Camilla marched into her husband's office; she held a tiny box that contained her pregnancy confirmation test results.
It was their three-year anniversary since they had gotten married.
It was not a happy marriage, but she knew with what she was going to tell him, things might change for the better.
"Baby, you are a blessing to me. I hope your dad will be happy to hear this wonderful news." She mumbled,rubbing her stomach roundly and grinned slightly.
Her husband Sebastien was really cold and heartless towards her. Her marriage has been nothing but hell, and despite all that, she did everything to make it work.
"Excuse me, madam, where are you heading to?" Xenia, her husband's personal assistant, stopped her by the door.
She pushed Camilla before she could grab the handle of the Sebastien office door.
"I am going to see the boss; I have something important to say to him." Camilla said as she glanced at the box in her hands. She held it as though it were an egg.
"Do you have any appointments with the boss? Were you invited by him? Shameless woman that always throws herself at the boss." Xenia sneered. hatred dripped in her voice as she glared at Camilla.
Camilla was a small staff, but still she hated her.
"You can call your boss to confirm."
She said calmly, not wanting to ruin her happy moment by paying no attention to what Xenia said.
She was really a calm woman, and she didn't blame Xenia for how she treated her.
Camilla could be annoying sometimes because she behaves dumb most of the time, but she was a naive lady.
It was not really her fault. But she was hoping that they would come to realize who she truly is.
Xenia was a top staff member on the top floor, while she was just a small staff member on the down floor. In Camilla's own husband's office.
"Who sent the gift to him?" Xenia asked,her eyes fixated on the box Camilla was holding.
"His wife maybe." Camilla said and let out a sly smile.
"Ohh, the lady he is going to pick up at the airport today! I see." Xenia pouted.
"Airport? Lady?" Camilla asked, with a confused look.
Xenia gave her a deadly glare, not giving a response to the question she asked.
So painful and pitiful, even his personal assistant didn't know Camilla was Sebastian's wife.
"Sir, Camilla has a package to deliver to you; should I let her in?" Xenia spoke to Redford with the telephone on her desk.
"Let her in." Redford said as he ended the call.
"You can go in now." Xenia said to Camilla and gave her a deadly and hateful gaze.
"Okay, thanks." She said not minding how rude and inhumane Xenia was acting towards her.
She was used to it even from her husband, family, Xenia, and most of her colleagues.
With fear and happiness mixed in her mood, she took a ragged, deep breath as she walked into his office.
"What are you doing here? Redford asked as though she was nobody, his finger still on his keyboard without looking at her for a second.
"Good morning, my lovely husband." She said, smiling, not paying attention to his harsh words.
She believed his mind that had been frozen towards her for the past years would melt to a liquid state after she shared what she had to say.
"Keep your greetings to yourself, woman; I asked what you are doing here!" He yelled as he stood up.
Sebastien's icy gaze, chiseled features, and polished suits exuded detachment, his thin lips pressed together in a perpetual scowl as he glared at her in disgust.
He was supposed to be happy, but why was he furious?
Her lips parted, but no word came out. The box was already slipping off her hands.
"It is our marriage's third anniversary as husband and wife, so I brought a gift for the love we shared." She found herself speaking bullshit.
She knew her marriage was nothing but hell all these years, but she was willing to bet that everything would be fine.
"What am I supposed to do with the gift?" He asked her, and those words made her pupils dilate as she stared at her husband in disbelief. Her stomach knitted, but she managed to swallow the lump in her throat.
"This isn't just a gift, Seb. Aren't we supposed to be celebrating?" She avoided his gaze as she absorbed what he had just asked.
"Gift?" He repeated and laughed out mockingly as he scowled, giving her a piercing gaze that could be able to pierce her skin if it happened to be a knife.
Her heart skipped; he looks handsome even in his furious state, his Turkish suit making him look more handsome and professional.
She had been married to Sebastien for more than three years now, and he had always seen and treated her as trash. He only loves her when it is time for his sexual desires.
What a pervert!
"I have something important I want to share with you. It is very important." She said she did not want to keep the news to herself, not even for a second.
"Say what you have to say now! As you can see, I was really busy when you came in." He roared his voice loud enough to make her pee on her pants.
"I wanted..."
"Before you say anything, I will also like to tell you something too." He chipped in before she could complete her statement.
He bent down and drew out his locker, bringing out a neat brown envelope.
'Awwwn! Maybe he had finally wanted to give me a gift or even a promotion as our third anniversary gift.' She thought in her head as she smiled widely; her nerves calmed down instantly.
This was actually the first time he was going to be giving her a gift since they got married.
"Hey, I am very happy to handover this envelope to you. It had been long that I had been anticipating and waiting for this day to come, and I am happy it came." He paused and was happy with the way she was smiling, but the shock in her eyes could be seen.
"This is a gift for our third marriage anniversary; find it in your heart to accept it; no matter how it is, it is for our happiness." He said it emotionally, and his aura made her want to hug him so tightly.
This was indeed the first time he sounded so calm, sweet, and romantic to her since they got married.
Camilla blushed throughout his speech and accepted the envelope.
"I am so happy that finally my husband spoke this way. I will accept any gift wholeheartedly for our love."
What? This man was furious and was barking a few minutes ago, and now he is calm and so sweet?
She quietly opened the envelope, her heart racing in good anticipation to see what her husband had given her as their anniversary gift.
"D_ivorce! She whispered in a breaking hurry tone immediately she opened the file; she wasn't sure she was seeing the right things because her eyes were blurry, and she tried to scratch it a little bit, and then the realization hit her that her husband gave her a divorce paper.
She couldn't even believe it, even as she held the paper.
"Yes divorce! I am freaking damn tired of this marriage and would be getting married to the woman I really love. Sign those papers, and you will be compensated." He said his tone devoid of an atom of emotion.
Her eyes were already pouring down tears; her stomach knitted in pain. "What did I ever do? I have been trying to make this marriage work."
Sebastien cut her statement short: "Your father had wanted to use the fact that I slept with you to blackmail me; that was the reason I decided to take you in, and then my father was about to hand over this company to me, and I had to too. I never wanted to marry a stranger, you know."
"I also didn't want to marry a stranger; you are not the only one in this mess." Camilla scoffed, her head banging.
"Don't talk rubbish to my face; you drugged my drink that night, and I know it. Don't play dumb." Sebastian sneered.
"I swear I was also drugged that night at your father's mansion. Please understand this." Camilla cried, trying to prove her innocence.
Camilla had gone to a birthday party at Sebastien's fathom mansion and woke up the next morning to see herself on his bed.
She didn't know how it happened, but she was sure someone drugged her.
"Your father also used this to gain more popularity and connection; now that he has gotten enough of that, there is no need for this marriage anymore. I have someone I have vowed to marry and would be picked on at the airport today. So, bye, dear wife." Sebastien said his voice was hard and steady.
"I can un-understand...""And also one more last thing." He said cutting her short. "You are fired!
"Hold on, little cutie! Mommy will try her best to take care of you. I will do everything to protect you." Camilla said as she rubbed her stomach.
This is not how she thought things would go. But maybe they weren't meant for each other.
Somehow, when she got the news that she was pregnant, she was the happiest person on earth. Little did she know she was about to be unfortunate.
Not only did she lose her husband, Sebastien Anndragon, but she also lost her job and health insurance. In just three hours
She had remembered the manager's apologetic smile when she had signed her termination papers.
"Can I at least keep the assurance for another six months?" She pleaded with the aged woman.
She shook her head and gave a sad smile. "It's the company policy, sweetie; once you are terminated, all benefits, including your insurance, tend to cease."
"But I was fired without a reason." Camilla protested; she couldn't help but imagine the loath her ex-husband has for her.
"That is why you are getting a two-month payment." She counters, if not, there is nothing for you.
The two months' payment won't be enough for her hospital bills, feeding, clothing, medications, and some other things, and now she has something growing inside of her.
But there was nothing she could do. "I shall find a job soon," she thought in her head.
A few minutes later, when she arrived at the big mansion where she and her husband Sebastien Anndragon lived, she was at the gate when the fifty-five-year-old butler stopped her before she could enter the entrance.
"I am sorry, ma'am, but you aren't permitted to go in." The man said she could feel the pity in his red eyes.
Camilla was furious; she didn't have to ask him; she knew her ex-husband was behind this shit. But she had no option.
"This is how far you can go. I have been told to pack your belongings, and they are all in the car. I am just abiding by instructions." He pouted, and she could sense empathy in his voice.
"That's okay. You don't have to bother about that." She said and held her chin high, plastering a fake smile on her pale face.
"You have always been good to me, and that I will never forget." Camilla said, and the old man stretched his hands and pulled her into a hug.
After breaking from the hug, she was about to leave. "Can I accompany you to the car?" Camilla held her tears from falling and stretched out her hands for him to see her off.
She was going out of the house with just herself and a little belonging that would lead her to the next stage of life.
As the car drove away, she couldn't help but recall what had just happened hours ago. Her husband had left her with his unborn baby. As she thought of this, her heart shattered into trillion pieces.
"Sorry, my little cupcake, I can't hold this pain anymore, but I promise to give you the best life." She said as she pictured the child in her womb.
It was Sebastien's own flesh and blood, but he had denied the child from living in that grand mansion.
Even though her husband wasn't ready to hear about it now, she was very sure that he would be aware in the future.
Now, all this makes sense. Now she understood what Xenia had said earlier in the morning. He has a childhood sweetie that he was going to pick up at the airport.
"He was already cheating on me before filing the divorce paper? But with whom?" She couldn't help but imagine.
Sebastien's husband was cold and ruthless, but he wasn't a complete monster; she could remember times in the marriage when he tried to make this work.
Then suddenly she remembered this mantra he always said. "You see, when I was growing up, I vowed to marry someone...
"Aarrgghh!" Immediately she thought of this, her head bang, and she felt a sharp pain in the lower abdomen and immediately grabbed the exact place as she screamed I pain.
Does her child also feel her heartbreak?
He is in love with someone else, and that was why, even though she had tried to be a perfect wife to her husband, it proved abortive.
"He must have been secretly loathing me because he thought I robbed him of his future wife and his childhood sweetie." She thought and used her tower to wipe her tears. She had cried enough for the day.
Just then the car caught brake, and it stood motionlessly on the road. This made her realize she was in her father's house, as the environment still looks familiar, and the air was so memorable as she sniffed them in.
This house brings back so many memories of her childhood days, and this made her smile widely.
"Perhaps Sebastien did me a good thing by sending me back to my father's house." She mumbled incoherently.
There was a time when the house was a picture of good memories.
It was a grand wooden mansion that boasted intricate carvings of leaves, vines, and flowers, its ornate facade gleaming.
She once lived here for years, and the house reminded her so much about her mother.
"Ma'am, should I bring your box inside?" The butler asked.
"No, it is fine; I will take it from here." She said and took the black suitcase from him.
Immediately the driver left; she took her keys and was about to open the door when she found out it was unlocked.
"Huhh, did someone break into this place?" She mumbled to herself, asking no one in particular.
pushing the door slightly, careful not to make any sound; this was because her heart was panicking relentlessly.
She strode in, and she found out the lights were on, glimmering every corner of the room and giving it a unique look.
"Damn! Fuck! Someone is in here." She said as fear creeped in her chest.
She knew she was in danger and had to call the cops, but her legs kept moving into the house as though they were scared of nothing.
She grabbed the dusty doorknobs that lead to the corridor; only then did she hear a familiar voice coming from the living room that made her halt instantly.
"Sebastien, love, I spoke to my lawyer, and he clearly said the house is still in her name. I thought we agreed it was going to be mine! "How dare she?." This familiar voice uttered, and Camilla halted to trace where the voice had come from.
When she used her eyes to scan, she peeped and saw it was no other person than her stepsister. At first, her heart skipped, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
Camilla's father, who is an architect, rebuilt this house for her mother before she died.
It belonged to her mother, and this was only the property that was left for her and nothing more.
"Why is this bitch claiming to be the owner of the house?" Camilla fummed.
"Alright love I trust you and know what you can do; take care of yourself. Love You!."
What the heck?
This was when reality hit her like a heavy hammer. This is the woman the husband was going to pick up at the airport? She was the reason why he is divorcing her?
The reason why her baby won't live with a father?
Just as she was about to digest what she had just heard, the key she used in opening the door slipped from her hands.
The woman who was on the phone must have heard the noise as she flipped her head and looked at her.
She gave Camilla a proud smirk and a deadly gaze; not even ashamed, Camilla heard her conversation with her husband.
"Huh, well. I am surprised to see who I have here," she chuckled. "Happy to see me again, my dear frustrated step sister? The woman said...
My head echoed with past memories:
"Mummy Camilla took my toy."
"Mommy Camilla ate my food after beating me."
"Daddy, why did Camilla hate me so much?"
"Daddy Camilla won't let me touch her toys."
Camilla stood there as she recalled what her stepmother had made her go through since she was a child who had lost her mother to death.
The voice still echoes in her head, something that had happened years ago.
She was taken care of by her stepmother; sorry, I meant she was being maltreated and treated like a maid by her stepsister, mother, and even her dad.
Her stepsister Morgan made her father hate her. Not only did she do minor things to Camilla.
She went ahead, loving any young man that was interested in Camilla.
It got to some extent when they didn't fight for material possible, but affection and attention of a guy as though Camilla was undateable and now her husband?
Damn Bullshit!
"Were you talking to Sebastien just now? Camilla questioned, almost stuttering as she talked.
She was not really giving meaning to what she had heard at first.
"Ohh, you heard that, huh? Morgan asked, and her lips curled into a smirk. Well, I guess there is no point keeping this a secret since you already have a hint in your head.
"Yes, I was just talking to Sebastien, the love of my life, and yes, you can take a look at this." Morgan said and displayed her left hand for Camilla to see.
It was a beautiful, expensive diamond ring and had a unique rock in the center.
"Do you agree that this ring is a perfect one for the future, Mrs. Sebastian Anndragon?" Morgan asked as she strode her finger on her hair and was still shaking her hands for Camilla to see.
Camilla gasped for air; she was suffocating. She couldn't absorb what was going on.
It was an expensive ring? He got a ring for her? Something he never did for her.
Her heart shattered into a trillion pieces; she had been with him for years, and he didn't get her one.
But had she gotten a ring for her stepsister?
"Awwwn, what a poor thing. I guess you are shocked, right? Do you think a handsome and wealthy man would settle for a fat pig like you?" Morgan asked; she was so proud of herself.
"How long has this... been happening?" Camilla finds herself asking, her head spinning awkwardly.
"My sweetest, this had been happening for so long. You were just used by him to pass time till I got back." Morgan said and allowed Camilla to digest it.
"Sebastien has always loved me since we were kids, and you took him away from me, right? You are a gold digger! You know, with all the seduction and charm you have used on him, he still doesn't love you and never will."
Camilla boils as she hears Morgan talk shit to her face. This stepsister of hers was indeed shameless. She couldn't understand the audacity she had.
"That is not true." Camilla sneered as tears streamed down her eyes. "We are building a family. We were building a family before, and now you came to the picture? I know he will stay with our small family if he finds out." Camilla pouted with teary eyes.
"Family!" Morgan hissed "What are you talking about?
Camilla raised her eyebrows and didn't give a damn answer to her, but she can see Morgan gazing at her stomach.
"We would be welcoming Sebastien blood."
"A child?" Morgan sneered with disgust in her voice.
"Yes, a child! my dear step sister. Surprised?"
"Sebastian can't father a bastard, so you better go and find out who is responsible for that thing in there." Morgan said and took a step forward.
"I am sure you know he might rethink the divorce when he finds out about the pregnancy." Camilla said she was happy to see the defeat in Morgan's eyes.
"No fucking way is that bastard Sebastian's." Morgan said, shaking her head rapidly.
"This child belongs to Sebastien, and there is nothing that can change that." Camilla taunted.
"I see, you are nothing but a slut! Just like your mother." Morgan snapped, shutting daggers at Camilla.
"I won't watch you insult my mother and my baby. That is a hell no! So watch your stinky tongues."
Morgan hummed.
"If not what?" Morgan asked violently.
"What are you scared of, Morgan? That this little seed of mine will change everything, and Sebastien will take me back as his loving wife?
Morgan took a step closer. "How can a bastard change everything, huh?"
What the fuck, this woman's audacity and cruelty! She just called her growing baby a bastard?
Camilla boiled with anger as she bawled her fists into a ball, not wanting to do what her instinct wanted. She tried to compose herself.
But still, Morgan repeated her statement. "BASTARD BABY with a SLUT mother."
Camilla pushed her arms away, gave her a backwards push, and Morgan stumbled, her eyes filled with frustration, and she groaned loudly.
She screamed and knocked off the gas lamb on top of the table and threw a flower vase that was on the table at Camilla.
"Bastard!" Morgan screamed.
Acting with emergency hormones, she dodged the flower vase thrown at her, and unfortunately, she felt so hard on the floor.
As she held her stomach, screaming in pain, just then she sighted blood gushing out of her thighs. She looked down and saw herself seated in a pool of blood.
Just when she lifted her head, she saw her stepmother looming over her triumphantly; the smile on her face was palpable.
"Noo, my baby!" Camilla cried out in pain and fear.
Suddenly she was feeling hot; only then did she realize that the house had escalated to a fire. Her mother's house was booming with hot flames.
Camillawas lying on the floor; she couldn't even call Morgan to come help her because it was impossible.
Her head was bland; she tried to figure out what to do next, but her head felt empty.
The fire was developing so fast that she would be trapped soon if nothing was done.
"Help me, please!" She screamed, and Morgan laughed out loud.
Just then, an idea struck her head. She hurriedly stretched her hands to her bag, brought out her mobile, and dialed Sebastien's number.
She had to call him. "His baby is in danger, and he needs to save us." She thought.
Just after the fifth ring without Sebastien picking up, all her hope was gone.
Just as she was about to give up and prayed her last prayer, realization hit her on how stupid she was.
She was supposed to call an emergency and not a man that dumped her.
Immediately she was about to dial the emergency number; Morgan kicked her mobile out of her hand, and it fled so far.
She lost conscientiousness. But before she knew it, she heard a familiar voice.
"Camilla! Camilla woke up." The person called her name with a crying tone. She opened her eyes and found and was shocked to see Sebastien.
This was indeed the first time he had ever shown concern. The first time she had seen his eyes so warm with care.
Her mouth parted, but nothing came out. Just then she noticed the fire had gone down gradually, something that almost turned her to ashes.
"I will take you to the hospital now." Sebastien said and was about to lift her up when Morgan screamed out loud.
"Baby, I am hurt! Arggg... " Sebastien, without double thought, ran to Morgan and carried her in his arms.
He then signals the driver that had come with him to carry Camilla out.
Camilla wasn't shocked, but she felt as though the fire had caught up with her with just that single act portrayed by a man she called her husband.
That was when she realized that Sebastien really didn't love her. He had chosen Morgan over her.
Now she had to forget him. It was hard, but she will try to, and just then she lost consciousness.