Prologue: Ex-wife

A housewife would feel happy, on cloud nine, otherwise, for some of the few reasons like:

1. Some surprise dates from her husband.

2. If the husband comes home early.

3. If she did well in one of her hobbies or cooking sessions.

4. She is pregnant.

Once I noticed the black SUV, with my driver, Mr. Gills, seated on the driver's seat, I got into the back seat.

Mr. Gills is a middle-aged person, working for Anderson's since the December of 1996. His expressions are usually stoic, hiding all the emotions, and he pulls up a genteel smile when an occasion demands.

"Is that extra gleam in your eyes, I see?" Mr. Gills said with a neutral voice after sensing, a wide smile plastered on my lips along with an extra brightness in my eyes.

"Why yes, it is," I said, still smiling at a secret fact only I had knowledge about.

"The reason, may I ask?" He asked, with a little hesitancy in his voice whilst speeding through the streets of Manhattan.

"Oh...Don't hesitate, Gills. What if I say, there will be an over-protective mamma bear in our home soon?" I asked, fidgeting my fingers, anticipating a reaction from Gills.

"Do..Do you mean..?" he trailed carrying on, "Samuel will be a father?" The sentence ended with a soft whisper. There was a noticeable tinge of happiness in his voice.

"Guess, the papa will be often come home early from work." This provided answer to his trailed off question. Lately, Samuel had been distant and taciturn, not sharing the inner turmoil he felt. His prolonged working hours and early morning leaving were affecting our relationship.

Clearly, he is either hiding something or someone's bothering him.

He halted the car when red signal was displayed, and turned around with a beam in his brown eyes. His lips twitched up a little. "So, my boy is going to be a father soon?"

My smile widened, confirming the answer to his question.

"Thank you, Bridget. You don't know, how happy you have made me." He offered one of his rare smiles.

I laughed saying, "Well, I guess you should turn in front avoid accident, Gills."

He chuckled and turned around resuming the drive. Gills had been with Samuel, since, the latter was 6 years old. The adoration in Samuel's eyes was never gone unnoticed by me whenever he speaks about Gills. The rarest times Gills smiled, were all directly or indirectly connected with Samuel. In other words, they share a bond of a son and father.

After parking the car in garage, Gills paralyzed the engine and I got out of the car.

"Come on in, Gills."

"You go in miss. I guess Samuel's home already." He pointed Samuel's personal car, which was parked behind me using the index finger of his right hand.

"Did you think, I did not notice that already?"

"Well, the news is supposed to be revealed by wife to her husband, privately. So, why would you invite me in miss?"

"You know....I am anxious. What if Samuel isn't ready? Like, it's not even been a year from our marriage, and we both are still young for children." I made a point. I would completely understand if Samuel was not interested in having kids of his own. He was just 25 and I was 21 only.

"Kids these days whine about being young at 25 and 26, in order to become a parent. Well, I and most of my friends became fathers at 23 years of age." A chuckle left his lips. "I am sure Samuel will be delighted to hear the news, Bridget. Go in, and say the news happily."

After patting my shoulder in reassurance, he practically pushed me towards the door.

"Geez, I am going."

I sent a glare in his direction whilst dragging myself towards the house door.

Conjuring the confidence I needed to express myself, I unlocked the door using the spare key in my hand.

"Samuel..." I called out for him, placing the keys and bag that contained reports on the corner table by the door.

The house we resided in, was a little more than an average sized home, located in wealthy community of Manhattan. We would have been in a house sized twice the current one, but I urged Samuel to buy the small one instead. I would never consider our house small, but for a billionaire like Samuel, it was. Growing between dollars, they did not have much comprehension of poor population.

"Samuel!" No answer. The probability that my voice did not reach his ears was more than the probability he heard me.

I surveyed all the rooms downstairs which had a possibility of Samuel chilling out in them. Samuel is so unpredictable, once he 'chilled in guest room' because apparently, he got bored of T.V sets of our room and living room.

The whole floor was silent, except the light tapping sound of my feet whenever I stepped forward.

Hey! Check upstairs.

Nodding at my sub-conscious, I stalked back towards the entrance, feeling a little uncomfortable due to eerie silence. Even Martha, our maid, had to decide taking leave today. I grabbed the reports bag and ascended the stairs to reach my bedroom. Even if Samuel was home, he must be sleeping, otherwise, house was never this silent in Samuel's presence.

I opened the bedroom door slowly, cautious not to disturb Samuel's slumber, in case he was sleeping.

But when I opened the door, my eyes became wide in astonishment whereas my mouth dropped open in surprise. But, as we expect always, the surprise surely wasn't the pleasant one.

"Samuel!"

He seemed startled for a moment before covering himself properly. He terminated the action of stroking Alice's hair, and turned towards me with a scowl.

"What the hell are you doing? With her....!"

My voice came out loud scaring Alice a bit. Well, you should be scared, Cherie, after all you were naked in the same bed with my husband.

They quickly composed themselves. "Can't you see that clearly?"

Had he lost his mind in the morning when his head accidentally hit the wall? Hope so.

"What have gone into you? Why are you with Alice, on OUR bed?"

"Because, I love her!" That sentence left me stunned in silence. Did he just say, he loves her? What about me then?

"What?" My voice descended to a small, unbelievable whisper.

"Didn't you hear that? Because I lo---"

I held up my hand. "I heard that, okay? But you don't make sense. You love me, not her. I am your wife, not her," I yelled, pointing Alice, whereas I was breathing heavily in anger.

"You are my wife, I know. But I can't live with you anymore as I have fallen in love with Alice."

He got up from his position covering himself quickly with the boxers which were lying on the floor whilst Alice was still clutching the blanket tight to her chest.

"What are you on drugs? Do you understand what the hell are you speaking, or should I knock some sense into you? We both are married because of love, not lust or arrangement. How can you suddenly say you love her?" A humorless laugh left my lips. I could feel my heart clenching tight in their ribcage despite the tough façade I wore now.

"What can I say now? When you discover the truth of your wife, you tend to seek love from people who ACTUALLY care about you."

"What truth?" My mind became alert suddenly, to know the truth.

"Are you asking me that now? Wow! The person who gambled herself doesn't know," he said in mock astonishment, throwing his hands in air.

"Gambling? What gambling?"

"Don't act confused and all innocent now, Bridget. Your trick's done! You cannot cheat me more, okay? I opened my eyes long back and now I am happy that I did."

What gambling? I did not understand a word he uttered. He was speaking whatever came into his mouth, without thinking the result of his spoken words. Meanwhile, I glanced at Alice, who was silent this whole time. Her lips were drawn in a triumphant smirk and there was a glint in her eye as if she achieved something.

Is this all related to her? First, he slept with Alice. Next, he addressed me a gambler, indirectly. Third, there was something that Alice was plotting on.

Whatever it is, if you are involved, you better watch yourself Alice.

"Samuel, listen. Whatever you are speaking now, you are not in right mood. Calm down, okay? Someone is desperately plotting against our relationship. They are blinding you."

I cautiously started to take a step towards him, but he held up his hand ceasing me in the spot. His face was raging with anger, directed towards me. "Enough Bridget, I was blinded till now, by you. I just opened my eyes and peeked at your true colors, let me be, okay? No one is plotting against us. That is you who actually spoiled our relationship. With your gambling and cheating."

"You are accusing me for something, I have no idea about. Gambling...cheating... What rubbish is all this? Please explain me," I yelled, failing the attempt of keeping my anger levels down. He was going on rambling non-sense, and I had been listening to it. What the hell did he think about him?

"You want to know? See these reports then you will get to know, what you have done. And also this pictures." He threw some envelopes in my direction which were of different sizes.

What was in these envelopes?

I ripped open the envelopes when curiosity spiked in me. I surveyed through the reports of my bank account, I had no idea about. There were some pictures of me in other man's arms, whom I had never crossed paths with.

"What are these? I don't know this man neither do I have knowledge about him." I pointed the man in the picture.

"Right... You don't even know about your own bank account and money in it. Now say that too." He let out a sarcastic remark, rolling his eyes.

"I really don't know about all this. Whatever, it is." My heart thudded louder in my chest with each passing movement whereas my eyes couldn't bear the accusing eyes of my husband.

"God! Stop denying it Bridget, even after the proofs are in your hands." He held his head in hands, taking a seat beside Alice, whom once I called, best friend.

"For all you know, they might be photo shopped."

"You think I did not check that? I am not dumb." He looked up tiredly from his hands. I checked for an emotion of regret on his face, or a belief he had in me. But he quickly masked his face sensing my calculating gaze.

This explains me, why he had been distant past days. I, once again, glanced at Alice, who was rubbing Samuel's bare shoulders, in a soothing way. Her lips were twitched up a little, raising my suspicions. This had something to do with her.

"You!" I pointed at her yelling, "What have you done to my husband?"

"What? Now, you want to accuse me of your actions? Low blow, it is." She masked her face with fake innocence. I had been with her to know if she was being genuine or not.

"Don't act clever, Alice. I know you. Your face shows it all."

She placed her hands on heart in fake horror saying, "See Samuel, she is now blaming me."

Samuel gently detached Alice's hand from his shoulder, before getting up and heaving a sigh. "Listen Bridget, your game is out in open now. Please don't try to fool us anymore. I placed the divorce papers already on the table. I will spare your life if you just leave signing the divorce papers, okay?" His voice was very tired, indicating me that he had no energy left to fight with me.

But he has to fight with me! He doesn't how drastic the consequences will be.

When he did not believe my words, in that instant, I knew he broke his vow of trusting me in all situations.

"Samuel we have taken vows of trust. You can't just trust a person out of nowhere instead of believing your own wife," I said in utter disbelief.

The foundation of a relationship is trust and faith in your partner. When you destruct them, the tree of life you built would collapse accompanied by the foundation.

From my peripheral vision, I could see Alice snorting.

"Vows of trust and belief? It is you who broke my trust by being with another man, and also stealing my money secretly."

I stalked towards him and cupped his face saying, "Look in my eyes Samuel. Could you believe I am lying? Look in my eyes and say." I urged him with a slight quiver in my voice when realization of losing Samuel crept in me slowly. I never had an opportunity to know the whereabouts of my parents let alone meet them. I couldn't let Samuel go, he was the only best thing happened to me in my 21 years of orphan life.

I'm your bread and you're my jam. Samuel once said me on the breakfast table. But it never occurred me that butter was still available.

Different emotions crossed his captive gray eyes, but his eyes chose anger among all the emotions. The view of his soft gray ones was clouded by raging anger resulting me flinch automatically.

He jerked his face away from my hold and said, "Please Bridget, sign the papers and do us both a favor. Leave me damn alone!"

"No Samuel, don't. You are consumed by anger. Listen...listen.. We both can sort this out and track the person whoever is planning this. We have a bond Samuel of a husband and wife. And maybe I should say, there is a life growing inside me. Of whom, we both have to take care." My voice was wavy mixed with hiccups, I tried to put my tears at bay and dared them to flow out.

The desperation and hopefulness in my voice was clear as crystal.

"What...?" His voice softened along with his gaze.

"Probably, she is carrying the baby of the man." Alice interrupted from the bed, glaring in my direction.

Samuel shook his head saying, "Alice's right. It's not mine."

Did he just deny his own blood? He believed in Alice instead of his own wife. Tears started to fight the barriers I've built around them. In the fight my barriers win, of course. I'd never let my weakness overcome pride.

I always was insecure about our relationship around Alice, since, she was his childhood friend. She WAS introduced to me by Samuel. There was a glint in her eyes whenever her gaze fell on Samuel. But Samuel being himself, always brushed away the matter. I should've known this would happen one day.

I couldn't stay in this insecure relationship. Nor am I going to prove him as father. It was up to him if he believed me or not.

"Where are the divorce papers?"

Their lips parted in surprise and eyes widened a fraction, probably due to shock.

"Come with me." Samuel roughly grabbed my hand and dragged me.

I stared at his naked back, reliving all the memories. I still could not understand, how did we end up like this? I always had thought this man, who was currently sending tingles up my arm, trusted me and cherished me.

Please, Samuel, believe me. We have a lot between us to just get a divorce. The love we share should be eternal. Not something anyone can break when they want to.

"Sign." He gestured the side table, once we reached the living room.

"Once please think about this, Samuel," I said in a soft voice hoping he'd realize what he was doing. Even Alice wasn't here to interrupt us. Maybe I could knock some sense into him. Droplets of tears formed in my eyes, threatening to roll down my cheeks if this would not stop this instant.

Believe me, Samuel.

He shook his head and said, "I thought more than I was supposed to, please sign and leave. It was all a mistake."

Mistake..? Yeah, right! It was definitely a mistake loving and marrying you. Once you realize THE mistake you did now, if you ever do, you'll be too late, Mr. Anderson.

****

Please  VOTE AND COMMENT. :)