.

She slowly brought out each picture one after the other. I looked away and blinked back a tear that threatened to drop from my eyes.

"Where did you get this?" She asked.

I turned my head abruptly to her, there was shock on her face. Was he perhaps lying?

"It was David. He had given them to me."

She closed her eyes and placed her hand over her chest whilst she let out tired breaths, "I already told him to let go. It happened so long ago. I didn't think he'd still be bearing grudges."

"What?"

My lips trembled and my heart sank so low in my heart that I could have sworn to have heard it hit the ground in a splash. A chord had broken in my heart. Tears welled up in my eyes and I didn't think I could stop them if they ever began to fall.

Was this really who I was?

"That night you ran out of the house and was reported to have been hospitalized, your father-" she paused and sniffed as tears were beginning to stream down her face, "-his poor heart could not bear it. The state in which you were in, a most devastating one. And so, he had a major heart attack and he-he" she was stammering so much, struggling to say the words.

I stood up abruptly and sniffed, I had heard all I needed to, to confirm what David told me.

I was a terrible daughter and fiancée.

I snatched the pictures from her hand and put them back into my bag in a haphazardly manner, as I felt very uncoordinated and suffocated.

"You don't have to think about it, dear. It's all in the past now. I had hoped David would be able to forget it." She said, her once enthusiastic tone now turned solemn.

"No, you don't need to try to make me feel any better. I was a sl*t who killed her father and now, has ended her marriage before it even began. There's no need to justify what happened on my behalf." I said and sniffed again, "thank you for your honesty."

With that, I stormed out of the house and headed to my car. I wanted to be a changed person so badly now but then will it change any of the bad things I had done in the past?

I opened the car door and turned on the ignition. As soon as my hands gripped the steering wheel, it felt as though a wave of uneasiness hit me and soon my head began to throb.

I had to relax back into my seat and let out slow and calm breaths. I was the one who got myself to the situation. I sent my father six feet in the ground and I was so ungrateful to have forgotten him. How horrible of me?

I grunted and hit my arm against my steering wheel multiple times as I tried to drown my anger but it didn't help. I clenched my lips tightly as I tried to stifle my sobs but even that seemed difficult. I was breaking apart so much I didn't think my parts would ever be able to be repaired ever again if they shattered.

I heard the glass door opening and I looked to the side to see my Stepmother coming out of the house. I didn't want to talk to her anymore so I stepped hard on the accelerator and sped off, making my way back home.

After a few hours, I was back and was tiredly walking up the stairs of the mansion with my back hunched over. My brain was numb and I could feel how sore my eyes were. A small throbbing ache made my crave the softness of my pillow.

But as I thought of my bed, images of me in that crude position flashed into my mind but I shut my eyes to keep the thoughts away.

I walked through the door and passed the lounge. As soon as my hands gripped the handrail of the spiral staircase in the right wing that led to the rooms upstairs, I heard screams- a woman's.

I immediately ran upstairs without hesitation as a sudden burst of energy surged through my body. I got to the corridor and headed straight to the door where I heard the sound, the voice of whom seemed familiar.

I placed my hand over the knob and pushed the door open with furrowed brows but then I saw David, his pants down on the floor, the woman's smooth legs, raised above her head as she moaned in ecstasy while he dug himself into her continuously also letting out soft yet labored moans. It was that same woman from the wedding ceremony I had caught him with.

My hand dropped from my hand and their attention both shifted to me. This was the second time David was cheating on me so brazenly.

I turned around and stormed out and made my way back down the stairs as I couldn't stand there anymore.

I heard his footsteps as he followed me till I got to the lower part of the stairs when he held me by my arm and spun me around to face him. I didn't want to cry but then the tears were falling from my eyes uncontrollably.

"Where are you headed and where are you coming from?" He asked me, more like he demanded from me.

I scoffed, a sharp pain slicing through my chest at the fact that he didn't care that I just caught him cheating on me for a second time only a day after we had stated our vows.

"I asked a question." He yelled.

"I want a divorce." I said to him, ignoring his question.

He scoffed and then let out a laugh, like I was joking with what I said to him.

"Really?"

I said nothing in response.

He got down the stairs and stood directly in front of me, "look sweetie, as much as I hate to break it to you, we won't be getting a divorce. I won't be letting that happen and as for this?"

He gestured to his bare top body which was dripping with sweat, "this is only just the beginning. I'll make sure you have a taste of the nightmare you put me through." He said so callously without a tinge of remorse or any emotions whatsoever in his voice.

His eyes roamed over my body, then he let out a sadistic smirk before walking back up the stairs unapologetically.

My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. What have I done?