Chapter 2

“We need to talk,” Dominic repeated.

Chelsea stood quietly beside him, her hand still resting over her stomach.

I walked down the stairs slowly. Each step felt heavy.

“Talk,” I said.

My voice sounded calm. I did not know where that calm came from.

Dominic gestured toward the sofa. “Sit.”

“I’ll stand.”

Chelsea lowered herself onto the couch like she already knew her place in the house.

Just then, Mrs Ainsworth, my mother in law, walked into the living room from outside. She looked at me scornfully before moving to seat beside Chelsea asking if she was okay, that one gave a nod.

Dominic remained standing.

“She’s pregnant,” he said.

My lips parted slightly.

“I can see that.”

He inhaled deeply.

“It’s mine.”

I steadied myself.

My heart pounded heavily inside my chest and I bit my lip fiercely to prevent the tears from falling down my cheeks.

I looked at Chelsea and she lowered her eyes shyly.

Shy.

As if this was something innocent.

“How long?” I asked.

Dominic hesitated.

“Four months.”

I felt stupid.

“I see, so it took you just two months after hiring her to start fucking her then” I said quietly.

Silence filled the room again.

“I didn’t plan it like this,” Dominic said suddenly.

I almost laughed.

“You didn’t plan to sleep with her?”

His jaw tightened.

“I didn’t plan for her to get pregnant.”

Oh, so that was the problem.

Not the cheating.

The pregnancy.

I guess he felt it was only right he revealed the whole truth today since he has already said her name in bed last night.

“She told me last month,” he continued. “She said she would keep the baby.”

“And?” I asked.

“And I need this child.”

There it was again.

He needed the child . More than he needed me? More than he needed our marriage??

“This is nobody’s fault Sephora” my mother-in-law began.

“My son has waited patiently all these years for you. I even wonder why he wasted so much time. You know he owns one of the biggest conglomerates in city A. He needs an heir! And if you are simply incapable of giving him one it’s only right we accept this gift that the universe has given us.”

“Mom…”I whispered in between sobs

“Please girl, you know who birthed you and it definitely wasn’t me. You can stop with all the ass licking now, it won’t help you. You can always find someone else can’t you? It doesn’t have to be my son you know.”

“Mom!” Dominic muttered in a warning tone.

I turned to Dominic

“Dominic…is this how you repay my love for you? After all these years? After everything?” I stammered

“I’m sorry Sephora but I really needed this child”

“So you secured it with a stranger?what happened to use exploring options. What happened to adopting or surrogacy?” I asked softly.

He looked away.

“I’m sorry Seph…It just happened.”

No.

Affairs do not “just happen.”

They are choices made repeatedly.

“And what am I supposed to do?” I asked.

Chelsea finally spoke.

“Madam… I did not mean to hurt you.”

Her voice was gentle.

Too gentle. Almost like she was trying to mock me with her calm demeanor.

“I tried to resign,” she continued. “But when I told him about the baby, CEO Dominic said we should discuss it first.”

I looked at Dominic sharply.

He did not deny it.

“We did the scan and it shows it’s a boy. She threatened to abort,” he said flatly. “I couldn’t allow that.”

My chest tightened.

“So you decided to replace me instead?”

His expression darkened.

“This is not about replacing you.”

“It feels like it.”

He stepped closer.

“I gave you four years, Sephora. I tried waiting for you”

I blinked.

“You gave me?”

“I stood by you,” he said. “Through every negative test. Every doctor visit. Every disappointment.”

“And I stood by you through every board meeting, every public event, every family insult!” My voice rose for the first time. “Incase you didn’t know Your mother calls me barren to my face!”

He flinched slightly.

“ Or maybe you did know and just chose not to protect me!”

“This is bigger than emotions,” he said quietly. “I need a son.”

“And I need my husband!” I wailed

“I need the man who promised to love, cherish and protect me till the day I die! I need the man who told me I was all he needed and he would remain by my side till the very end. I need my man Dominic!”

Chelsea shifted uncomfortably.

I couldn’t stop the tears now. They rolled uncontrollably down my cheeks. I didn’t know if to scream or fight or just lay defeated on the floor and for some weird reason, I was dizzy. This was too much for me. Too much.

“What do you want from me?” I finally asked in a shaky voice.

Dominic’s face hardened again, like he was putting on armor.

“There are two options.”

My stomach dropped.

“You can stay,” he said. “You will remain my wife. Chelsea will also stay. The child will grow up in this house. Publicly, nothing changes. You can even take him as your own. We can continue as a family Sephora”

My ears rang.

His mother turned to give him a look almost like saying the next option is the most important one so you had better said it.

“Or,” he continued, “we sign divorce papers. Then we can go our separate ways.

I stared at him.

“You want me to be a co-wife?”

“It’s practical Sephora. A lot of elites do it. Besides I wouldn’t be officially getting married to Chelsea she would just be here to nurse the kid.”

Practical.

My life reduced to practicality.

Chelsea spoke again, softly but firmly.

“I am already carrying his child,” she said. “You cannot give him that. The least you can do is not be difficult about this.”

I felt something crack inside me.

I looked at Dominic.

He did not look proud.

He did not look happy.

He looked helpless.

But beneath that, I saw something else.

Fear.

I don’t know if the fear was of loosing me or not and at this point I just didn’t care anymore.

His mother sat beside Chelsea smiling triumphantly like her biggest wish had just come to pass right in front of her.

“You already chose,” I said drying my eyes.

He did not deny it.

“I’m giving us a choice,” he replied.

“No,” I said slowly. “You’re giving me an exit.”

His jaw clenched.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

Harder?

My entire marriage was ending in my living room and he wanted easy?

I felt my knees weaken.

“I cut off my family for you,” I whispered. “I left my business because you said a CEO’s wife should not be competing in the market. I stayed home.I did everything the way you wanted it and exactly how you wanted it and this is what I get”

His eyes flickered.

For a second, just a second, guilt passed through them.

But then it disappeared.

“The papers are ready,” His mother said hastily.

I chuckled.

Of course they were.

He had already signed.

He had already prepared.

This was never a discussion.

It was a decision.

“Sign tonight,” she added quietly. “Let’s not drag this out.”

Chelsea placed a hand on her stomach protectively.

“Stress is not good for the baby,” she murmured.

That did it.

I laughed.

A soft, broken sound.

“You don’t deserve my tears,” I said. “Hand me the papers”

Dominic walked closer to me and I shifted back. “Seph, it doesn’t have to end like this”

“Give me the damn papers!” I yelled

He signed and brought out a file from his leather bag on the couch.

The papers were there.

Neatly arranged.

My name printed clearly.

Sephora Ainsworth.

Four years reduced to ink.

I took them from him gently and sat.

My hand trembled as I picked up the pen he handed to me.

I looked at Dominic one last time.

“Was there ever a moment,” I asked softly, “where you loved me more than this need for a son?”

He did not answer.

That was my answer.

I signed.

The pen scratched loudly against the paper.

When I dropped it, the sound felt final.

I did not wait to see more.

I walked past them.

Up the stairs.

Into the bedroom.

I did not pack.

I did not take my clothes.

I only grabbed my handbag and my phone.

When I walked past them again, neither of them stopped me.

At the door, I paused.

For four years, this had been my home.

Now it felt like a stranger’s house.

“I hope she gives you the son you need,” I said quietly.

Then I walked out.

And this time, I did not look back.