Anguish and pain rip through my already raw heart, and for a while all I can do is look at him.
I stare at the annoyance on his face and the rage gathering in his eyes. I look away as tears well in mine and I stare at the floor as I blink them back, asking with a steady but tired voice, a voice that poorly hides how much this hurts me.
“How can you say that, Malachi?”
Malachi’s voice still bears cold fury as he responds with spite, “It’s true, isn’t it?”
His words are like arrows lodging into my chest, driving me closer to breaking down. He doesn’t stop there. He goes on in an irritated, annoyed voice, “I would never have married you if it wasn’t for my grandfather. You’re a nobody who wormed her way into my life, so let’s not act like this marriage is something it isn’t.”
My mood worsens because I realize he still believes I drugged him that night. A night that means so much to me, is like a stain to him. A stain he will never get to rub away as long as he’s married to me.
“Let’s leave Malachi. You’re upset.” Skye’s voice is soft when she speaks, her hand rising to touch his shoulder and rubbing it lightly. Malachi doesn’t flinch away from her the way he would if it was me. He doesn’t tell her he doesn’t like people touching him.
It’s just me he treats like that.
Malachi glares at me as he and Skye leave the office and I am left standing alone, my eyes burning with tears.
For three years I've loved Malachi, and I've hoped he would come to love me. I fell in love with him almost immediately after he saved me on my college campus, and I’ve been in love with him ever since. But he doesn’t love me.
He sees me as a plague on his life.
My mind goes back to the night he mentioned and replays how I remember it happened. I had been just as confused as he was the morning we woke up, and I couldn't remember anything of the dinner from the night before. I could only see that I woke up with Malachi Finn in the same bed, and it was evident we had spent the night together.
Malachi indeed married me so his grandfather would get off his back on marriage. If it hadn’t been for him, the union would have never happened.
I pull myself together and walk back to my desk, intending to call a cleaner up to see to the coffee spill when my phone rings on the table. I pick it up to see six missed calls and my heart lurches at the contact name.
It’s the hospital.
I pick it up immediately and a female voice asks calmly, “Am I on to Antonia Finn?”
I respond briskly, my heart pounding, “Yes. Yes you are. Is.. is my grandmother okay?”
The nurse’s sad tone and response makes my heart sink into my stomach.
“No, she’s not, Mrs Finn. She’s gone into critical condition and your presence is needed at the hospital right now.”
I run out of the office as fast as I can, my heart pounding as I blink back tears from fear.
I’m at the hospital in no time and I'm so scared that my hand shakes when I collect the room key and ward number from the nurse. I make my way up with my eyes watering and my nose flaring, my heart racing.
My grandmother is the only family I have left. I never got to know my father, and my mom died a few years after my birth. My grandmother is the one who raised me… and I haven't fulfilled all the promises I made to her.
We haven’t gone to France, or Spain, or bought a castle in England. I almost laugh with tears in my eyes at my thoughts but I bump into someone and a sharp annoyed voice rings in my ears, “Watch it, you fool!”
I want to ignore the insult.
An apology is already on my lips even when the voice comes again with a sneer in its tone this time, “Stalking me and Malachi to the hospital is such a desperate thing to do. You’re so insecure, Antonia.”
Skye’s tone is dripping with mockery, and I turn to find her looking down at me once more, like I'm some bug that has to be squashed. My heart tells me to ignore her and go see my grandmother but a greater part of me burns so hot that I have to respond, my tone, filled with righteous indignation when I do. “I have every right to want to know what he’s up to, Skye. I’m his wife.”
Skye’s expression is cool and calm as she responds mockingly, You’re certainly not a good wife, because I have news for you, Antonia. I’m pregnant.”
My world comes crashing down.
A sharp pain goes through my chest and I ask unbelievingly, “What?”
Skye nods and rubs her flat belly, looking like a model in her new outfit and staring at me with a proud look on her face, “I am pregnant, and the child is Malachi’s. You didn’t think he’d pick you over me, did you? Malachi has always loved me and he always will. You just wormed your way into his life.”
I lunge for Skye, the pain and hurt I'm feeling blinding me and subduing every sense of calmness as rage makes me want to bash her face into the hospital walls.
“You husband snatching slut!”
Skye responds in the same vein and soon we’re pushing each other and pulling at each other. I hold my tears in, promising myself not to give her the satisfaction of ever seeing me cry, but Skye relinquishes her hold on me suddenly, going to the floor in one fake motion and whimpering in pain, her hands clutched to her belly.Confusion and sudden alarm fill me but Malachi’s cologne reaches me first, his voice follows close after tinged with obvious worry, “Skye!”
Skye makes a low sobbing sound and Malachi rushes to her. The moment he turns to look at me, it hurts me too much. It hurts me how much I want to burrow into his arms and cry because of the fear in me of what's happened to my grandma.
I’d do anything for him to reassure me.
Anything for him to hold me close and tell me it’ll be okay.
Malachi’s cold tone shatters my dream as he asks, “What are you doing here, Antonia?”
I breathe deeply, pain spiking under my heart but Skye’s voice comes in a low whisper as she responds instead, “She… she pushed me, Malachi.I think… I think I'm bleeding.”
Dread fills me when Malachi looks at me and the open rage on his face makes me feel a thrum of hurt in my chest. I respond, already knowing he won’t listen to me but trying anyway, “I did nothing like that, Malachi.
She…,” Skye’s announcement comes back to my mind again and the sudden bitterness at the back of my throat I feel from it makes it too hard to say it, but Malachi cuts me off before I can, his voice dripping with spite and disgust.
“I don’t want to hear it, Antonia.”
Malachi’s tone is filled with annoyance as he continues, “I’m going to go get her checked, and you will wait here until we come out. We are going to have a talk about this.”
Panic flares into my eyes and I respond immediately in a nervous haste, “I can’t. My grandmother… My grandmother is dying, Malachi.
I have to go see her.”
I hate how needy I sound when I say those words, but it’s obvious from the look in Malachi’s eyes that he thinks this is an excuse. He issues the same command he did the first time, just harsher this time, “Move, and we won’t have a marriage to talk about.”
I stand there, watching Malachi cradle Skye in his arms as he takes her to a checkup room. Each minute they stay in there feels like an eternity and my body shakes from the onslaught of emotions I'm going through.
My grandmother is dying.
And Skye… Skye is pregnant. Tears gather in my eyes when I think of it, because their intentions about their relationship is clear now. He said she was only here for business, but he lied.
Malachi’s cold disgusted voice pulls me out of my thoughts once again, “Get yourself home. We’ll discuss this later.”
He doesn’t even look at me nor offer to come see my grandmother with me. Malachi holds onto Skye gently, who leans on him heavily, her head resting against his shoulder while his jacket is around her. I watch them go with a sad and pained expression in my eyes. When I finally get to the wardroom, I see my grandmother’s arms and know it’s too late.
The tears and emotions I'd been fighting back all day come in full force and I crumple by her bedside, sobbing. Her hands which would once be holding some knitting now lie on her abdomen, one on the other. Her hands and her face that once shone with so much warmth and joy are cold and lifeless now.
I cry my heart out, wailing on her body.
I didn’t… I didn't even get to say goodbye.
I was too busy fighting for a place in my marriage.
The funeral draws something out of me. From the fact that no one in the Finn household seemed to care that my grandmother had died, down to Malachi’s nonchalance about her death and his sustained anger at what happened with Skye. My heart throbs and aches while I have to carry out the preparations for the funeral myself and the day comes on a windy morning. “You should eat something, Antonia.” The concerned voice from behind me says but I can’t seem to hear it. Another voice comes, “You look stressed, Antonia, and…. This isn’t the time to stop eating. You’ll get over this.” I nod dully as memories of my grandmother come back to me. Memories of her braiding my hair, then loosening it out to brush it again. She’d tell me often of how she’d met my grandfather. How he’d loved her and pursued her endlessly for her love. How they both ran away from home, to start a new life in the city, and how they’d lived content lives in their small house. A tear rolls down my cheek because I prom
Malachi’s pov. “I’ve filed for a divorce.” I storm into the office and thoughts of Antonia saying she’s filed for a divorce flash through my mind. I grunt in anger as I drop my phone and settle into my chair. Antonia… Antonia would never behave like this. I understand she’s angry at her grandmother’s death. I'm not totally irrational, but I didn't know her grandmother would die. If she’s making decisions like this because she lost a loved one…. No, Antonia would never behave like this. Not to me. My door comes open and a worker walks in. A female. I watch as she goes about, oblivious to my presence. I watch to better confirm if this is being done out of nefarious intentions or not. When I see it’s not, I speak, “I have a question to ask you.” At the sound of my voice I hear her breathing go silent. She definitely knows who’s speaking. When she turns her face is devoid of all color and her response is less than chirpy, it’s shaky and intimidated, “Mr Finn. How may I assis
Antonia’s pov. I spend the night in another room and I don't know if Malachi notices my absence nor do I care. I take a visit to the cemetery, just to see my grandmother’s grave for one last final time, and when I come back every bone in my body hurts. It’s the familiar hum of fatigue and tiredness and as it surges through me, it reminds me that I'm pregnant too. A light headache whips through my head, but I ignore it and head straight to the room. I’m not staying here for another minute. At the thought of Malachi, something in my heart seems to begin burning, and I can't deal with that. I don’t want to see him. I take one last look at the room that we’ve both shared for the past three years and different images flash past behind my eyes. Images of both of us, on that bed. Passion being the one thing that brought us together. Yet even then, I'd just been deluding myself into thinking he loved me. That he had sex with me because he wanted it as much as I did. I go to the walk
I walk over to my bag and continue with packing.I feel Malachi’s glare. Every bit of it in all its righteous indignation and a thrum of pain surges in my heart. He puts the flowers down, embarrassment visible on his face. I briefly entertain the hope that he’s embarrassed because he’s finally come to his senses and realized his actions as a husband these past few years have been nothing to write home about.Malachi shatters my expectations once again, “The flowers weren’t for you anyways, and where do you think you’re going?”I chuckle bitterly to myself because it’s obvious he’d rather drown than admit to himself he hasn’t been perfect.I place the jade necklace into my bag and reach under the pillow to pull out the papers I'd placed there this morning. A twinge of embarrassment courses through me because the better option would have been to drop it onto the bedside table. He’s always complained about how unprofessional it is to keep things under the pillow for him to find, and see
The first thing that goes wrong is the weather. The skies had been moody on my visit to the cemetery but now they’re dark and are hanging heavy with rain. I drag my suitcase down the road looking for a taxi but I should have known I would never get one here. The Finn mansion isn’t located in just any part of the city I seek solace under a small canopy and feel tears sliding down my cheeks in frustration. Malachi’s words, and his mom’s taunts…. No one should be treated that way. For all my years in the Finn house, I've been nothing but respectful to Sienna, I've always been silent at tables because of her. Malachi thinks I can't live without that? He thinks I can't live without him treating me like less of a human than he would others?A sudden honk snaps me out of my thoughts and water splashes on me immediately. I gasp, my yell stuttering from shock and surprise. I was clearly by the side of the road. Anyone with two eyes would have seen me. The car that had splashed me with wa
I wake up in the comfort of a soft bed, and I snuggle into it because every part of my body hurts. I groan softly, and moan as I find a better spot that accelerates the comfort I feel. The first thing that makes me know something is weird is the scent of this bed. It’s a scent that makes me want to bury my nose into the bed and breathe more of it. It’s minty. Earthy. Musky. This isn’t what my bed smells like, then I open my eyes, and fear goes through me. I’m in a strange room I look around to see it’s large. It’s sparsely but tastefully furnished. The room radiates power and restraint at the same time. More than that it’s a room I've never been in before. I jolt when I hear a rich dark voice call out my name, “Antonia.” I whip my eyes to its direction immediately, and a confusing sight meets me because standing right there at the door, is Tieran, Malahchi’s uncle, with a steaming cup of tea in a saucer in his hands and a concerned look in his eyes. Tieran crowds the entryw
The sun shining in through the window annoys me. The documents in my hands infuriate me. A light headache slams into my head each time I look at any of the letters, and yet when I stretch my hand to the side of the table, there’s no tea there like there would have been.It sets something off in me and dropping my pen is the only thing I can do not to break it. I drop the cooperation deal too.The lack of tea isn’t the problem, I've sent out about six cups in irritation and anger already because they weren’t made right.A building filled with over a thousand people and no one is competent enough to make a fucking cup of tea!It’s been two days now since Antonia’s left and she isn’t back. Not even after I'd ensured half the city never opens its doors to her. I don’t understand it.She couldn’t have dissolved into damn thin air could she! She has to be hiding somewhere.The door to my office opens again and I do not bother to look at who’s coming in. It’s probably another idiot worker w
Antonia’s pov.“So this person is your mentor?”Tieran gives me a singular look and chuckles right after before he nods his head. We’re in his kitchen right now, and I don't know what I expected. Okay, I expected luxury and a dozen fancy bowls that do nothing but just be there for some special occasion that never comes. Tieran’s kitchen IS luxurious, but oddly it’s functional too. It’s obvious there’s been little to no female interference though, or maybe she’s just not like me and likes her spoons in a drawer where her hand can’t reach them.I take a scoop of the little soup Tieran has prepared and let it melt off my tongue. He knows what I want. He just won’t tell me because he says I should eat first. I know a thing or two about being insistent though so i go on, “There must be a backstory behind that. The famous wildly successful CEO of various multi billion dollar corporations, having a mentor?”Tieran smirks and I like the way he only does so with just one sharp angle of his li