Chapter 39

Kia Weeks passed, but Vivian was still giving me a cold shoulder. We had barely engaged ourselves in conversation except for some pleasantries. He had decided that he would never look at me. It was hurting me so much, but I didn’t show him how much he had been hurting me through his ignorance. His mansion was cozy, familiar, and beautiful. I was enjoying every moment here. Harley, Ava, and Rose were treating me like a family. And Caleb and David became softer to me. Along with Harley, they were also taking care of me. Perhaps Vivian would have asked them.

Vivian’s routine was the same as ever, getting up early in the morning and staying busy all day. He returned home at his regular time at ten. We had dinner together and after that; we went to our room like strangers. I wore a yellow maxi and made my hair into a soft curl. I preferred my face natural because Vivian did not like makeup. I checked my appearance in the mirror one last time before getting down.

Vivian was waiting for me in the car. I walked out and opened the door before sliding into the car. “Hey.” I smiled, trying my best to show him my smiling face.

“Hey. Are you feeling well?” His hands were on the steering wheel and his eyes were on my belly.

Of course, it was flat, but I had gained a few pounds in these weeks. I did not know why I was always hungry for food. I looked at him and caught him staring at me. My brows raised together. Oh, I forgot to reply to him. “I am always hungry,” I said, looking away because I could not hold his eyes whenever I blushed.

The amusement crossed his face, but he said nothing and focused on his driving.

We were going to the gynecologist for my regular check-up, as it was my tenth week. Vivian kept taking me to the doctor once a week to make sure the baby was doing good. He is different from others. I never expected that kind of gesture from him. I thought when he would find out I was pregnant with him, then he would be angry or get furious at me. Instead, I found him happy that he was going to be a father the second time. If I had not spoken those three words to him that day, he might have been treating me well.

His coldness bothered me.

He parked the car. We went out and got into the hospital.

After checking. “Your baby is perfectly fine and healthy,” Doc announced while giving us her best smile. She adjusted her spectacles, which were resting on her nose. “I am writing a few medications. You must take it according to the direction mentioned in it. It’s the 25th so you will come by the 8th next month and...”

“What is the date today?” Vivian interrupted her.

“It’s the 25th.”

Vivian’s eyes filled with sorrow, but it turned into anger in a moment. “Fuck!!” He stood up, slamming both fists against the table.

The doctor jolted at his sudden outburst.

I stood up. “What happened?”

He shook his head, running his finger through the hair. “How could I forget her anniversary?” He muttered under his breath. Without another word, he walked away hurriedly.

I gave an apologetic smile to the doctor before following him. Whose anniversary? I walked out but could not find him anywhere. He had already left me alone here.

*******

“Yes, I am okay. You don’t need to worry about me, Ava.” I said through the phone.

“He never forgets Isabella’s death anniversary.” She paused for a moment. “He is always in a bad mood on her anniversary, so it would be best for you to avoid him. Don’t talk about her wife with him.” Her voice was worried.

That was the reason Vivian had such a reaction when he found out it was the 25th. It was the day of Isabella’s death.

I heard the screeching of car tires. Probably this was Vivian. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye, Ava.” I said and hung up after hearing her goodbye. I glanced at the clock, and it was midnight. I walked out to check on him and there he was coming.

“Today was a tiring day. Wasn’t it?” I went to him, smiling at him.

His hair was messy, and his face was sorrowful. He walked straight to the stairs without looking at me. As long as he stepped onto it, he stumbled and lost his balance. I rushed to him and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Are you...?” Before I could complete my words, the smell of perfume reached my nose. He had never smelled like that. When I realized the smell of femininity from him, my annoyance flared. “Are you still seeing the other woman?”

He pulled himself from me and adjusted his suit, and without a word, walked away.

I followed him. “I am talking to you?!” I said through my teeth. “Are you still sleeping with the other woman?!!”

He walked into the room and slammed the door in front of my face. But I was too stubborn to let him go that easily. Ava had told me to avoid him, but I couldn’t after knowing that he had slept with the other woman. Without thinking twice, I dashed into the room. “Asshole! I am talking to you.” He was lying on the bed with his suit and shoes on.

“Get the fuck out of here. I can sleep with whomever I want to sleep with! This is none of your fucking business!” He snapped and didn’t look at me.

I swallowed his words painfully. “I couldn’t understand how a man like you is capable of love who can’t get over his dick! Today is Isabella’s death anniversary and you are fucking another woman?!”

These words grabbed his attention. Before I could understand anything, his fingers wrapped around my neck. “DO NOT TALK ABOUT HER EVER AGAIN.” His eyes reveal the dominance and possessiveness of his wife.

“So what will you do if I talk about your dead wife?” I snapped. His fingers tightened around my neck.

“You are making it worse, Kiara! Just get out of here before I do something horrible!” He released me with a jerk. “Get out!”

I clenched my hands into fists. “I am sorry that I betrayed you. I am sorry for everything I have done for you! If I had known the truth, I would never have tried to kill you. I swear I would never hurt you. Please don’t treat me like that, Vivian. It hurts.”

“I have every reason to hate you, Kiara. Every fucking reason.” His jaw clenched tighter. “Your bastard brother killed my wife! He took away my Isabella!”

“If your wife did not sleep with him, then the thing would have been different, Vivian.”

“What? What did you say?!” His eyes were burning with fire. It seemed like he would burn me out at any moment. “Sleeping with your brother!!”

I watched him in confusion.

“Isabella was not like you, who didn’t think even once before sleeping with another man! She was not a selfish, vicious, and heartless woman like you. She was so kind, sensitive, and soft. She had a heart of gold.”

“I know she had.” My lips trembled and my heart shattered into pieces.

“I don’t know what story your mother told you about me and my wife, but I know it is wrong. Because no one knows the truth about her death. Bella was being captured by your brother and she was forced by him. It all began when her brother Eric was captured by Nevadas, and your bastard brother was one of the members of that gang. They wanted a part of my territory and I got ready to give it to them, but before I could save her life, they had already killed her. She sacrificed her life to save her brother. And her brother has been thinking that I was a coward that I sent my wife to save her brother.”

He shut his eyes, his face contorted in rage, his fist clenched tight. “She didn’t tell me even once and surrendered herself to them because she believed in me I would save her life. She was confident that I would let nothing happen to her. But...” Guilt flooded over him, and moisture gathered in his eyes. “I-I could not save...” He turned his back to me and didn’t allow me to see the most vulnerable side of him. He let his guard down and allowed me to see his broken side.

That meant Fabian’s story was a lie. My brother had lied to my parents.

A man like him, whose work was full of blood, brutality, and death, had a soft heart, too. Not for me! Not for anyone else! But for his wife. His dead wife. She was a lucky woman, even after her death.

I reached him and watched his grief. He was looking incredibly sad. “I am sorry, Vivian.”

“You should not have come into my life, Kiara. And fuck you told me you love me! That hit my heart like a bullet.” He met my gaze. “That was the last thing I have been expecting. I am not capable of love.” He touched his heart through the suit. “This heart belonged to someone. And the second she died, my heart died at that moment. It won’t come back, Kiara.”

“It will be. I know you care about me a lot. I know you can’t see me in pain, Vivian. Then how could you not feel about me?” I took hold of his hand, which was sweaty. “You have me and I’ll be with you forever. Just give a chance to your heart. Just try at once, Vivian.”

I held his eyes for a moment, but he quickly averted and snatched his hand from my grip. “I don’t know, Kiara.” He said and walked to his bed. “Now get out.”

I walked out of his room and went to my room. He still loved his wife, and I could not take her place. My phone rang out and an unknown number appeared on the screen. I picked up even though I did not want to.

“Hello, Miss Kiara Seton.” A female voice said through the phone.

“Who?”

“Who I am is not important. But what is important to you I am going to tell you after all I want your best,” she said.

“Shut up! I don’t have any interest in your damn important thing!” I almost hung up the phone.

“It is about your unborn baby.” She blurted.

“How do you know about that?!” I asked, shockingly.

She laughed on the other side. “I’ve told who I am and how do I know all these are not important?”

I clutched the phone tighter. “What do you want to tell me?”

“It is to pay attention to you. Vivian is allowing you to live with him because you have his baby in your womb. And he will keep you until the baby comes. Once the baby comes, you’ll be out of his life. Trust me, he does not want you to be with him and his children. So it would be better if you leave him before he can do anything. If you want your baby, then leave him and leave his life forever.”

I paused due to shock.

“Don’t fucking fool me. I know he won’t do it.” I said and hung up the phone.

He won’t do it?! How sure was I that he would not do this with me? He had clarified that he would never love me. How long will I be with him? How long would he keep me here? One day I had to leave him, but what about the baby?

Maybe that woman was right. He would leave me once the baby comes.

Anxiety swirled around me.

I quickly took out paper and a pen. I couldn’t risk it.

*********