*AURORA*
"Lucien will be returning home tonight. Go pick him up from the airport. I hope you two can finally be a normal couple now. "
I sighed, heavily as I read that text from Lucien's grandfather.
Lucien was coming back tonight?
He didn't tell me.
Well, then again, we barely spoke to each other.
I sometimes texted and call him to check on him.
But he doesn’t reply to my texts or ever answers my calls.
We were still married though.
Would we finally become a normal couple now?
I was holding onto a glimpse of hope that we would.
Lucien's grandfather and my grandfather were best friends.
Their relationship was close and even when they got married to their wives, and had children and grandchildren, the two families became closer.
From a very young age, I was told that I was the perfect match for Lucien.
When we were kids, we would play together, and even go on family vacations together. We were inseparable.
Up until now, those were precious memories.
In high school, Lucien would scare all the boys away from me, telling them I was his wife. Back then,I thought he was only joking but when we graduated from high school, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend.
Of course, I agreed, I had a fondness for him since we were kids and that fondness grew to be love.
Our families were ecstatic when they heard that we were dating.
Our parents said a wedding between the Sullivan and the Diaz would strengthen both families' businesses.
Lucien and I weren't together at that time because of business. We were together because we were in love.
That was until Carla came along.
I met Carla in my second year of college. She was a quiet girl who rarely spoke but when I got to know her, I thought she was nice and humble.
We clicked so well and we became best of friends. We told each other everything. There were literally no secrets between us.
Carla was from a poor background so I always tried to help her when I could. I wasn't helping her because I felt sorry for her. I helped her because I loved her as a friend and I didn't want her to suffer.
But little did I know that all that while, she had her eyes on Lucien.
One summer holiday, I was sick and couldn't go on the school trip. Lucien and Carla wanted to stay back and care for me but I didn't want them to miss the trip.
I wanted them to go and give me all the exciting stories of what would happen on the trip.
If I had known, I would have told Lucien to stay back. Afterall,he had looked reluctant about going without me.
Up until this day, I have no idea what happened on that trip but I know that Lucien totally changed when he came back.
He was no longer the Lucien I had known since childhood. He became so cold to me and three months after that, he told me he had fallen out of love with me.
He told me he wanted to be with Carla now.
I was crushed.
I couldn't accept it.
I loved him so much and then I did something stupid.
I summoned our families and vowed to kill myself if they didn't make Lucien marry me.
Our families, especially his family were furious that Lucien wanted a breakup. They couldn't accept it.
And then they threatened and forced him to marry me. I thought when I got him to marry me, he'd rekindle his past feelings for me. I thought it might make him love me again.
But I was wrong.
On our wedding night, he said to me.
"Forcing me to marry you only made me hate you, Aurora. I have not the slightest bit of affection left for you. We'll only be married on paper. This will be an open marriage. You can be with anyone you want. I won't interfere and I can be with Carla and you won't interfere as well. I want nothing to do with you. "
Even if three years had passed, I still remember every single word he said that night.
I was in total despair.
How could his feelings change?
He promised to love me forever but now he wanted my best friend?
It was very hard for me to accept that fact.
And I got even more heartbroken when Lucien applied to go abroad and further his studies, taking Carla with him.
I knew that was just an excuse to go with Carla to another country without his family trying to tear them apart.
It's been three years since he left with
Carla. I know his family had been trying to pressure him to come back and I guess they finally succeeded.
I sighed and stared at the ceiling.
His family was still rooting for us to rekindle old flames.
Would we?
Was he still so much into Carla?
Would he finally tell me what happened on that trip?
Would he finally become the sweet Lucien I know?
I still loved him.
My phone beeped. I quickly sat up when I saw Lucien’s name on the screen. He finally sent me a text after all these years.
I quickly tapped on it. It was a picture. A picture of a woman’s belly with Lucien’s head on it.No one needed to tell me that was a baby bump and it seemed like Lucien was trying to listen to the baby’s heartbeat.
I swallowed when I read the text underneath.
Lucien: I’m sure my family already told you that I’ll be back tonight. Don’t get any ideas and don’t even dare to continue making them send threats to me. As you can see, Carla is pregnant and so I have to be there for her and our baby. Know your place.
That instantly crushed what was left of my heart.
Carla was pregnant?
Carla was carrying Lucien’s baby?
So he was never coming back to me. Tears spilled from my eyes as I recalled all the memories of us. From childhood, to our teens and then adults.
We were so happy together. I was the only woman for him and he was the only man for me. How did I become the other woman?
Why?
My body trembled with heartbreaking sobs. I was crying so hard, to the point that I was finding it hard to breathe.
I just couldn’t understand how I became the other woman!
