Chapter 2 Unwanted

~Ariela~

"Ariela, you are not needed in this space; you're practically hovering around us like a leech. Save us from all this and sign this paper," Alfred growled.

The blade already twisted in my heart drives deeper, this time sucking up airs in my lungs.

I could see him taking satisfaction in my pain.

With the last bit of strength I had, I stood upright, looking straight at his cold face. I asked, "Is this really what you want, Alfred! To toss our relationship, family, and marriage just like that, because of her rights? It's because of Loela, right?"

"Leave her out of this, Ariela. At Least she is ten times better than you, and for your information, this is what I want, what Daniel wants. We need space, Ariela! You've been sucking up air in our lives lately, " he growled with so much disdain.

"Sucking up air, How? Alfred."

"Look, Ariela, we both know this isn't working. The best you could do for us, for Daniel, you claim you love is this. Let us be!"

Tears welled up in my eyes, threatened to spew, but I held them back. I refuse to break down before him. I have been tortured enough.

"Fine! I will give you what you want: air, space, and more," I took a pen from the table and signed the divorce paper without a second glance at Alfred. I stormed out of his sitting room.

The moment I stepped out of his presence, the weight of everything came crashing down on me. The realization that the love I had poured into this marriage, the hopes I held nurturing the family, had all been in vain.

I let the tears flow, releasing the pent-up emotions as I walked out of the house.

I had no idea where I was heading to but I needed to move out of this space. The whole house was already suffocating, sucking up air in my lungs.

Each step I took felt heavier than the last, but I kept walking, trying to escape from this wall of misery, pain, and loneliness.

I glanced at my wristwatch; it was already late at night, and a pang of fear gripped me, but I wasn't going back. After what felt like forever, I caught sight of a cab.

Without wasting time, I flagged it down and gave the driver my directions before hopping in.

The only place on my mind was my mother's place. I couldn't imagine her seeing me this broken, knowing full well that I've failed in building a home.

She did warn me severely about Alfred, about abandoning my career for man, but I was too adamant, too naive to see through her words.

I was like a prodigal daughter running back to her mother.

The screeching wheel of the car snapped me out of my thoughts.

I paid the cab man with the last cash I had before proceeding to the doorstep.

The owl's hoot echoes through the darkness of the night, igniting fear within my heart.

I briefly knocked on the door, and it cracked open, revealing the face of my mother, who had rushed to open it the moment she heard my voice.

Her face was etched with sympathy, pain, and anger for how miserable I looked.

She immediately pulled me into a hug.

Finding solace in her embrace, I sobbed bitterly, for turning a deaf ear to her advice, for ignoring the warning, the red flag she was pointing out to me.

Tears pour!

"Ariela, it's fine. Stop crying, you're hurting yourself," she consoled, stroking my back gently with her palm.

"Mother, I failed, I failed to listen to you, I failed to build my home. He called me a failure," I sobbed loudly, overwhelmed by the harsh reality of my life.

"No, you did not. They failed, they failed to see through you, my child."

Her words hit the most sensitive part of my heart, the tears kept flowing ceaselessly.

She slowly disengaged from our embrace and looked straight into my puffy red eyes,

"Ariela, get hold of yourself, stop grieving over someone who doesn't know your worth; he failed to see through you for once, and woe to him, he lost a precious jewel, he never will see."

My mother's words hit gently like a splash of ice water, melting away my guilt, my pain, and sadness. Her words magically began to form a layer of flesh around my punctured heart, healing and mending the broken pieces of it. For once in six years, something in me began to build up, it felt like I was molded back to myself.

And with that, I wiped away the tears stinging my face, I refuse to shed any more tears for those who did not value me. They underestimated me, but I will prove them wrong. With a gritted jaw and clenched fist, I made a self-resolution to be a better me, a woman everybody wishes for as a mother and a wife.