Our5thanniversary
SOPHIE GARDNER
Despite staying in a MOTHERLESS BABIES' HOME as a child, there was something I knew about wedding anniversaries. And that is CELEBRATION.
Growing up, I have always known marriage anniversaries are filled with celebrations. The couple could decide to have it as a mini get-together party among friends and families, and they could also decide to have it alone. Going on dinner dates, proposing to each other again, and professing undying love for each other. It was always an anniversary of laughter, joy, smiles, and happiness.
However, the moment I married into the COOPER family, the mentality dissipated instantly. It was the opposite of what I thought.
"Missus, should I clear the table? It's past 2 at midnight," Mrs. Edward, our head of maids, spoke behind me. Her voice jolted me out of my trance.
I turned, glanced at the huge wall clock, and nodded my head, forcing out a smile.
"Give the peppered chicken to Benny," I instructed, and went to sit on one of the couches in the sitting room. Benny was our dog. I tilted my head and fought the tears that were threatening to fall out of my eyes.
My husband, Feral Cooper, didn't come home again today. It's our 5th wedding anniversary, and he had disappointed me the same way he had been doing since we got married.
Well, I was fully aware that Feral Cooper didn't love me, and he only got married to me because of his grandmother, who threatened him with her life.
As a young girl, who had only spent all her life in a Motherless Babies Home, I thought it was an opportunity for me to begin my first step into the world. And that was my mistake.
Who the hell lied to me that a marriage that started without love would last?
Why did I believe those who said he would come to love me after marriage?
It was all bullshit. Or maybe not.
Six months ago, he changed for the best and I was foolishly elated, thinking he had fallen in love with me. That was the reason I had organized a private dinner in our mansion, hoping to celebrate the new love we'd found.
Excellently, my happiness was short-lived when he started misbehaving last week. He hadn't come home since he left a week ago and hadn't been picking up my calls. For the anniversary, I texted him and I confirmed that he had seen it, but he never responded.
But I never imagined that he wouldn't come home today, being our 5th anniversary.
The creaking sound of the door prompted me to turn my head and I saw him walk in.
With renewed hope, I sprang up immediately and rushed to take his bag from him.
"Welcome, Feral. I almost thought you wouldn't be coming home today. Have you eaten? Omg! I just instructed Auntie to clear the table. Go and shower. I will make sure your favorite macaroni is ready before you come down."
That was the intensity of my happiness. I kept talking and talking, grinning from ear to ear. I presumed I was just the overthinker. Nothing happened between us. Maybe he had a lot to do at work.
However, instead of replying to me, he took out a brown envelope from his bag and tossed it on the table.
A part of my brows creased, confused.
"What is....,"
He cut me short before I could complete my question.
"Sign the divorce papers and leave before morning," He muttered with an indifferent expression.
Beads of sweat covered my body as if I had been drenched with a bucket of water. I darted my eyes over the envelope and then to him.
"Why...?" That was the only word I could bring myself to utter because, at that point, my mind and brain were devoid of words or linguistics.
"I am tired of you, Sophie. Just sign the papers and leave as early as possible. Katie will be discharged tomorrow, and she will be moving in," He informed me coldly, averting his gaze from me.
My eyes blinked countlessly from threatening tears.
Oh! It was all because of his childhood lover. That cunning and manipulative b***h.
"So, you still choose her over me," I let out, snorting.
"She has always been here, Sophie," He placed a hand on his chest, paused for a bit, and continued, "You are the one who came and snatched her place from her. And when she tried to discuss with you, you thought she was a threat and pushed her into the pool,"
"What!" My eyes widened.
I lowered my head and chuckled. It might sound like it had no effect on me, but I knew the pains I was enduring internally. The excruciating pains that were nibbling all over my body like tons of needles were piercing in.
Katie left the country 7 years ago to attend university and only came back the last two years.
We met at the family's Christmas party a year ago, and she called me to the poolside, saying she had something to discuss with me.
As a stupid, naive girl, I assumed she had moved on from Feral, and wanted to be a friend, and I followed her, oblivious to the trap laid for me.
Katie fell into the pool herself and purposely drowned herself until she lost consciousness.
Fortunately, I found Feral on time, who saved her and took her to the hospital, and she has been in a coma ever since.
"You are just a poor, desperate moocher," Feral's harsh words echoed in my ears, pulling me out of the memory lane.
"Is that what she told you? Did she tell you I was the one who pushed her into the pool? And you believed her...?"
I was angered and sad. We'd spent 5 years under the same roof, slept on the same bed, and he still didn't know what I was capable of. He just blindly believed the lies Katie spewed.
"Why is this heartless girl still here?" That was the voice of Feral's mother. When I tilted my head to look at her. I discovered she wasn't the only one by the door. Katie was in the middle and Feral's mother and grandmother were standing by her side.
Seeing the evil girl's face sent an adrenaline rush over my body. The urge to pounce on her and strangle her until she revealed the truth was surging inside my belly, but I knew I wouldn't do something like that.
I rushed to her and took one of her hands. "Katie. Please tell the truth. Am I the one who pushed you? Did I try to kill you?" I probed deep into her eyes, hoping I would see a hint of conscience in them, but it was just a mere wish.
Her eyes were devoid of any guilt or emotions. Instead, she glanced at me pitifully. To my surprise, she jerked my hands away and rushed to Feral's side, snuggling into his arms.
"She will kill me, Feral. She promised to kill me if I told anyone the truth. She will kill me. I don't want to see her. Send her far away from me," She cried out weakly.
My mouth opened in a gape. What! I'd underestimated Katie. I wasn't expecting her to tell the truth, right?
Can an evildoer call him/herself one?
