Kiara Thompson was just walking down the grand staircase, about to enjoy her breakfast in peace in the morning, when suddenly a woman walked in and shouted excitedly.
"I'm pregnant! It's Arthur's baby!"
Her desire to enjoy the morning vanished, vanished, replaced with anger that had built up inside her. Immediately she quickened her steps, approaching the woman who had ruined her morning and kept squealing with pleasure until her ears hurt to hear it.
It was as if she was trying to ignite her anger by shouting that loudly.
"What's with the commotion? Don't you have any manners?"
She turned around, and he recognized her immediately as Emily Scarlett—her half-sister who had just come from Cape Town after finishing her studies four months ago. The woman's eyes were filled with a triumphant look, smiling mockingly at her as if she had just won the big lottery.
From the beginning of the woman's arrival until now, she did not like her presence. The woman clearly showed an interest in her husband—Arthur Gardner—and was always looking for various ways to approach him. The woman managed to snatch everything she had slowly but surely. From Arthur's attention which used to always be on her, to her husband's entire extended family also supporting the woman, complicating her life and forcing her to live in the Gardner family's mansion as part of the marriage arrangements proposed by the husband and he agreed to.
The rule that was now becoming her instant entry ticket to the gates of hell.
Still maintaining the elegance of the Thompson family, she walked down the stairs until she was now standing in front of the woman.
"What? I am just telling the truth," the woman smiled a smile that immediately provoked the urge to slap her on the cheek, but she resisted. It did not stop there, the woman also roughly handed him an A4 paper-sized envelope.
"Open it."
Somewhat reluctantly, taking a deep breath, she opened the envelope. Her eyes immediately widened, along with her blood boiling when he saw the file containing the woman's pregnancy information.
Three months? she muttered to herself, reading carefully. Her annoyance grew even more when she saw her husband's signature along with her husband's full name on the paper, indicating that her husband had consciously signed and acknowledged that the baby in the bitch's womb was his child.
"Nonsense …"
"Now, where is Arthur? I have to quickly announce—"
Her hand immediately moved automatically to slap the woman's cheek, unable to contain the urge in her to slap her. Once to silence the woman's mouth so as not to scream in her presence, giving the woman a warning. Then twice, and three times when the woman was about to question the purpose of the slap. The sound of the slap was so loud that it echoed throughout the quiet room they were in. There was only expensive wooden furniture decorating the entire room along with the presence of the maids who immediately ran away from the two of them.
"Sis—"
"Don't call me with that filthy mouth of yours, Bitch!" she grabbed the woman's hair until she screamed in pain, then pushed her body until her body hit one of the nightstands behind her. "After four months I've been holding back from beating up people who have appeared out of nowhere and snatched people's husbands, why don't I do it now? I think your shame has been broken so you dare to tease and flaunt your victory—"
"Kiara Thompson! What are you doing, for God's sake!"
There was the sound of an old woman screeching hysterically in her direction, stopping her actions immediately. She turned to face her mother-in-law, Miranda Gardner, hoping that her mother-in-law would give her some support.
"What's this commotion?" her mother-in-law looked alternately at her and the bitch she didn't even want to say her name, before turning to look at her with a questioning look. Besides her, the bitch instead had a sulky expression on her face and pretended to be innocent, not knowing what the bitch had just done to her.
"What? Your son cheated on me behind my back, and now has a child! And this bitch–I don't know what to say!”
“How dare you raise your voice in front of me, Kiara Thompson?”
Ignoring her mother-in-law's anger, along with the anger that was getting more and more over her, she pushed Emily's body roughly. Quickly, everything turned into a disaster. The woman's body that had lost its balance hit one of the decorative tables behind the woman with her back hitting the corner of the table, then fell, creating a loud banging sound along with the thumping sound. Her eyes saw a thick red liquid pouring out between the woman's legs, rushing down to the floor where the woman was now lying in pain.
Before she managed to recover from her shock at what she had just done, she found her mother-in-law slapping her with all her might, until the corners of his lips were cut from the hard slap and his ears were ringing as a result of it.
“Damn child! I've always been waiting for a grandchild from you and you can't give it away! And now, when I finally had that chance, you ruined it?! Where is your brain, Kiara?!”
"But …"
“Are you jealous, because she can give me a grandson while you can't? I should have stopped Arthur from marrying you long ago! Having you as daughter-in-law is a shame!”
Once again, Kiara's mother-in-law slapped her.
"What is this?"
Arthur's voice, which had usually always managed to make her feel calm and peaceful, now sounded like the annoying buzz of a mosquito, provoking a desire within her to break the rules of the grace of a noblewoman and throw a fist at the man.
"Arthur! I'm glad to see you here! Quickly call an ambulance! Emily…”
She saw Arthur's eyes blinked in disbelief at the terrible sight in front of the man, then looked up at him. The man's expression was mixed. She felt full of guilt inside her, along with her confusion about the situation that happened, and feelings of anxiety for Emily.
"Emily!"
Her husband immediately approached Emily, carried the woman's body and ran to her.
"Let's just use my car to the hospital," Arthur continued. The man glanced at him for a moment, then gave him a look she could not quite decipher, before running out of the room followed by her mother-in-law and the maids following the two of them.
All of that was more than enough to tell her that Arthur was secretly in a relationship with that bitch without her knowledge.
"Crazy woman! How dare you kill my future grandson with your despicable hands!” her mother-in-law squealed, screamed and uttered various dirty curses that could only be heard in her ears like the sound of a gust of wind passing through her. The voice was getting further and further away since her mother-in-law was no longer in the room, leaving her alone there with Emily's blood dripping on the floor.
Her legs felt weak, unable to support her body weight until he fell to the floor. She closed her eyes, along with the commotion of her mother-in-law which slowly sounded faintly until it was no longer heard by her ears. Her mind was so muddled, turning so dark until she could not think of anything but to keep repeating what she had just done.
What mistakes did she make in her previous life to have such bad luck, anyway?
The question swirled in her head, with an answer she would never be able to come up with. She bit her lower lip and then tried to get up from her place, but her foot slipped until her hand touched the thick liquid which managed to freeze her in an instant.
Blood …
Her breath hitched. She looked at the blood which was now starting to fill her hands until her hands were now covered with blood with a look of horror, trying to get rid of the blood from her hands.
"No!"
She woke up from her dream gasping for air. Immediately she raised both of her hands, looking at her now normal hands. There was no blood on her hands as she had seen in her dream, then heaved a sigh of relief. Her eyes then moved, looked at her dark bedroom window, then got up from her bed and walked to her bedroom window. It rained heavily at night outside, along with lightning, and she found a car driving into the Gardner residence area.
I have a bad feeling about this, she mumbled to herself as soon as she recognized the car as her husband's car. The car was used by her husband to take Emily to the hospital after what she did.
Clenching her fists, she prepared herself for the worst, walking out of her room without taking the time to change into her sleepwear. Letting herself to walk barefoot down the halls of the mansion, then walk down the stairs while draping her long wavy hair with a polite smile in an attempt to remain calm.
Not far from her, she found her husband already sitting in the living room near the stairs, with a man in a formal dress who smiled politely back at her.
"You already home?" she asked casually as she was trying to start a conversation. But her husband only answered her with a cold gaze that her husband had never shown to her for a long time made her gasp a little at it.
Trying to ignore her husband's strange reaction, she chose a chair opposite him, crossing her long legs in a graceful manner, while the formally dressed man sitting next to her husband opened his briefcase and took out a document, handing her a document that had piqued her curiosity.
"This …"
“Madam, this is the divorce agreement that Mr Gardner asked me to draft. Please read it carefully.”
She took the draft document from the hand of the man who turned out to be Arthur's lawyer, then opened it and read it carefully. Her attention then turned to the division of property, which stated that all property belonged to Arthur. Nothing in the draft divorce documents says what other properties she could get for herself.
“Have you finished reading it? Please sign when you are finished.”
Without hesitation, she placed the document on the coffee table, accepted the pen the lawyer had given her, and then signed the document. She handed back the document and the pen to the lawyer, then rose from the chair he was sitting in, intending to return to her room.
“Then, I will take my leave–”
"Miss Thompson, starting tomorrow, please leave this mansion."
"I know. That's why I am going to my room.”
"And Miss–"
"What again? Is there anything I need to do?”
“All the property you and Mr Gardner had when you married belonged to Mr Gardner, including the jewellery that Mr Gardner bought for you.”
“I'm already aware of that. Don't you see I read the document you gave to me?” she answered sarcastically, then cast a meaningful glance at Arthur who just turned his face away from her. "I'll give it all back. Rest assured. Please tell your client that I will be leaving this house tomorrow morning, and in return, please give me back all my belonging to me.”
"That …"
"If there is nothing more to talk about, I will take my leave."
After saying that, she turned around, walked out of the living room and headed back to her room and closed the door.
“Great! It's end quicker than I thought!”
The voice of her husband–who was now officially her ex-husband–echoed throughout the silent room after she closed the door. She bit her lower lip, braced herself not to cry and moved to pack all the things she could carry in her suitcase.
***
