The CEO, My Accidental Lover

Elodie

"Happy anniversary bab-" The words die in my throat at the person who walks in behind him.

...

The door has flown open with a loud thud, making me raise a hand to my chest, soothing my frightened heart.

My eyes lit up the moment my husband walked in, and a smile curls on my lips then falters at the sight of her.

"Serena." I frown, taking in my threat of a step-sister.

I blink to make sure I'm seeing very clearly.

She grins, wide and malicious. "Elodie."

She's truly here then, it's not a figment of my imagination.

"What are you doing here?" I snap, brows dipping in both confusion and irritation.

I turn to my husband. "Mason, babe, what is she doing here?"

He rolls his eyes. "Who gave you the right to question me or anyone I bring into my house?"

"Serena." I face my step-sister again, my patience wearing thin. "I asked you a question!"

Before the words even land, a hand cracks across my face. Pain sear up my cheeks. "Are you out of your mind? Questioning my guest?" Mason roars.

I freeze, a hand cupping my cheek, eyes watering. "Y-you hit me?" I manage to ask, voice barely audible.

That's when I see it. Mason's hand is curled firmly around Serena's waist.

"What's going on, babe?" I ask, whimpering.

Until understanding dawn on me, and as if she was waiting for that moment... Serena smiles. "Forgive my manners, sister," she chuckles, the sound grating on my nerves, "but for your own good, I suggest you be nicer to your soon to be saviour."

"Saviour?" I scoff, sniffling. "What exactly are you saving me from, Serena?"

She ignores me, rubbing her belly while inspecting the house I spent hours decorating for Mason and my anniversary.

"Meanwhile, I love this deco," she said, "You really put so much effort into preparing for my coming, dear sister." Her sly chuckle fills the air.

I clench my fists, the surge to bang her head across the wall comes to me.

"Honey, what is the meaning of this madness?" I turn to face Mason.

"Here," he says and shoves some papers to me.

"This bears the answer to your questions Elodie, and let this be the last time I ever hear you say that word 'Honey' to my face." he spat.

My pupils dilate at what I read, jaw dropping.

"Divorce?" I gawk.

"Yes Elodie, I want a divorce, and you have just thirty days to respond. If not, the petition will be granted automatically." His words echo like it's the easiest thing to say.

My heart skips a beat and I crumble the papers in my hand. "Why Mason?" I ask, my voice uneven, sobs growing louder.

"I don't love you anymore Elodie," he squints, his brows furrows. "And I can't keep living with a fellow man disguised as a woman"

What is that even supposed to mean?

"This can't be." I shook my head. "Tell me it's a joke."

Mason shrugs. "The earlier you realise you have no space in this house anymore, the better for you."

A chill ran down my spine, fear causing goosebumps to erupt on my skin, "Are you sending me out?"

"Yes, I am," He turns to Serena, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "Serena here is carrying my child, and she has come to stay."

And I thought he couldn't hurt me further. My heart Squeezes in my throat, a fresh wave of tears stinging the back of my eyes.

"A child..?" I stumble backward. "No... that can't be true." I mutter to myself, voice trembling.

I rub my chest, trying to ease the pain that is encased there.

With watery eyes, I look up at Mason. "Is this what I get from being an obedient and submissive wife to you?"

Just then a soft click on the marble floor interrupts me.

"Obedient? You?" Regina, my mother in-law cut in.

She steps towards me, eyes hard. "Well if you must be reminded, you are a worthless barren bitch. Your mother must be rolling in her grave."

"Mother Stop!" I scream, shivering.

But in one swift motion, my husband's hand lands harsh on my face for the second time.

My teeth bit down on my tongue, the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth.

"You shut up!" Mason yells. "And don't ever raise your voice to my mother."

This is what I get, isn't it? After three years of marriage.

I wipe away the thin line of tears on my face.

My eyes drift and meet my mother-in-law's. She smiles like an innocent old woman, but all I could see were those disgusting wrinkles stretching with amusement.

"And for your information Elodie," she continues, "Serena is already married to my son, so sign those papers as soon as you can."

My heart pounds in my chest. Snot mix with tears, trailing down my cheeks.

What wrong have I done to incur this cruelty from the people I call family?

My mother-in-law then turns and walks over to Serena, pulling her into a hug.

"The deserving daughter is finally here."

And the words cut me more than the others.

"Oh mother, thank you." Serena replies with a smile.

The sight of it makes me feel nauseous.

"Let's go to the dining table, dinner will soon be served." Regina says.

"Your loss." Serena smirks and shoves past me.

I stumble back from the impact.

The words feel like a bullet shooting straight at me, each of them shattering my already fragile heart.

I watch helplessly as they enjoy the food I made to celebrate my three years anniversary.

I close my eyes against the rush of pain that fills me.

My step sister has won again, but this will be the last time, I swear.

Grabbing a pen on the table, I scribble down my signature, tears staining some of the words.

After that, I begin to make my way upstairs to the matrimonial room, when my mother-in-law's voice stops me.

"Where do you think you're going, you slut?"

"I...I," I sniffled, wiping my tears before finding the words, "I want to get my things."

She laughs, mocking. "Empty you came, and empty you would return."

"But I..."

"No buts!" She cut me off. "Now get out, and if I ever see you close to this mansion again, you will spend the rest of your miserable life behind bars."

"Or better still, we send her to her mother." Serena adds and they all laugh at her words.

I wish the ground could just let me have a space beneath it now, but I won't break completely in front of them.

They might have gotten the upper hand today, but no more.

Taking in a deep breath, I spoke again. "I will leave, it's..."

"Leave the ring too," Regina snaps back. "It belongs to the real wife now."

My jaw tightens, my heart breaks a million times more. The sudden realization that this is really happening aches more than I'd like to admit.

My fingers graze the wedding band, the one I hadn't taken off since the day I vowed forever.

"You will all regret this," I want to say, but when Mason's lips smack on Serena's into a passionate kiss... I lost my voice, the word dying off.

Slipping the ring off, I place it gently on the console table.

And then, I walk out... without even looking back.

Elodie

Now, here I am again... back at this monster's home. My head is buried beside my neck.

Words that cannot be uttered remain in my mind, pounding my heart as a pestle does to a mortar.

Loud music fills the air, but somehow, it is no match for the voices screaming in my mind.

I sit in the farthest corner, nursing down my third glass of tequila to dull the pain.

I haven't say a word. I just keep hearing the same three words over and over again:

"Saviour... Pregnant...Married."

"Saviour...Pregnant... Married." I keep on repeating the same thing.

What do they take me for?

A stinking, barren bitch?

Really?

I let out a deep breath. I shouldn't be drinking.

Not after how badly it embarrassed me the last time, four years ago.

He saved me that night... and wh..what did he make of it?

He strips me of dignity and ruins me again.

How could it be so easy for him to be done with me?

Just like that.

After three good years of my life?

Mason used to be my safe place. My last resort, my only constant.

What changed?

And all the while, he was cheating on me with my own sister of all women?

Pretending to love me?

"This is madness..." I mutter, tilting my head back and emptying the glass in one go.

"Fuck love." I close my eyes, trying to resist the tears burning their way up.

He already divorced me, just as if I was nothing.

Maybe I am nothing.

Maybe he was right.

My mother, just a mistress to the Fontain's. If only she didn't mix business with pleasure, perhaps I wouldn't be caught in this long and shameful situation.

"Ouch..." I wince, my fingers gliding against the puffiness under my swollen eyes.

Everything hurts.

"I'm never falling in love again." I mumble. "It always ends in a dead zone."

Barely three weeks ago, he left for a business trip. Says he'll be back today.

What did he do instead?

He turns our anniversary into an eviction.

And the food I spend hours preparing?

It is used to celebrate my loss. "Wow."

So they've been entangled all this while? I blink rapidly, fighting the fresh sting of tears.

There's no point holding on to a man who lets his mother insult me to my face– who has long since killed my joy.

"Where's my drink?" I snap at the bartender.

My red, swollen eyes scan the room. Strangers clinking glasses, laughter, music, everything I feel disconnected from.

"Tequila and more vodka for table six," the bartender says, placing the drinks in front of me.

I take a shot. The burn crawls down my throat . "I'm back here again. A very long and stressful ride indeed."

My head drops.

"Another?" the bartender asks.

I give a numb nod.

...

"Do you mind if I share the table with you?" A deep, velvet voice brushes past my ears.

My eyes snap open, and I lift my head, expecting the bartender but it's him.

Not the bartender.

A blur figure.

Too handsome to be real. His lush brown hair, tousles in the air. This is a kind of face that only appears in dreams.

A rush of dopamine swirls through my bloodstream.

No. This is alcohol.

Get hold of it, Elodie. He's no different from the rest.

Life ruiners.

"You don't belong here," his voice cuts through, firm yet smooth and silk. "I've been watching you from across my table."

I let out a dry chuckle. "And you do?"

He rolls his eyes and moves a seat closer-stumbles a little .

"But I'm not the one drinking tequila like it's water." he quips.

"You are clearly inebriated," I shoot back. "I saw that miss-step. You've had just as much."

He shrugs . "Maybe I'm just trying to forget."

"Does it work?"

"No," he says, locking eyes with mine. "But it numbs the part I want to silence."

Something about the way he speaks... magnetic.

Maybe we're both just two lost souls... drifting.

"My fiancee broke up with me today," he says suddenly. "Right before I could show her the ring."

I wince, lifting my glass again. "Poor thing."

I gulp. "My husband replaced me with my step sister today too."

He inhales sharply.

"I thought my story was bad..." He chuckles. "But yours? Yours is worse."

My lips curl into a bitter smile... and then, it falters.

The night went on. I could barely pay attention to what he's saying, just admiring the handsome shade in front of me.

An hour later, we stumble up the hallway and stop at room 135. I don't remember saying yes, but I didn't say no either.

I need to forget.

He slides in the key card and pushes the door open. I walk in first, collapsing on the bed, my body heavy and soaks in exhaustion.

He follows, locking the door behind him.

We both lay there in silence, side by side, catching our breath and staring at the ceiling as if waiting for something unspoken to break the stillness.

I turn my head slightly, stealing a glance.

Without a word, he shifts closer and brushes a strand of hair from my face.

"You're so beautiful." He murmurs, and lightly caresses my cheek.

My skin tingles beneath his touch

What is wrong with me?

*****

The insistent ringing of my alarm drags me back to consciousness.

Groggily, I open my eyes and blink against the light, and reach out for my phone.

But then it hit me.

This isn't my room.

My eyes widen. Oh my God!

This room looks nothing familiar...

I sit up immediately to see some clothes scattered on the floor.

I yank the duvet off my body with disgust and freeze. "What?"

I'm naked!

My heart sinks to my stomach, I quickly pull the duvet up to my chest, clutching it like it would wash away the regrets already welling up.

A sharp wave of pain knocks through my head, and then, the memories came flooding in.

The bar.

The man.

The hallway.

His body pressing into mine.

I recall him rising and falling above me repeatedly.

"Oh my gosh," I mumbles, my lips trembling. "What have I done?"

I can't even remember his blurred face, not even his name. Our conversation just flowed easily, two strangers finding solace in each other's chaos.

A cold knot settles deep in my stomach, but deeper than that, shame cloth me.

And God help me...he had done it so well.

The sound of splashing water pulls me back.

My gaze drifts towards the bathroom.

He's in there.

Panic tightens in my chest.

I can't face him. Not like this.

Not in the daylight.

I scramble off the bed, wincing as I search for my clothes. My hands shake as I get dressed in silence.

Then I spot a thick wad of cash inside the drawer. Without thinking, I slip out a few bills with trembling hands.

"This will be enough for my transport." I whisper.

My heart races as I tiptoes to the door and looks behind with my racing pulse, my eyes refusing to meet whoever is in there.

"Thanks for... last night," I say to the thin air and turn the knob.

"Wait..." a faint voice speaks behind me but I'm already gone.

Elodie

My inconsistency at the workplace has been piling up, and today is one of those days I have to send yet another email asking for permission to be absent.

My finger glides across the red button and it clicks Send.

I sit quietly, staring at the white ceiling of the hospital when the doctor walks in with a file and a wide smile on her face.

That kind of smile that is either too good... or about a change in everything.

"Congratulations, Elodie," she says softly, "you're pregnant."

My heart races, skipping a beat as I blink once.

Twice.

Then I laugh.

Not a happy laugh.

A bitter, crack sound that makes the nurse beside her shift uncomfortably.

"I think you're mistaken here," I whisper, shaking my head. "I can't be."

But the smile on her face didn't falter. "I ran the test twice. You're eight weeks along. There's no mistake."

My throat tightens, and my fingers curl around the strap of my purse, squeezing it like I'm holding on to reality.

Pregnant?

Me?

"How?" I squint as the word slips from my lips.

Dr. Lucy lets out a soft chuckle. "How? You don't mean that, do you?"

My lips curl inwardly, in response to her harmless gesture.

It has been barely two months since I moved down to Emberveli town-since after Mason left me. Adjusting to the new environment hasn't been so smooth to me, now this.

This is a cruel joke from the universe.

I'm finally carrying a child?

A miracle I prayed for endlessly to save my marriage but it never came.

Why now?

After all I've been through?

My eyes burn, threatening to unleash flow, but I blink fast.

No tears, not here.

"So now, Dr. Lucy says, breaking the silence, "you'll need to level up the care you give yourself, knowing there's a life growing inside you."

"Yes, Doctor." I nod, forcing a faint smile that doesn't reach my eyes.

"Here," she says, handing me the test results. "Ensure to go through it and follow up all the instructions there. Congratulations once more Elodie."

"Thank you." I say and swallow hard.

I walk out like a ghost, clutching the paper with trembling hands. When I get to the major road, I wave for a cab.

As it pulls to a drive, I lean my back on the soft leather seat, speechless, except for the rustling sheet of my lab test breaking the silence.

In less than an hour, I'm back to my apartment. I pay the driver and step out.

I rush inside, slam the door shut and stand there freezing, still holding the result.

"I, Elodie...Pregnant...?"

I stagger backwards until my legs find the edge of the couch, and I collapse onto it.

My hands quiver as I place it over my flat stomach, the same stomach my ex and his mother had mocked.

"You're barren. Useless. A disgrace to our name."

Those words still echo in my head like a cruel chant.

A single tear rolls down my right cheek.

Another follow.

Then a loud, broken sob racks my body as years of shame and rejection come crashing.

I weep for years, I spent begging God for a child to save my marriage, and now when no one expects it, life blooms inside of me.

A wave of happiness and confusion washes over me at the same time.

How am I going to survive?

I barely feed properly.

"I'm finally going to be a real mother? I whisper through my sob, squeezing joyfully through my teeth. "But for who?"

I blink hard, trying to force back the tears that are already slipping out.

"For a man who treated me with no respect like I meant nothing?"

I close my eyes against the rush of pain that fills me. "I'll keep you safe, my baby, away from Mason." I said and move my hands across my belly. "I promise."

Just then, my stomach churns violently as a sudden rush of nausea sweeps past me.

I rush to the bathroom, holding my mouth with one hand and pressing the other against my belly.

I lean over the toilet bowl and gag, my body shaking with the force of each heave. A Bitter bile and remnants of my meal surges up my throat, leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

When it finally stops, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and let out a weak bitter laugh.

"So... it's real after all." I murmur.

...

Five years later...

Oh my God. It's almost 5 p.m.

I'm late again.

Hurriedly, I grab my handbag and dash out to the busy road. I wave down a cab.

"Main and Elm, please," I pant as I hop in. "Quickly!"

The driver nods and speeds off. But barely ten minutes into the drive, rain starts, pouring heavily.

Suddenly, the road clusters and I get stuck in traffic.

I tap my foot nervously. "Please...go faster."

He sighs but doesn't answer. I stretch my neck, trying to see past the sea of cars ahead.

Just then, my phone buzzes with a message from the school: "Liam is waiting safely at the drop-off point"

I exhale deeply. I feel relief and whisper a soft "Thank you Jesus." I put the phone back into my bag.

Shortly the road clears. The cabbie speeds forward as fast as he could, but nothing prepares me for the scene I meet when he turns the corner.

A silver car diverts sharply at the school drop-off point.

And Liam. My Liam is right there.

My eyes bulge as I watch it speed towards him. Panic crawls through my veins.

My pupils dilate. "No. No, no." My scream catches in my throat.

"Stop, stop, stop. I slap the front seat, praying my fears were wrong.

The moment it slows, I fling the door open and dash out. My bag spills onto the wet road but I don't care.

A small crowd is gathering.

Hazard lights blinking nonstop.

And then I see him. His small body... lying still on the wet ground.

There, a man in a soaked dress shirt is already kneeling, performing a frantic CPR.

My heart nearly stops.

"Liam!" I scream, as I push through the people.

My legs give out when I reach them and see his pale face, blood smears on his temple, and one of his shoes has flown off.

I kneel closely beside him, my heart drops. "No! Liam!"

Voices were muttering words from behind but I can barely hear them. My entire mind zeros in Liam.

"Baby... Mama is here. Please...open your eyes." Tears blur my vision. My hands tremble as I cup his face.

But when his body gives no response, my fear grows stronger.

"The ambulance has arrived." A voice speaks.

"Help my baby! Please!" My words hang in the air like a challenge as EMTs move in swift motion.