My Ex wife is back again

Susie checked the time on her platinum wristwatch. He is late. Again. The kettle chimed, she wore her kitchen gloves, and removed the kettle and started pouring the water in it into little childish plastic cups with Spiderman logo on it. She added chocolate by the side and some sweets to compliment everything. Perfect. She decided to relax on the stool in her large kitchen furnished with exotic drinks, kid toys on one side of the kitchen, expensive plates and cups arranged neatly in cabinets. The walls were painted white with the tiles and table white also.

The style of the kitchen showed how impeccable Susie's taste of fashion was. Her phone beeped and she checked the message,

My sweet husband: "I have an urgent work to do, I'll be late again. Wish James a happy birthday for me."

She sighed. A young boy rushed in, holding a toy dinosaur in his hand. His face was covered with chocolate, his birthday suit turning from white to brown,

" Mommy come and play with us." Susie smiled and kissed his forehead, the boy looked around as if he is looking for something, a frown then came on his face,

" Mom, what about Daddy? Isn't he coming too?" She paused. Her lips twitched as she thought of a lie to say to him,

" Well actually James, your dad has lots of work to do so he might not be able to to...."

" it's okay mom. " James said, feeling a bit happy, Susie was confused.

" Dad is never around anyway, even my first birthday, my second birthday, my third..."

"Yes, I know." Susie said.

" So I don't expect him to be around for my sixth birthday anyway." James said, silently playing with his toy. Susie pondered on what her son just said. He didn't feel sad at all. She shook the thought from her mind and carried the tray of hot cocoa and chocolate she had prepared for the children and turned to him,

" Come on birthday boy, let's go and have some fun."

Ms. Penelope sniffed the air," Ah, the smell of youth." She sat beside Susie in the parent section as she swatched as the children were busy playing with each other, building sandcastles, swimming in the pool and munching on sweets. It was a beach themed birthday party and the parents were given a hammock each to relax in while receiving a massage,

" How I wish I married your husband Susie, I would be enjoying like how you are." She moaned as her back was being massaged. Susie smiled at that statement," I pray you don't Elsa. Everyday we become more distant from each other as his job requires him to travel a lot." She said. She then remembered what her son had said. Elsa looked at her and sighed," He's not coming today, is he?"

" No." Susie said.She gestured the waiters to leave while Elsa and her werw left alone.

" I haven't spoken to him for over a month now. He doesn't even pick my calls or call back."

Susie sat up, feeling more relaxed as before, her voice still feeling stressed.

" Do you think...he has someone outside...."

" No way Susie." Elsa shot back. She looked more serious and annoyed.

" Don't think like that please, be positive." Just then, Susie's phone beeped. She picked it up and saw a video sent from an unknown number:

" I think you should see this." She clicked on it...

The air in the room was thick-silent just moments before now it was lively. She gasped in shock as she watched the video play. Elsa, noticed the expression in her friends face,

" What is it." Susie showed her the video, tears in her eyes....

------

Later in the evening:

A knock came on the door and a tall handsome British man walked in, wearing a black custom made suit with expensive shoes. Judging from his appearance, had a long day.

He leaned towards Susie, his cheek faced towards her, expecting a kiss, but nothing happened. Thinking that she must be in a bad mood, he left her and went to the bedroom to have a shower. He came out, with the towel covering only the lower side of his body, his muscles showing;

"You missed your son's birthday today ." Susie said. The inside of her body was biloiling hot and she wanted to let out all the anger at that moment.

" I was busy, so I sent you a text." He said while wearing his nightgown.

" A text?! Jonathan can you even hear yourself? I called you several times.You never talk to me!" Susie's voice sliced through the quiet, raw and sharp. "All you care about is yourself. Your job, your friends, your damn phone-I'm just background noise!"

Jonathan stepped forward, his eyes narrowed, fists clenched at his sides. "That's rich coming from you! You twist everything I say. God forbid I breathe without you finding a way to be offended."

She scoffed, bitterly. "Because everything you say is cruel, Jonathan. You ignore me, make me feel like I'm losing my mind. I see it now."

"Oh, here we go," he snapped. "The victim act. Again. Maybe if you weren't so obsessed with control, we'd actually be happy!"

Susie's voice cracked as she shouted, "Control? You mean begging for basic respect is control? I gave up so much for this relationship, my life, my family, God damn it Jonathan i quit my job for this marriage, what did you give up, Jonathan? What did you ever give up?"

The words hung in the room like smoke after a fire, choking and irreversible.

He looked away for a moment, jaw tight, before whispering, "Maybe this was a mistake."

Silence followed. Not peaceful-just the kind that happens when two people realize something might be broken beyond repair.

"What mistake?" Susie said almost aback. She was expecting this, his behavior after marriage have been nothing less than toxic. She dreaded the day that the divorce papers will be signed so that she can live her own life, with her son, free from bondage.

" Getting married to you." Jonathan paused, then stared at her, their eyes met,

" You are the greatest mistake I ever made." Susie was almost in tears,but she still maintained her ground, although feeling a bit weak,

" ... Did you realize this before or after you slept with her...." Her words we're stopped by a slap in the face from Jonathan. She staggered, trying to regain herself, she clutched her swollen cheek and with teary eyes, faced him. His face changed to red, veins appearing on his face, but Ausoe didn't stop.

" You slept with my sister , Jonathan. You betrayed me." She said with bitterness in her heart. Her heart was beating faster than usual.

" How dare you." He dragged her from her hair and tossed her to the other side of the room. Susie screamed for help but that's when he carried a bottle and hit it on her head. She fell to the ground, but Jonathan dragged her up, her body feeling almost lifeless, and tried to strangle her.

" Jonathan stop!" Susie screamed.

" Daddy no...." The voice of a traumatized young boy, James, her son echoed through her ears.

There was blood everywhere...on Susie. She staggered backwards, hands shaking, as she looked at her chest, blood spilling out, staining the once blue ball gown. Jonathan, later realising what he had done, ran away,and dropped the knife. He left Susie in pain and her son, James in sorrow. Susie just couldn't believe it, as she lay downtown her back, hands still grasping the wounded area, she reasoned why she had fallen in love with such a man, she wished she had the

chance to start all over again. She started coughing out blood; her son, James rushed to her with a pack of tissue from the bathroom and started using it to clean the blood,

" Don't worry mom, you'll be fine. I just need to put all your blood back right?!..." James said, tears in his eyes. She couldn't speak anymore, she was already becoming weak, but trying to still keep her eyes open. She grasped her son and kept his two little hands in her hers and kissed it;

" Mommy's going to be fine okay?" She said, until she closed her eyes. She could feel someone shaking her body and a childish voice saying " Don't go mom...no...Help! Somebody help!...." The echoes of that voice kept on going until she heard the sound of a siren....

Susie floated in a space where time meant nothing.No watches, no pain, no sorrow. She felt like something left her. A heavy burden. She saw flashes of what happened before; the sound of shattered glass, siren, a child's cry all long gone. All the memories of her life played out one by one like a movie scene until...it let go.

Loud thunder claps followed by lightning shook Susie from her long sleep. She looked around and tried to remember where she was.She looked and saw some syringes on a table beside her. That explains it. She was at a hospital. She heard some footsteps and lay back down, pretending to be asleep.

"Good morning ma'am." The voice sounded warm and friendly. Slowly, she opened her eyes showing a sign of someone that just woke up.

" How are you feeling now?" The kind man said. He wore a red shirt with black pants and black shoes. Ge wore a white cloak with a tag hung in it that said,'Dr.Bruce', apparently he is the doctor.

"I feel fine doctor." Susie tried to sit up but something like a sharp needle pricked her abdomen;

"You still need some time to rest ma'am, and we need to contact your family."

That statement made Susie's heart skip. Had her parents not come to see her?, did her husband hide what happened? She groaned as she sat up from the bed, eyes swollen;

" What do you mean doctor. No one came for me."

"No."

Susie hesitated. Not because she couldn't, but because for the very first time in her life, no one was expecting her. No one was in the waiting room, no husband pacing about or mother-in-law poisoning her husband's mind. She was alone.

"The police will be hear soon so that we can reach out to your family, Jennie."

That last word made Susie's heart skip. Jennie?

"Did you just call me Jennie?"

Dr. Bruce looked puzzled but he assumed that she had lost your memory so he explained;

" Well, yes. Actually you were admitted two days ago but you have a serious head injury so you might not remember anything. " Susie blinked. Slowly. The doctor didn't notice.

"So your true identity is Miss Jennie Oliver." He reached for his pocket and brought out some old photos, and a birth certificate.

"We found this in your car after the accident."

Susie grabbed them as if they were money. She wanted to know what is really going on. In the photos was the picture of a teenage girl in the 90s. She wore a baggy sweatshirt with shorts and posed with a 'peace' sign made with her hands. She seemed pretty happy even though she looked like someone who worked on the farm, but something about her looked familiar. Susie looked closer into the picture, her eyes popped. She turned it upside down. This can't be. The teenage girl looked almost like her...but younger....

Dr.Bruce did some checkup and left. Susie jumped out of the bed, still feeling some pains, looked for some clothes. She wanted to escape. She found an old sweatshirt and a long skirt with worn out sneakers. This will do just fine. She opened the door slowly, making sure not to get seen. She quietly passed two rooms until she froze. She heard a familiar voice and peeped through a door hole to see;

"You mean that she is dead." A familiar voice said. That was Jonathan. His voice made her remember the incident, she blinked some tears away;

"I am so sorry sir." De. Bruce said. Susie heard some silent sobs. Why would he cry when he killed me. She bit her lip and thought of the numerous lies that he had told her family and wished that she could just go there and...

" Mommy, please wake up...." Her world shattered. Her sweet child;

" Mommy. Don't leave me... please." James bgan to cry. Susie sobbed quietly from outside the door. She couldn't just enter there and claim to be alive. Not when she was already dead.

" Leave Mommy to rest okay dear." Elena assured him. James looked away and sobbed silently in her arms. Susie turned away and started running. She didn't know where she was going. She just ran.

She rested a bit just few blocks away from the hospital. She looked around. No one was there. Alone again. She screamed for about five minutes to relieve all the stress. She wanted to go crazy. She was alive, but was dead? She tried to fix the puzzles together. She was someonelse but was still herself.

No record.

She could just vanish. Live a new life. Become a musician or a ballerina. A smile slowly crept out of her mouth but disappeared. She couldn't just disappear like that, not when her son is still alive. The thought of the torture that he could be facing made her eager to go back to her toxic and tragedic relationship. She needed a way to see her son again.But how. She rested on a rock nearby and pondered on what to do. A poster flew straight up to her face, bored, she looked at it. An idea popped up in her mind.

The late afternoon sun slanted through the windows of the white-columned Georgian house, casting golden light across the polished hardwood floor. Susie squinted her eyes; the house had changed since she'd last been inside - new curtains, new rugs, a vase of roses she knew he would never have chosen by himself. She turned to her left and saw a picture of a woman in a red dress smiling so confidently; apparently that would be the woman he used to cheat on her, but Susie wasn't here to admire décor or to drag husband with anyone.She was here for her son.

Dressed in a neat pink skirt, a prim white blouse buttoned to her throat, and wire-rimmed glasses that dulled the fire in her blue eyes, Susie looked every inch the proper English nanny. Her usually free, dark curls were pinned into a tight bun. No trace of the woman who once lived in this house remained in her reflection - except in her eyes, which never stopped searching, calculating.

She had rehearsed this role a hundred times. Her name was Miss Jennie Oliver now, with a calm, clipped accent borrowed from BBC dramas and a forged reference letter from a retired family in New Castle. She had been a nanny for six years and has had lots of experience with children. Of course this was not a joke considering she has a son. Every detail had been perfected. Still, her hands were cold.

The door opened.

The woman who answered was tall and fair, with the effortless elegance of someone who'd never been left behind. Natasha, her ex-husband's new wife. Her own sister. At that moment, she wanted to just strangle her and toss her away but she couldn't . She wasn't like her husband.She smiled with the cool politeness of someone doing a favor, not seeking help.

"You must be Miss Oliver. Please, come in."

Susie gave a slight, deferential bow. "Thank you, Mrs.Colllins. It's a pleasure."

They sat in the sunroom. poured tea. The air smelled like bergamot and success. Eleanor smiled, serene, as Natasha scanned her résumé.

"So," Natasha said, crossing her legs. "You've been with the Hastings family for five years?"

"Yes," Eleanor replied smoothly. "Lovely children. Twins, actually. Very energetic. But the family is relocating to New York, and I'm unable to follow."

Natasha nodded. "And you specialize in... structured care?"

"I do. Routines, gentle discipline, and emotional development. I also speak Spanish and play piano."

Natasha tilted her head, clearly impressed. "And you're certified?"

Susie produced laminated credentials - carefully crafted. Natasha scanned them, and nodded. The silence lingered a moment too long, and Susie felt the weight of scrutiny.

But then-

"You'll be looking after James.He's six. Sensitive. Not my son though, some mongrel I guess...." Susie bit her lip.

"...Needs structure, frankly. His father's been very busy lately. "

James. Her James. Susie had to inhale slowly to steady herself.

"I look forward to meeting him. He must be a lovely boy." she said softly.

Natasha stood. "He's upstairs actually. I'll call him down."

" James come here now."

The sound of small feet on the stairs. The shape that appeared was slightly smaller, thinner, with new shoes and a wary expression. He blinked at her. Something flickered in his face - a spark of recognition, maybe. Or maybe just a six-year-old's instinct.

"He's been crying a lot lately. He lost his mom who is my sister. I would cry too but I have to stay strong for him." She said using a finger to remove a fake tear from her eye. James wore a blue pajamas and dinosaur shoes.

"James, this is Miss Oliver."

She bent to his level, her throat tight. "Hello, James. I hope we'll be good friends."

He studied her for a long time. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"Okay."

Natasha smiled. "It's settled, then. You can start Monday?"

Susie studied his face closely. He was still in his pijamas. His face had cookie crumbs all over his face. He seriously needed a bath.

Eleanor rose. "He needs a bath."

Natasha who was polishing her nails didn't seem much bothered. She turned to James and squeezed her nose.

"Why haven't you had your bath James."

" I don't know how to." James said shyly.

" I could bath him if you want..."

" That's your job so do it." Natasha said coldly and continued polishing her nails.

Susie ushered the boy to the bathroom and began removing his clothes. James wasn't bothered. He felt like his mother was bathing him. He looked at the nanny again. She looked similar to Mom. Apart from the huge mole on her face and ruthless haircut. He could see the love and care in her eyes, but she wasn't his mother. He wanted his mother.Susie carried him into the bath tub. She began scrubbing. She wondered how he had been bathing when she was not available. She looked at her son's face and saw that he still missed her.

" Are you thinking of your mom?" . No reply.

" Don't worry. She might actually be alive."

" She's dead." He said coldly.

"And what do you know about my mother, you are just a nanny." He took his rubber duck and dipped it in the water.

" I know that your mom was very nice. Your step mother told me..."

" Aunt Natasha would never be my mother." Susie smiled. At least she still has hope on winning her son's love back. The rubber duck popped out of the water, he pushed it back in again. Susie went to the cupboard and brought out a brown monkey rag doll, his favourite toy. She hid her face behind the toy and used her hand to control the arms. She started talking in a chipmunk voice;

"James cheer up buddy and have your bath." James giggled and joined in the fun. From cosplay to splashing bubbles, James looked more happy than he had ever been.

" Do come back soon." James yanked the hem of Susie's skirt. It was time to go home.She tried to control her emotions.

" James. She works here now. She will resume tomorrow." Susie waved at her son as Natasha dragged the boy back into the house.

As she walked out of the house - the house that used to be hers, Susie didn't look back. She had passed the interview. Gained entry into the house and her son's heart.

And now, she was closer to her son than she had been in a long time.

The rest of the plan could begin.