Her Travails

Seven

It was as if a million years had passed before Jordan opened his eyes. His pulse went up, and the machine beeped severely to the joy of Erika and her daughter.

Jordan's eyes fluttered open, his gaze unfocused. Erika's face hovered above him, her eyes red-rimmed from exhaustion.

"Jordan?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Can you hear me?"

He groaned, his throat dry. "Erika..."

She helped him sit up, holding a glass of water to his lips. He sipped, his eyes locking onto hers.

"What...happened?" he croaked.

"You had a diabetic attack," Erika explained, her voice soft. "You've been in a coma for three days."

Jordan's eyes widened, his face pale. "Three days?"

Erika nodded, her hair falling around her face like a curtain. "You've been out for a while. But you're safe now. I'm here."

As the days passed, Erika nursed Jordan back to health, her devotion unwavering. She fed him, bathed him, and whispered words of encouragement in his ear.

One evening, as she helped him sit up in bed, Jordan's hand brushed against hers. Erika felt a jolt of electricity, her heart skipping a beat.

"Thank you, Erika," Jordan whispered, his eyes filled with gratitude. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

Erika's gaze met his, her voice barely above a whisper. "You'll never have to find out, Jordan. I'll always be here for you."

As she looked into his eyes, Erika realized the truth: she loved him. Not just as a benefactor or a friend, but as the man who had captured her heart.

Jordan's eyes searched hers, as if sensing the shift in her emotions. "Erika?" he whispered, his voice full of hope.

Erika's face leaned in, her lips brushing against his. "I'm here, Jordan. I'm not going anywhere."

Their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss, the tension between them dissipating like mist in the sun. As they embraced, Erika knew she had found her home – in Jordan's arms, and in his heart.

"I love you Erika. I had known it from the first glass of tequila we shared at the bar, this marriage, it's not contractual for me, it's real, you're my wife, I just didn't want to push you away by insisting on it, but I do. The other day when I tried to hold your hand, and you pushed me away, I was deeply hurt. I never intended to take advantage of you....."

"Shhhh...." Erika hushed,"stop talking Jordan, you don't have the energy. I'm sorry if I pushed you away, Jordan, but I've been traumatized. Maybe one day, some day I'll be strong enough to tell you what traumatized me, but I promise, I love you too Jordan, when you collapsed in the living room, it felt like my life was coming to an end..." She sobbed.

"No, no, no, Erika, please don't cry, come here...."

She leaned in towards him, and they shared another kiss, a fiery passionate kiss that told their story of love. It gave them hope and a renewed light, but all of a sudden Erika pulled out of the kiss.

"What is wrong?" Jordan was puzzled.

"You scoundrel, why didn't you tell me that you were diabetic, and I fed you cake with so much sugar, what if you died?"

"I'm sorry, but the cake was made with love, and it tasted so good..." he joked, but she refused to be swayed.,

"Don't ever attempt something like that again, okay, I'd die if I were to lose you."

A couple of days later, Jordan was discharged from the hospital, and they were free to go home. The days that followed were even more blissful. Erika made some of the best memories of her life with Jordan and Maya, and for a while the sky for her was free of stormy clouds, just joy and sunshine.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Katherine were relentless, they had to prove that Erika wasn't the angel she was painted to be, and they also had to avenge the insults they both suffered at the hands of Mr and Mrs Scott.

It took months of snooping around, and hiring spies, but they finally achieved what they were after.

One of the workers in the Scott Mansion was paid a huge sum of money and, as such, betrayed a fatal secret to them. She told them that Erika actually had a daughter who wasn't Jordan's child, and she also managed to get her hands on the documents that proved that Erika's marriage to Jordan was a farce and just a contract which Erika would be paid for.

The news was like a gold mine to Thomas. Finally, he could exact his revenge on Jordan for taking his s*x toy away from him.

Thomas and Katherine's scheme was finally coming together. They had uncovered secrets that could potentially destroy Erika's reputation and her marriage to Jordan. The fact that Erika had a daughter who wasn't Jordan's child could be used to paint her as a liar and a manipulator. And the documents proving that their marriage was a contract could be used to show that their relationship was a sham.

Thomas's eyes gleamed with excitement as he thought about how he could use this information to exact his revenge on Jordan. He had been waiting for months, and now he finally had the upper hand.

"We need to make this public," Thomas said to Katherine, his voice dripping with malice. "We need to make sure that everyone knows the truth about Erika and Jordan's marriage."

Catherine smiled, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "I already have a plan in place," she said. "We'll leak the documents to the press, and then we'll make sure that Erika's daughter is brought into the spotlight. Once the public knows the truth, Erika's reputation will be ruined."

"But Jordan is my business partner, and I can't easily let him go down like that. Our issue is with Erika, and as such we have to do this in such a way that she would be broke as she would not even have Jordan by her side"

He chuckled to himself, the idea had been playing in his head for weeks, and he finally had a chance to bring it into play. At the end of this, Erika would come crawling on her hands and knees. But first he had to place a call to Mr Scott.