Second Chance at Being Mrs. Sinclair

In the whole Sinclair family, Athaliah's favorite was the old man and she knew he adored her too. He didn't allow any of the members to bully her or talk her down, including her husband. He always supported her whatever she did at all, invited her to his secret tea parties, where he gossiped about his old days and told her stories of his dead wife.

Athaliah had never found a more interesting old man, her own grandfather was boring and only knew how to fish. So when he had first slumped at home and rushed to the hospital, Athaliah had felt a bad premonition, that his time was limited and that she would soon lose HIM and the support and pillar she had always rested on would soon vanish without a trace.

Her fears were further affirmed when the old man always wanted her around him. He would reminisce about times when he was younger and make her laugh with him and with each passing day, Athaliah knew his time was getting near and then it came. She was there peeling apples for him.

"You know your sliced apples are the best right?" He asked delivering a slice of apple to his mouth and smiling widely.

"You said your wife's own was the best" Athaliah countered with a playful laugh.

"I get happy eating your sliced apples, I get really happy. But he gets even more happier than me" he muttered and Athaliah shook her head bending to pick up the fallen knife.

"Who's the other he you are talking about?" She asked with a smile but she received no answer. By the time she turned to look at the old man, his eyes were closed with a smile on his face.

Alarm bells went off in her head as she screamed for the doctor.

Athaliah had chosen not to speak at the burial much to her husband's parents' disapproval. Everyone spoke, telling the sweet and happy memories with the old man and how amazing he was when he was alive. People came up talking about how he had offered them assistance and help when he was alive and Athaliah knew they weren't lying, the old man was one sweet and happy fellow even till his last moments. He was indeed amazing and was very empathetic and would help anyone in need at least that was how she got to marry into the almighty Sinclair family.

The hall was swimming with people from all walks of the world, after it was Adam Sinclair that died, the owner and founder of the Sinclair Corporation, one of the biggest and largest Corporations in the world. Everyone wanted to celebrate him, even news outlets and bloggers kept writing blog spots and talking about his death as if they knew him.

Athaliah glanced at her husband who was standing beside her. His face had been blank since the start of the ceremony and she couldn't decipher what exactly was going on in his head. Her husband was one unpredictable person. One could never guess what he was thinking.

After her, he was the old's man favorite. They spent time with each other and everyone knew that at the old man's death, he would take over the corporation but Athaliah knew they had a bond that went beyond the father and heir bond. A bond that only reminded her that he was humanly to everyone else except her.

She sighed softly shifting uncomfortably in her heels. She didn't realise she had outgrown those heels and now her toes were in for some pain.

"Why don't you find someone to seat down? Silas would bring you slippers" he muttered and Athaliah glanced up at him.

His face was still expressionless but she could see and hear the irritation in his voice, in the way his eyebrows wrinkled. He didn't care about her, he didn't care whether her toes were hurting or not, all he wanted was to get the weird stares they had been receiving from people off him.

She chose not to reply to him and immediately walked towards a secluded table. She was even quicker to remove her shoes and wriggle her toes to try and relieve them of the pain they had been feeling. She watched as a couple walked up to Callum talking to him about something she couldn't hear. A slight chuckle escaped lips as she watched the wife of the couple stare at Callum like he was some kind of eye candy.

And in all honestly, Athaliah admitted that her husband was indeed an eye candy, especially in those suits that seem to perfectly accentuate his muscle and firm body. A body that never laid beside her or came near her in their two years of marriage.

"Ma'am" a voice brought her back and Athaliah immediately offered her husband's secretary a smile.

"Thank you Silas" she muttered slipping her feet into the leather slippers he had brought. This was the part of their marriage that Athaliah couldn't deny, Callum was creepily responsible. He made sure he provided everything and anything that would make her life easy well except making himself available as a husband.

She rolled her shoulders tired and sighed softly. The burial preparations had taken a toll on her than she thought it would. She hadn't even done anything that stand and take care of the old man's belongings. No one had been surprised when the butler had told the family that only she and her husband could touch his belongings.

She rested her back in the chair and yawned a little, she turned to check if Callum was still standing and she realized that he was still standing and talking to another set of people, she knew it would take him a while to be done considering the number of guests that were still around. She placed her head on the table hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep. But she was wrong.

The next minute Athaliah was opening her eyes, the large hall was empty and there was no single soul in sight, she blinked her eyes rapidly trying to adjust to the environment, and chuckled the moment she turned her face and found Silas standing behind her.

"When did everyone leave?" she asked quietly.

"About two hours ago" Silas replied and Athaliah pursed her lips.

"How long did I sleep?" she asked again.

"Over five hours" Silas replied and Athaliah wanted to smack herself across the face. She had fallen asleep at the burial. She winced imagining the amount of weird looks she must have been receiving while she slept.

She slowly rose to her feet "Let's go" she muttered. She wasn't in the least surprised that Callum had left her in the hall. It was better than waking her up in the most ungentlemanly way possible.

Silas peered at the woman seating at the back of the car with confused eyes. He just never seemed to understand his boss and his wife. He had been Callum's assistant for over five years now but some of his actions never made sense to him. Silas hadn't even noticed that Athaliah had fallen asleep even though he was standing behind her.

It wasn't until Callum had walked towards him and blocked the guest's view of her that he realized that Athaliah had fallen asleep. He had immediately asked some of the bodyguards to rush inside the hall and made them form a barrier around her allowing her to sleep peacefully while blocking her from the guests' view and preventing weird looks and rumors.

Athaliah woke up and didn't ask for her husband. Her chuckle when she woke up had sent chills down his spine. Something told him another misunderstanding had been formed and there was nothing he could do about it. He swallowed his saliva and opened his mouth to talk when his phone buzzed. It was a text from Callum.

Athaliah nodded her head at him "You can go back to work, I'm okay" she muttered and Silas realized that they had gotten home already. He nodded at her and got down from the car watching as the car drove into the compound. He scrolled his phone open and sighed softly rubbing his forehead. He couldn't deal with this couple one minute longer.

Is she awake yet? Ask the nanny to prepare her food and some fruits.

Athaliah laughed mirthlessly as she got down from the car, it had been happening for over two years now and nothing seem to catch her off guard no more. They just made her amused and made her laugh. She knew that since the old man had died now, it was only a matter of time, that it would only a matter of time before he served her diovrce papers, before he asked her to get out of his life, before he asked her to leave. She had no idea how soon it would be, maybe two months or maybe a year but she knew that she would get home one day and find the envelope lying somewhere.

Her phone started ringing and a soft smile crawled up her lips as she picked up the call.

"Heyy girl" Athaliah greeted.

"I just got your text. Your husband does live up to his reputation. How could he let you sleep in front of some many people? He has always been a jerk and just lives up to that reality every single time" the latter on the phone complained and Athaliah laughed.

"Good news, I got enough sleep"

Athaliah wasn't a bit surprised to realize that Callum hadn't come home at all the next morning. She went with her normal routine, skincare, and a long bath. She had taken an excuse from work for a few days so she could eat and sleep on that day. After spending over two hours in the bathroom, Athaliah finally walked downstairs scrolling through her social media with a blank face. There were no pictures of her sleeping or weird rumors anywhere.

She chuckled realizing that there might have been but her ever-capable husband might have taken care of it. When they had gotten married, he had asked her if she wanted her identity public and she had said no. Callum had made sure that none of their wedding pictures had leaked and only very few people even in the upper elechon would recognise her if they ran into her in public.

Twice had there been blurred pictures of her surfacing on the internet but they disappeared as soon as they came and Athaliah knew that it was the work of her responsible husband. The table was already set by the time she reach downstairs and she dropped her phone settling down to eat.

"Good morning ma'am" a voice greeted behind her and Athaliah nodded her.

"Good morning Bala" Athaliah replied shoving a spoon of spaghetti into her mouth but the next moment she choked. Bala dropped a brown envelope

beside her on the table.

"I was asked to give you this" he muttered and silence descended over the hall.

The rims of Athaliah's eyes turned red. She had underestimated her husband, he hated and disliked her even more than she thought. She knew what was inside the envelope even before she opened it. How did she do to him to deserve this kind of treatment from him? For him to hate her and despise her this much?

Serving her a divorce letter when her grandfather's body had laid into the ground not less than 24 hours before. She should have seen it coming. He married her only because his grandfather asked him to and now that he was dead, he was going to divorce her immediately.

Athalaih gulped and managed to swallow the food in her mouth directly, bitterness spread all the way from her mouth to her stomach and she felt like vomiting. Her hands went to her phone and she immediately dialed his number. He picked up on the second ring but it was Silas.

"Good morning ma'am" Silas greeted.

"Where's he?" she asked her voice shaky and tears threatening to spill out but she managed to rein them in.

"He's a meeting with the Ambassador from Japan" Silas replied.

"Ask him to come home tonight," Athaliah said ending the call and staring into space. She might have been able to rein in the tears but the urge to vomit the only spoon of food she had eaten rushed towards her and Athaliah stood up and rushed to the nearest sink vomiting every single undigested food left in her stomach.

"Ma'am" Bala called out in alarm.

"I'm fine" Athaliah whispered but she knew Bala didn't believe it. She didn't either. She put on the tap, rinsing her mouth and splashing water on her face. She turned to face the older man mustering a small smile on her lips.

"I'm fine," she said but her voice only came out in a whisper. Turning and walking towards the direction of her room, Athaliah desperately wished that the old man wasn't dead, she wished she had prepared better for what was going on, she was supposed to prepare for it but it came faster and harder than she thought. He had always been like that, throwing her off balance like she weighed nothing.

He had always had a way to do that, years but she was yet to get used to the way he did things. By the time she reached her room, she had to hold onto the wall for support, a wave of nauseous washed over her again and she rushed into the bathroom coughing out whatever food was left undigested in her bowels. She raised her head and stared at herself through the mirror, a small smile on her lips.

"You are so pathetic" she whispered to herself splashing water on her face and rinsing her mouth. She walked back to the room, pulled the lower drawer and brought out the labeled container, and popped the pills into her mouth. She threw her head back on the pillow and tried to remember why she was in that present situation.

Never did it cross her mind she would be a victim of arranged marriages and getting married to Callum Sinclair was pure luck, the luckiest luck of all luck, her mom had said but after she got married, she knew her luck was rather very poor, poor was an understatement. It was terrible.

A family business going bankrupt and getting into debt is the faster way to ruin anybody and that was the exact thing that happened to her family. It was a miracle that the old man of the Sinclair family had owed her grandfather a favour. They agreed to help her family repay every single penny and also make sure that whatever they had lost in the investment scheme was returned to them.

Happiness that her family had been saved had filled her heart, more pride that they would start to respect their family more after all, the almightly Sinclair family had come to her aid. Until her parents had sent for her, the Sinclair family had just one request, the old man of the Sinclair family wanted her to get married to the heir of the Sinclair family, Callum Sinclair.

It wasn't a strange request, whatever kind of favour the Sinclair family owed her family, she was sure it wasn't up to the billions they were giving them. Since she wasn't in any relationship and worse had no one pursuing her, she gave in. After all, this was her own sacrifice to save her own family. If it fell to her shoulders then she would carry it.

She had met the old man first, he had been really excited to meet her leaving Athaliah surprised. She and the old man got along so easily that it made her relax, if everyone in the Sinclair family were like this, she didn't have anything to worry about. That was her first mistake, being naive.

She didn't get to see Callum until a week before their wedding, she didn't get to talk to him until they were saying their vows to each other. They had told her she was busy and was taking over a new role and so he needed a lot of time to put things in place. She didn't mind, her second mistake. After all, it was the Sinclair family, her family was a third-generation rich family. She had friends who came from second-generation rich families and first-generation rich families. The Sinclair family fell into the first generation rich families and they topped the list.

It wasn't until the wedding night that she realized what she had gotten herself into. While she was trying to rehearse words to say to him in the bedroom, trying to find words to convince him to skip the wedding night because she wasn't ready, she heard the sounds of cars driving out of the compound, and by the time she walked outside to check, she was told her newly wedded husband had gone to work.

Athaliah had always been smart, it didn't take long for her to realise that something was wrong. She vehemently refused to stay in a marriage where her husband ignored her on their wedding night. She tried to talk to him, her third mistake. Two months into the marriage and Athaliah was already adapting to the changes and her loveless marriage. It wasn't just loveless, it was as though her husband intentionally avoided her.

Six months into the marriage and Athaliah knew he wasn't intentionally avoiding her, he despised her so he avoided her. She concluded that the marriage had apparently been forced on him. One year later, she gave up every whim and imagination that they could maybe one day repair their marriage and live like a normal couple. It wasn't going to happen and two years later, He was telling and showing her the same thing.

Athaliah slipped underneath her duvet trying to hold back the tears that were already slipping down her cheeks. She promised herself not to ever cry again, she promised herself not to ever cry because of Callum again. The hope she thought she extinguished was never extinguished. It had always been in her heart and now, Callum had taken a stab through it. Pulling the duvet over her head, her tear banks broke loose, she sobbed quietly, using her hand to cover her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Damn you, Callum Sinclair"

Athaliah was eating her dinner when she heard cars drive into the compound, she forced herself to remain calm while trying to finish her food and not throw up. She couldn't let him know that what he did had hit so much and she was very much affected by it.

The door opened and Callum stepped inside, she slowly turned and watched him walk towards the dining room. One of the reasons why she managed to enjoy her marriage was that Callum had a ridiculously handsome face. He oozed so much sexiness without doing anything and it always drove her crazy

but unfortunately, the man wouldn't even share a room with her.

His custom-tailored suit clung to his body, the grey colour of the suit giving his sexiness another aura. Her eyes travelled from his long straight legs to his torso and she could almost literally draw those lines she somehow got a glimpse of months ago.

Athaliah grabbed the jug and poured herself a cup of water, gulping it and pushing down the waves of nausea rushing up her throat. She grabbed the brown envelope and flung it at him.

"What's this?" she asked wearing a frown. Calum stared back at her somewhat taken aback. He bent down and picked the envelope up chuckling lightly.

"What do you mean? You know exactly what it is" He replied handing his suitcase to Bala. Athaliah watched him remove his suit jacket flexing his muscles as he rolled up his sleeves.

"You didn't even let him be laid for twenty-four hours before doing this?" Athaliah asked tears threatening to roll down her cheeks again.

"I know you despise this marriage, I know you don't like me, I know that I in every way and manner disgust you but you had exercised patience for two years, couldn't you just exercise more patience for a few days? A week? A month?" Athaliah shot at him again.

"You just had to show me over and over again that I despise you" she added biting down on her lip to prevent her tears from running down her cheeks again.

"I despise this marriage?" Callum asked his brows furrowed in anger while Athaliah stared at him in surprise.

"I don't like you? You disgust me?" Callum asked again, his voice going notches higher while Athaliah continued staring at him in surprise. Callum had never, not even once raised his voice at her throughout their two-year marriage. He was always calm, collected, and reserved like he had everything in control. He always did. And it was the first time she was seeing him display the most emotions.

"What do you know? Who are you to tell me my emotions?" he asked again.

"You were the one who never wanted this marriage. Your father told me what you said when they informed you that you were getting married to me" Callum revealed and Athaliah stared at him in shock.

"Oh c'mon, don't give me that surprised look" Callum continued.

"You've wanted out since Day one and here I am, fulfilling your wishes for you. What else do you want?" Callum asked his voice barely above a whisper. Athaliah stared at Callum frozen for a few seconds before sticking out her arm and pushing Callum's shoulder with little and zero power with her right middle finger.

"What do you know?" she asked as tears ran down her cheeks. She couldn't hold them back anymore.

"Fulfilling my wishes?" she asked laughing. "Do you even know my wishes? Do you know what I want and what I don't want?" she continued asking.

"What do you even know about me?"

"You are so mean, so mean" Athaliah continued.

"You couldn't even let me take a breath. What did you want me to say? Out of the blues, I was told I was getting married, should I have thrown a party?"

Athaliah asked chuckling.

"I may not know what you want or what you like or whatnot but you have shown me that you want out of this marriage and that's one thing that I know

I'm going to help you with it" Callum replied and Athaliah smiled.

"That is what you want. That's what you've always wanted. You are the one who went to work on our wedding night without saying a word to me. You are the one who leaves the house before I wake up and come back when I'm asleep. You are the one who treats me like a plague, someone you can't stand for a long time, and you've done that for two years Callum and now you dare to stand in front of me and tell me I showed you I wanted out of this marriage" Athaliah said shaking her head.

"How dare you?" she asked bringing her hand to her forehead and rubbing it.

"I have work to do, I'll leave you to your thoughts" Callum replied bringing his jacket and heading up the staircase. Athaliah watched him go before managing to sit down on one of the chairs. She stared at the brown envelope she had flung at Clalum on the floor and bent down to pick it up. A wave of nausea hit her again and she rushed towards the sink emptying her bowels for the third time that day.

"I'll call the family doctor" Bala announced and Athaliah waved her hands negatively. She rinsed her face and hands before turning to Bala.

"I'm fine" she replied walking towards her own room.

*****************************************************

Athaliah stared at the ceiling of her room deep in thought, her eyes were still red from crying earlier. She cried in front of him, showed her weakness, and showed him how much he affected her. She promised herself not to show him, but she did. But then again, Callum had played the responsible husband, he hadn't used it against her. The thoughts made her chuckle while rubbing her glabella.

Kate's question popped up in her head again and Athaliah swallowed hard.

"Athaliah, there are a million of things I don't know about your marriage with Callum, but ill tell you something. You have to ask yourself if you can go on like this if you can keep living this kind of life till you grow grey hair and maybe have kids who have no emotional connection whatsoever to their father. If you are fine being on your deathbed reminiscing your life and you are not going to regret it. You have to think about it hard and long, whatever your answer is, you'll know what to do"

Kate had said those words to her two months before when she had confided in her about Callum divorcing her after his grandfather died. Athaliah sucked in a deep breath trying to play out the question in her head again.

She couldn't. She really couldn't. She wasn't the social or the party type, she wasn't extroverted and neither was she introverted. She liked having her own kind of fun, she liked giggling and laughing watching funny French romcoms. She wouldn't be able to stand having sex with someone who took it as a chore, having children with no emotional connection. Worse was she going to live this kind of life till she grew white hair? The thought made her chuckle into the night.

She certainly didn't want that kind of life.

And that was the cue; flipping the duvet off her body, she got out of bed and brought out her boxes, and started packing her clothes and stuff intentionally making sure to leave everything and anything Callum had bought or gotten for her.

By 4 am, she was done packing. Looking at the number of boxes and the things she was leaving behind, Athaliah realised that in a span of two years, Callum had gotten a lot of things for a wife he claimed to despise so much. Way too many things. The closest was still as full even after packing, it was as though she was going on a vacation, except that she wasn't coming back from this one.

Athaliah sat on her bed staring at the gifts Callum had given her, he never gave her directly, either sent it through her secretary or she got home and met a wrapped box on her bed. She tried to imagine how he would act around someone he liked, would he also spoil her with gifts? Would he give her all his attention? The questions in her head made her laugh.

"They don't matter so much now do they?" she asked the night wing smiling and shaking her head.

She tried to sleep but she couldn't, she tossed and tossed on the bed and she still couldn't sleep and Athaliah didn't know why. By morning, she had called for a private car and she walked down the staircase looking around for the last time, she grabbed the brown envelope on the table, it was exactly where she had left it even though the maids had cleaned that morning.

She brought out the stack of papers and went through them quietly, her eyebrows were slowly raised at the alimony Callum had chosen to give her after the divorce. She chuckled lightly digging her hands into her pocket and bringing out her pen.

The rims of her eyes were red but Athaliah didn't notice. She didn't know how long she stared at the paper, at where she was supposed to sign. She had agreed to divorce him, she didn't know why she was so hesitant to sign it. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths trying to calm herself down. By the time she opened her eyes, her crisp and neat handwriting was over each page of the paper. She slipped the pen back into her pocket and turned to find Bala standing behind her.

"Please give this to Callum when he comes downstairs and please them move out the boxes in my room" Athaliah muttered trying to wear a small smile while Bala stared at her without a word.

"I'm leaving" Athaliah started breaking the silence.

"I agreed to divorce him. I just signed the papers. You won't be seeing me again" she added and Bala nodded his head without a word. Another bout of silence ensured between them again.

"Thank you for all this while. I'm so glad I met you. Maybe someday in the future, I'll treat you to lunch" Athaliah said choosing to break the silence again.

"Madam..." Bala started while Athaliah stared at him urging him to continue.

"Callum... he... he..." Bala continued while Athaliah smiled and shook her head.

"It's okay, you don't need to worry. You don't need to apologise for him. We aren't so compatible you know" Athaliah muttered wondering why she was defending Callum.

"We weren't so close but he did his part. He was responsible for me" Athaliah added and Bala immediately shook his head.

"You don't know how responsible he was, you'll never know" Bala whispered and Athaliah hitched closer.

"What did you say?" Athaliah asked and Bala shook his head.

"There's no need" he replied waving his hands towards one of the maids.

"Please pack the boxes out of Madam's room" he instructed and the maid looks stunned for a moment and turned to Athaliah who had a mild smile on her face before nodding her head and walking away.

Athaliah watched as the maids moved the boxes to the car that was already waiting outside. She could see the maids, and every other worker clustering together and whispering. She didn't dare to try to eavesdrop. She didn't want o hear what they had to say at all. She turned to Bala as soon as the last boxes were brought down.

"Thank you again, Bala, thank you for everything," she said trying to keep a smile on her face. She wasn't going to cry again. She refused to cry again.

She nodded her head at him and walked out of the house. She opened the door and froze, turning to take a look at the house she had lived in for two good years and the large horde of workers that had gathered in front of the house.

"It was my honor to serve you Madam" Bala yelled bowing his head and Athaliah watched as every other maid, cleaners, gardeners followed suit bowing their heads. Athaliah's hands flew to her mouth hiding the sob that escaped her lips. Her eyes turned red again while trying to muster a smile.

"Thank you, everyone," she said getting into the car and closing her eyes.

'Let's go" she whispered. She couldn't afford to look back here, if she did, she didn't know if she would burst into tears or regret her decision.

Bala walked back into the house to see Callum seating on the staircase still in the suit he wore the day before. He looked worn out and unshaven. A blank look covered his head ad he turned to Bala with a lost look in his eyes.

"She's gone?" Callum asked his voice hoarse. Bala nodded his head.

"Hmmm," he replied watching as Callum nodded his head while closing his eyes.

He really couldn't understand this couple. Callum had sat in front of Athaliah's door all night after serving her divorce papers. Whenever he came home, the first thing he did was to check up on her, and stared at her for hours whenever she was sleeping, before he left the house, he would check if she was still sleeping. His care came in various forms that Bala didn't understand.

When he questioned him, Callum had refused to give an explanation for why he never showed his care openly and would rather do it secretly.

"Call Silas, ask him to book me a flight to Venice, and cancel my schedule for the next two weeks"