Athena’s P.O.V
Red…
That seemed to be the most prominent color in my life at the moment. Yesterday, it spilled down my thighs, painting my skin in a horrifying crimson river that stole my future.
Today, it bloomed vibrantly in a dozen roses sitting arrogantly on the tiny side table, the only color in the otherwise chrome room. My hands pressed over my swollen stomach and tears welled in my eyes, blurring the edges of the crimson petals.
Were they the same shade? I wondered. The roses and the life I bled out alone… at the bottom of the stairs. Guess I’d probably never know. I wasn’t sure if I’d tripped or if the world had just decided to tilt beneath my feet. One moment, I was leaving our bedroom, heading downstairs to the kitchen to get water, and also calling my husband to remind him about our anniversary dinner tomorrow. I knew he’d likely forgotten while hyper-focusing on his billion-dollar deals and mistresses.
The next, I was sprawled at the bottom of the grand staircase, my flimsy nightgown barely protecting my skin from the cold I couldn’t even feel. I screamed, but it died in the vastness of our fucking house. Even if my voice could escape our house, there were no neighbors to hear. The fucking secluded mansion in the woods. It was a decision I had always hated, moving us into this mansion last year.
‘I love the privacy and it’s the space you’ve always wanted away from my family’ he had said.
Well, it cost us our baby.
A choked sob escaped me as my brain trapped me in the past.
One wrong step. That was the only explanation the cops could offer. They said the cameras in our mansion confirmed only that I’d fallen. They said the pressure I’d felt against my back, shoving me forward was all my imagination. I was stressed, they said–all my imagination.
But the fucking impact when I landed on the floor wasn’t a fantasy. The world dissolved into a white-hot spark of agony and crimson bloomed where white had been…the floor…my gown…my skin…red… I fucking hate that color so much. It stole everything from me!
“Please,” I rasped, the word tearing at my raw throat as I lay immobile, bleeding, pregnant with a broken ankle. “Please, I would give my life to Christ if you save her. Please God, not the baby. You can take anything but not my baby.”
I screamed like one who had lost her mind. “Help me! Help! Help!” But the echoes of my own voice mocked me, told me how vain and useless I was.
Then came the weakness, my eyes drifting close, my body threatening to shut down from the blood loss. I knew I would die right there on this floor if I didn’t help myself.
So I did. Tears poured down my eyes as I dragged red strokes across the white tiles, finally reaching the front door where the intruder alarm button mocked me. Teeth gritted, I leaned up as far as my fingers would reach and slammed it into the red button.
Sirens wailed not quite long after and everything went dark. When I regained consciousness, I screamed for the doctors, yelling for my baby. And the fragile hope that had kept me sane was yanked from me. The doctor’s words echoed in my brain–I’m so sorry, Mrs. Havilliard, but we weren’t able to save the baby. I’m so sorry.”
“No…doctor…this can’t be true. Please do something. Check again…I swear my baby’s fine…” I held onto his arms, shaking my head as tears flew down my cheeks. But his answering sad nod fell my arms to my side. God! My baby. Gone. It did nothing. It was innocent.
A shout down the hallway snapped me out of my reverie and my eyes blinked, taking in the hospital room and then tracked down to my wrist where an I.V was hooked and then to the card held between my fingers
–Happy Anniversary, my love. Rest well and return home soon.
Those were the only words scribbled on the card. A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. He didn’t even know. He thought I was in the hospital for some elaborate bed rest. He didn’t know I’d lost our baby. I could bet my right arm he wasn’t even the one who picked out the flowers. My favorite flowers were tulips and he knew this. He must have sent his assistant or something.
Tears streamed down my face, hot and angry as I ripped the card into tiny pieces. I dragged my knees up to my chest and hugged myself tight as the tears burned a hot track on my cheeks. Why? Why did this have to happen to me? Why didn’t my husband care?
When my eyes grew too brittle for tears, I unfurled and sat up on the hospital bed. With trembling hands, I picked up my cell phone and dialed the number he worshiped more than anything, his office line.
After a few rings, the call went through and I didn’t wait for the voice on the other end to speak before I whispered. “I want a divorce, Rhys.”
“Oh my god.” his secretary’s voice gasped and I could hear a few whispers as she probably placed her hand over the mouthpiece. “Sir…your wife…yes…divorce…”
When the voice returned, it was my husband’s and he said. “As you wish.”
Chapter 2Athena’s P.O.V
One month later.
“Why did you move back into his family home, Athena!” My best friend yelled over the phone and I pulled it away from my ears to stop her from bursting my eardrums. “You know those people don’t fucking like you.”
“The doctor says I need to be around people…to..to help me forget.” The last word ended in a choked whisper that had my best friend sighing. If I closed my eyes, I could pretend Isabel was next to me, rubbing my shoulders as we talked about everything and nothing.
“Baby, you could have come on this trip with me!” My phone vibrated with a video call request from her, asking to change the voice call to that. I clicked on the red button and her stunning caramel-toned face filled my phone’s screen. Behind was a breathtaking view of the glittering ocean from her floor-to-ceiling windows. “Take time off while the lawyers prepare the divorce papers. Being around those evil people would be way more toxic than–”
“Drop it, Isa.” I snapped, using my free hand to rub my flat belly. It was a habit I still hadn’t dropped. Hopefully someday…I I will.
Isabel flinched and a sad expression down-turned her lips. Shaking her head, she pressed her hand over her heart and tears filled her green eyes. “I swear I hate seeing you this way, Athena. I need you. Your son, Chris needs you and it’s time you stopped pushing him away.”
That did it.
I threw my phone across the room and watched it crash into the wall, shattering into parts I couldn’t keep count of. Hot tears burned my eyes and I dug the heel of my palm into my eyes to keep from crying. She didn’t understand half of what the fuck she talked about. Isabel had no idea how it felt…this gnawing ache in my chest. It was killing me slowly, robbing me of the will to continue, and as for my first child, Chris…
A key suddenly scraped in the lock, sending a jolt through me. I stiffened and schooled my expression to hide any evidence of my breakdown.
The front door creaked open and Rhysand walked in. I hadn’t seen him in what…Two weeks? Yet he didn’t even glance my way as he strolled towards the kitchen, muttering under his breath.
“What is this?” I heard him yell from the kitchen before he materialized by the doorway. “No dinner?”
I ignored him and turned my gaze to the ceiling.
Rhysand stopped back to where I sat, the stench of adultery clinging to his body stung my nostrils. “I said, where’s dinner?”
Silence still. My weapon of choice tonight.
A sigh soon lifted out of him and when I spared him a glance, he actually seemed annoyed. “Look, I–” He cut himself off, reaching into a bag I hadn’t noticed and producing a dazzling box. “This should make you feel better.”
My stomach twisted in disgust and I was thankful his folks were asleep and couldn’t witness this. Gritting my teeth, I took the box from him and threw it across the room.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Athena?” He yelled, his calm facade forgotten.
“I am divorcing you, Rhysand Havilliard. And that means, I do not cook for you anymore and YOU do not try to buy me with gifts!” Despite the hole in my chest, my voice was steady and cold.
Just then a familiar voice echoed in the living room, by the box I’d tossed across. “Dear, what’s going on?”
My mother-in-law, clearly awoken by our arguments moved closer to us and touched her son’s arms with natural French-tipped fingers. “Is this…thing at it again?”
I let out a shaky laugh and stormed back upstairs to Chris’s room, for if I spent a single second more with those people, I…I would get physical.
As I tiptoed quietly into his room, my heart began thumping in my chest and tears prickled my eyes. It was so fucking ironic that it was after the death of my baby I was now able to see my first child more. When Rhysand decided to move us to the stupid house he bought in Ecrim Woods, his family, The Havilliards, old money and as powerful as it gets forbade me from taking Christain along with me. They said he had to be trained the exact way Rhysand was…to receive a strict elite education in the most prestigious school in the country. I could bet my right arm that all the generations of the Havilliard family received the same education in the same school. It was almost like a fucking ritual and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I fought hard to bring Christain along with us, but my in-laws, especially my mother-in-law, laughed at my face in her pompous nasal voice while informing me that marriage to her son and to the Havilliard family was the greatest blessing that could ever be bestowed upon me by my ancestors and I should be grateful I even was opportune to birth a heir for them.
So for a year, until a month ago when I moved back into this damned house, I was only allowed to see my Christain once a month and it hurt my heart how far apart we’d grown.
Christain barely even spoke to me.
As the tears pooled in my eyes, my shoulders began trembling and I curled by the foot of my son’s bed, knowing if I went and held him, he would scream and alert the family to my presence.
God it hurt. I wanted my baby. Why did you take him?
My arms cradled my belly as I sobbed.
Chapter 3Athena’s P.O.V
When my eyes drifted open, it was morning and a weird light was shining directly into my eyes. Bringing my hands to shield my eyes from the glare, I struggled to sit up, slightly disoriented with a sharp pain in my lower back.
The events of the previous night rushed back into my subconscious and a sigh rose to my lips. With a groan, I realized I’d smashed my phone into the wall. I needed to call my attorney to discuss the divorce’s progression this morning.
Another sigh rose to my lips and I stood up from the floor only to see that the bed was empty and freshly changed. Hmm, the maids must have prepared Christain for school without me.
I glanced at the wall clock and shook my head. It was barely six am. His routine was way too gruesome for a six-year-old.
Swallowing the bile rising to my throat, I hurried to the master’s bedroom to get a change of clothes so I could shower there. I wished I didn’t have to share a room with Rhysand but his folks would never let me have a room to myself while I was married to their son and living under their roof.
With any luck, Rhysand would be out.
But when I arrived at the room, I could hear water running from the shower, indicating that my ex-husband-to-be was probably having his bath.
Silently, I crept towards the closet, picked out any dress my hands could touch, undies, and turned to leave when a bright light blinked from the nightstand.
Pursing my lips, I intended to ignore it, but the sound of vibration against wood filled the room.
I went to the source of light and it turned out to be Rhysand’s phone.
A text message from Calista read,
–Baby, would you be early at the office today? I’m wearing thongs…in your favorite color.
A bitter taste filled my mouth and I blinked back the tears stinging my eyes. It was no secret that my husband was cheating on me with his secretary. Chances were he was fucking his secretary that night I laid on the floor bleeding. Such a shameless man.
My lips trembled and I swallowed another sob. I refused to cry about it. I already knew it a long time ago. Their relationship had been so ambiguous to the extent that they even stayed in the same suite during the so-called business trips.
“Athena, what are you doing—?” Rhysand’s deep voice slammed into me and I jumped in shock, a red blush staining my cheeks.
Shit. I really didn’t want to be that wife caught snooping on her husband’s phone.
So biting my tongue, I turned to look at him and thankfully, he was standing arms akimbo at the doorway of the bathroom, far enough to be unaware of what I was doing.
A towel hung low on his waist, lapping up the water droplets that rolled down his v-shaped abs. Good looks were only superficial and Rhysand had that in excess.
I ignored him and stormed out of the bathroom to my son’s room.
Thankfully, the rest of the day went without any confrontation with Rhysand and his family. By noon, I asked the driver to take me to a phone store.
When I’d gotten a functional mobile phone and transferred my information into it, I decided to go surprise Chris at his school for the first time.
My stomach was in knots by the time we pulled up and I hoped to god he would want to see me there. Cleaning my soppy palms on the skirt of my dress, I managed not to stumble on my way to the reception.
But my heart fell right out of my chest when I was told. “Oh, Little Christain had just been picked up by his father’s secretary. They said–”
A loud ringing noise filled my ears and my fist clenched in rage. How dare he parade his mistress before my son?
Chapter 4Athena’s P.O.V
Fury replaced the knot of despair in my stomach. I wouldn’t let them get away with this. Storming back to the car, I practically threw myself inside, barking at the driver to take me to Rhysand’s company.
The S.U.V screeched to a stop in front of the imposing glass building, but the security guard wouldn’t let me past the lobby. Apparently, “Mrs. Havilliard” wasn’t good enough for an unannounced visit.
I created a scene, not giving a damn.
And after a while, I was approached by one of the staff members who swallowed it. “They are at the central park.”
The park. Of course.
Ignoring the burning in my own eyes, I fought back tears and returned to the car, choking out our next destination. The moment the park came into view, I spotted them. Rhysand, a sickening playful smile plastered on his face, pushed Christain onto the swing while Calista, all effortless elegance in a yellow sundress stood beside them.
The sight of them, a picture-perfect family, ripped a fresh gash through my already wounded heart. Tears welled in my eyes hot and stinging and my stomach caverned with a gaping hole where another child should have been.
Fuck this!
My blood ran cold. I didn’t even register the stares as I stormed across the playground. Reaching my husband, I didn’t even hesitate. My hand swung high in the air and landed square on his cheek.
“What the fuck, Athena?” His voice was a cursed growl, but his eyes held a flicker of…fear. Before he could react further, I scooped Christain up from the swing.
But my baby fought against me, his little body jerking and kicking. “Put me down! I wanna stay with Daddy!”
“No, you are coming with me!” Tears streamed down my face, blurring my vision as my heart cracked. “I am your mother! Why don’t you remember me?”
A hand landed on my shoulder and I stiffened. It was Calista and next came her voice dripping with sickening sweetness.
“Perhaps, Mrs. Havilliard, there’s a better way to handle this than embarrassing your husband like this?”
The sheer audacity of it made me want to scream. To raise my hand and slap that smug smile off her fucking face. But before it connected, Rhysand grabbed my wrist, his grip like wet lead.
“Let go of me!” I snarled, blinded by rage and tears. “You chose her! Even after everything!”
Rhysand, his face stormy, ignored me. He spoke instead to Calista in a gentle voice. “Take Christain to the car, I’ll be there in a minute.” Calista flashed me a sly smile before faking a docile look. She dropped a kiss on Christain’s lips and he easily went into her arms. My scream died in my throat as they soon disappeared from sight.
Suddenly, I realized every single eye in the park was on me. Humiliation burned and singed me raw, making more tears slide down. With a jerk, I wrenched my arm free of Rhysand’s grasp.
“We need to fucking talk,” he stated in a voice tight with a controlled fury and waved his hand towards a secluded-looking grove of trees at the edge of the park. “Why are you doing this, Athena? Why? You suddenly wanted to move back to the city. I didn’t refuse your wish! You wanted a black card, so I handed you one! What else do you fucking want from me? I give you everything and you humiliate me at every turn.”
“What do I want?” I choked out as a brittle laugh bubbled at the back of my throat. “I want my baby back ! My baby!”
The blood drained from his face and his hand shakily moved to touch my belly. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I had a fucking miscarriage and you didn’t even fucking know!” I screamed at the top of my voice, trembling as cold plunged into my soul.