How can I not know the face of the woman who, as my sister-in-law has told me too many times to count, is Derek’s first and true love?
Jealousy, as I have never known it before, grips me, and I feel my heart constrict as I watch the two of them laughing at something that she had said.
“Oh … my God! That lying, heartless, evil, cheating bastard!” I say under my breath with blurry eyes, my chest tightening even further until it feels like I can't breathe.
Finally, Derek’s strange behavior all makes sense. His ex is back after all these years and he wants to discard me like a pair of old shoes because of her.
The chemistry between the two of them is as clear as day, and as I watch them, I realize that in all the years that we have been married, he has never laughed so heartily at something I said.
“Oh, please! Don’t act so surprised. Did you think a handsome and rich dude like my brother was going to remain with someone like you for the rest of his life? It was only a matter of time.” My sister-in-law, Amanda says, rolling her eyes as she peers at me maliciously.
I’m not listening to any of what Amanda is saying though, because I’m too busy trying to make sense of what I’m seeing and the events of earlier this evening before I came here for dinner.
Seeing Derek step into the restaurant with his ex hanging all over him as though it is the most natural thing in the world is the worst thing he could have done to me after breaking my heart into pieces.
I notice the exact moment that he sees me sitting at a table with his mother and sister. He definitely does not know that we are going to be here and looks shocked when he sees us, but he regains his composure almost immediately.
Then he leads his ex to a table on the other side of the room, his hands on the small of her back like a perfect gentleman.
Seeing him act so perfectly towards her when he doesn’t even like to go out with me in public often makes my heart feel like a spear has been plunged into it.
The table has obviously been reserved for them. Once she is seated, he stalks over to our table.
“What are you playing at now, Amanda?” He asks his sister tightly, bending to accept the kiss his mother offers. He carefully avoids my eyes while he does this.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyway, happy birthday to you.” Amanda replies, playing coy, but she can't hide the mischief in her voice or demeanor.
It's then I put two and two together and realize that she was the one who must have changed the venue I chose to this one, somehow knowing that Derek was going to come there with his ex, who is her best friend.
Amanda would do anything to cause me pain and remind me that I am not one of them. It has always been that way. I wonder how long Derek must have been seeing his ex, with both of them laughing behind my back at how gullible I am.
“Good evening, Mrs. Turner. Good evening, Amanda. Hello to you.” A female voice comes. The last sentence is directed at me.
Without looking, I know that it is Derek’s ex who has come up to our table. I watch as a happy smile graces Amanda and her mother’s faces when they see her.
They both give her tight hugs and I feel my throat close as I watch them. I have never been hugged by either woman in the years since I knew them. In fact, they usually go out of their way to either avoid me or cause me problems.
The three women are whispering excitedly among themselves now, excluding me and making me feel like an unwanted piece of trash in their midst. My eyes meet Derek’s and I find that he’s watching me with a speculative look in his eyes.
However, he does not say anything. Loneliness and sadness, as I have never known them before, hit me, and a huge lump forms in my throat.
I will never be loved or respected in this family, especially now that this woman is back in their lives. I know that as well as I know my name.
Unable to watch them a second longer, I get up abruptly, muttering excuses, and leave the table to go outside, not that anyone except Derek notices me leaving.
He doesn’t follow me, which is just as well. I need a breath of fresh air away from him and his family.
The image of his very beautiful ex, with her perfect blonde hair and expensive dress which is cut low to reveal her ample cleavage, refuses to get out of my head as I stand outside there in the freezing cold, with my hair whipping around my face.
Is that the type of woman he likes? No wonder he can't bring himself to like me, no matter how much I try to get him to do so.
Suddenly, a whiff of a very sweet and feminine perfume wafts around me as the restaurant door opens and a second later, I hear her voice … the voice of the woman with whom my husband is still clearly so besotted.
“Hello … I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself to you properly. I’m Denise, and I’m a family friend of the Turners. It’s nice to officially meet Derek’s wife. I must say that he did really well for himself. You’re a very beautiful woman.” The woman, Denise says, taking me aback. She sounds nicer than I expect.“Oh, um, well, thanks.”“It’s the truth, but you’re welcome. That aside, I have a feeling that you and I are going to be such good friends.”“Unfortunately, I’m afraid that is not going to happen. Derek served me divorce papers this evening and is hell-bent on me signing them, so I’m going to be gone soon enough.” I divulge, then immediately wish I hadn't told her that.What am I doing confiding in a total stranger about the fact that Derek wants a divorce? At my words, Denise looks shell-shocked. In the next moment though, what suspiciously looks like happiness fleets across her face for a split second, but then, it is gone as soon as it appears, leaving me to wo
Determined not to embarrass myself by losing my composure, I turn away from him and walk back to my table, my legs unsteady and my eyes swollen from unshed tears. I notice that Denise is now seated with two other men and a woman, who are all dressed in formal wear. They must be the other clients that he had talked about. Okay, so maybe he was telling the truth about the business meeting, but I still have a strong hunch that he and Denise have something going on. I can see it in the way they can't stop looking at or smiling at each other and in their general body language too.I decide to stop torturing myself and ignore them for the rest of the evening. There is no rest for me, however, because as soon as I sit down, Amanda and her mother start what they do best … which is antagonizing me in a bid to provoke and get a reaction out of me. “Barren, ugly bitch! I don’t know what my brother ever saw in you.” Amanda taunts me after several minutes have passed since I returned to th
Buzz … I receive a message on my phone. I wonder if it is going to be Derek who is checking up on me. After all, I left the restaurant crying and in shock.I dive for the phone, hoping that he has sent a reasonable explanation for what I saw. One glance at the phone screen and I see that the message is indeed from him. However, any hope that I had that he is going to explain himself dies a quick death the minute I scan the contents of the message. It reads,"Denise is pregnant. She is about to give birth to an heir for me. Our child needs a family. Sign the divorce agreement by tomorrow." A new message from Derek's phone number.If I had thought that nothing could hurt me anymore after the series of events that I have faced this day, I thought wrong. This new unwanted piece of information hits me like a ton of brick.Bile rises in my throat and I rush straight into the bathroom just in time to throw up the contents of my stomach until there's nothing left in it, at which point I beg
DEREK’S POVMy entire body hurts like hell, and my head is pounding like there are a million troops in it, but I do not go home. Instead, I head straight to the office, dressed in the shirt and trousers that I wore to dinner last night, although I do not wear the suit.I don’t want to have to deal with Ava and the accusation that would no doubt be in her eyes once she sees me. Last night was quite chaotic, but I’m not ready to explain anything to anyone just yet.“Sir, your wife, um … Mrs Turner, erm, Miss Ava, left these for you.” My secretary informs me when I get back to the office, handing me the divorce papers that I gave to Ava the previous night.To my utter surprise, she has signed them. Knowing Ava, I had thought that this would be a prolonged mess and that she would refuse to sign the papers and continue to declare her love for me. “Hmm. What is that woman playing at now?” I wonder aloud.“Sir, she also refused to accept this. She said she doesn’t need it.” My secretary say
FIVE YEARS LATER Ava’s POV It’s been five whole years since I last stepped foot in this city, and in the span of that time, a whole lot has changed in my life … for the better. It took a lot of time and work, but I got over Derek and his betrayal and now, I’m living my best life. Whereas five years ago, I was a dumb woman who worshipped the ground on which her husband walked, while the said husband despised her existence, now I'm a very famous screenwriter and producer who is her own boss, as well as the boss of many other people. Not only that but whereas I left with nothing except my clothes five years ago, this time around, I’m back with a whole human being, in the person of my four-year-old daughter. Yes, not long after I left Derek, I found out that I was pregnant with his child and even though I was heartbroken back then, I knew immediately that I wanted to keep the baby. This decision turned out to be the best decision of my life because I can't even imagine my lif
DEREK’S POVMy life is a living hell. There is no other way to put it, and I have only myself to blame for it. I dread going home from work every day, but I have no choice other than to do it. There’s no way I’m going to be kept from my own home.My son is the only ray of sunshine in my life, but then, even the joy he brings into my life is dampened by seeing him suffer so much day in, day out.Today, as I step into the house, the whole house is silent, which means that Denise probably took our son, Barry out of the house to spend some time with him, which would be a good thing because she neglects the boy way too much.When I get into the kitchen though, I see that I’m wrong. Barry is seated on the floor of the kitchen, with a huge tub of ice cream in front of him, and he’s stuffing his face with the ice cream.He smiles widely when he sees me, and I return the smile, but inwardly, my heart is aching. Barry’s whole body and the floor around him are stained with ice cream and he is cl
AVA’S POVI am seated in my office waiting for my secretary to usher in Derek, who is having a meeting with me in a few minutes. I don’t think he knows that I’m the person he’s meeting, but then, I don’t care if he knows or not.My shock and surprise had known no bounds when I looked through my activity for the day and found out that I would be meeting with him.So much for avoiding him at the airport five days ago. Apparently, fate is determined to throw us together against my wish.A few moments later, he is ushered in by my secretary, who then closes the door and goes out, leaving the two of us alone.“Good morning, ma’am.” He greets me, as politely as ever.He has always been quite polite … but that privilege had been reserved for other women apart from me. He used to treat me with casual indifference … like he was being forced to acknowledge my existence.He clearly doesn’t recognize me, which is not a surprise because of the time that has passed and because I now look very diffe
“I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor, Ms. Jones. I’d be forever in your debt if you can grant it.” I say, my heart in my throat.Her answer matters a lot to me. It’s also weird to have to call her Ms. Jones, but now is not the time to dwell on that.“I would like to please ask you to consider someone I recommend for the female lead role in the movie.”“Well, how good is this person? The success of the movie is my major priority so if they are a good actress, then I could consider giving them the role.”“She’s very good.” I rush to assure her, although I’m not so sure of that fact. At least, Denise would not say I didn’t try.“Okay, great. I’d schedule a session to see just how good she is and decide if I'm going to cast her or not. So do you have any questions concerning what we have discussed today?”“Um, no. I don’t. thanks.”“Great. I’ll see you out then.” Ava says, getting up and offering her hand for me to shake.I want to say something … anything that would remind her