Three Months To Disappear

Chapter Three

HAILEY

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The sound from my phone which fell from my hands jerked me off my sleep.

The driver had taken me here from the wedding hall earlier, and it seems this was Thiago's mansion.

I'd been dozing off on the couch for more than two hours, waiting for Thiago.

It was our wedding night and even though we don't have interest in each other and everything happened in a rush, he should have at least stayed home.

I picked up the phone and tried switching it on to check what time it was.

The screen didn't come on. It lay cold on my palm and I dropped it on the table sitting in front of me with a tired yawn.

My eyes were already closing again to drift off to sleep.

The door creaked open and my eyes flew open. Sleep cleared off my eyes as Thiago slid in. He walked past me like I was invisible.

I covered my mouth with my hand in annoyance.

He should at least acknowledge the fact that I've been waiting for him to come home.

I decided to follow him to confront him.

He had finished climbing the stairs and was on his way to his room. I climbed the stairs, two at a time to catch up with him.

I closed the door behind me loudly to announce my presence as I entered his room.

His back was turned on me. I was sure he had heard the bang from the door.

“You can't even appreciate me for staying up late, waiting for you to come back?”

“And do I look like I care?”

He faced me. Three buttons on his shirt were undone.

I gulped down emptiness and looked away from him.

“I know the hate is mutual but you should at least stay at home for today.”

“And how is that your f*****g business?”

He half yelled and I almost flinched.

He pulled a paper out of his cupboard and handed it over to me.

I was confused at first as I read through the page.

“What do you mean by saying I must be here by 7pm no matter where I went to and I must not step out after that?” I protested as my eyes scanned through the paper.

He gave no reply.

“I also wouldn't dare to touch your things and I'll also respect boundaries.”

I said. His face twisted into satisfaction.

“Those are my rules. There will be consequences if you break or try to break any of it.”

“You didn't read the last part.”

I glanced at the paper in my hand and the last part sent more anger to my brain.

That was when I took a better look at the room. The bed was divided with two pillows demarcating each section. One end for him and the other for me. That was what the last part was about.

Division of the room.

There were two bathrooms and there was a line that divides the room into two. The other half of the bed was on my side of the room.

Seeing this, my face lost its cheerful self as sternness took over.

“Now listen to my rules.”

“I can go anywhere I f*****g like and come back anytime I want. You will also respect my boundaries and not touch my things. You do not get to control me anyhow just because I'm your wife.”

“What thing do you, pauper, have that I will touch?”

My head rang as he mentioned the word pauper. Tears started threatening to fall down. Pain shot through my veins.

But I refuse to let this man see me as a weakling. As something to be insulted. As a fool.

“And for your information…”

He started moving closer again.

His chest bulged with each step. My heart raced as his steps became faster, closing the gap between us.

“You married me. I didn't marry you.” He finalized, making sure the words sank deep inside me.

He then changed his mind and went to the bathroom.

I watched his retreating figure as he made sure to not cross the line while he was entering the bathroom.

Realization hit me. I married him. He didn't marry me. The whole scene of the ring exchange came alive in my head.

“Why would he then marry me if he doesn't even want to see me in his presence?”

I thought.

I need to go meet my dad. I need to report this whole thing to him. This is just the first day and I'm already tired of this whole s**t.

My eyes scanned the room again. The lines. The shared bed. The different bathrooms.

I would rather lick the ground than sleep here. After all, there's no law that says sleeping with one's husband is mandatory and this room isn't the only room in this mansion.

I closed the door loudly before I walked out of the room in search of another room and after taking a few steps from Thiago's room, I found one.

I gently opened the door to check the interior of the room.

The room is almost as big as Thiago's room. There's a king-sized bed at the center of the room. There are two couches beside the bed. It had a bathroom and a mini kitchen.

I smiled.

There were a few dresses that looked like ladies’ on the floor. I wondered who might have kept it there.

But then, this looked like a guest room. I thought and shrugged it off.

Now this is better. I walked in further and realized the room was dusty. I yawned in tiredness. I need to sleep badly.

This room really would need a cleanup.

I remembered I saw two maids earlier while I was downstairs waiting for Thiago.

They could clean it up. I thought and yawned again.

I need to go find them. I climbed down the stairs and from my perspective, nobody was in the living room.

“Where could they be?”

My eyes scanned the living room fully and they weren't there. Then I heard voices.

I traced the direction of that voice to a section of the living room.

I walked over and there, I found the maids.

The two maids were cleaning up the kitchen.

One was on her feet, arranging the kitchen while the other was vacuum cleaning the floor.

I took a peep. They were both talking while doing their chores.They didn't seem to notice me.

Mrs Kingston. I'm certain I heard Mrs Kingston just now. Even though I don't want to accept that as my new name, I knew it was me.

So I leaned closer without raising any suspicion.

“I just hope the new Mrs doesn't disappear like every one of the previous madams does after three months.”

My blood ran cold. I froze. My legs started shaking.

“Isn't it obvious she'll also disappear like every of the previous madams?” The other maid spoke.

I couldn't take it anymore.

“What do you mean?” I rushed in.

“What do you f*****g mean?” I repeated, looking at their faces.

They were both shocked as they didn't expect me to have heard them.

“We were talking about…about…” The first one mumbled.

They were trying to conceal it but I heard them.

Tears threatened to fall out of my eyes. I couldn't think straight.

“Apologies ma'am.”

“We're sorry ma'am.”

They rushed out.

My head cleared for a few seconds and everything started replaying itself. The woman in black from the wedding hall. The dresses in the guest room.

Could it mean it belonged to his previous wives that were there before?

Fear gripped me. Three months.

THE NEXT DAY - DAY 01

Hailey

The grunt of the boiling water shook me off my thoughts.

What the maids said had been on my mind and I hadn’t been able to shrug it off since yesterday.

My mind hasn't been the same since yesterday and the uncontrollable tremble in my hands and legs sent shivers down my spine.

Discomfort and hunger woke me up this morning when I realized that I slept in the kitchen.

“Was I too engrossed into my thoughts that I didn't know when I slept off in the kitchen?” I asked myself.

My stomach grumbled again and I hurried with the cooking.

The maids weren't here yet.

My mind drifted off to Bexley and pain and guilt set in. I bit my lips.

I decided to go take my bath in the guest room while the food continued cooking.

I already have plans to meet my father today. So I have to hurry up.

The house was too quiet this morning. It seemed Thiago had gone to work.

I climbed the stairs as I made my way to the guest room.

Getting inside the room, my anxiety began again.

THIAGO'S ROOM

THIAGO

My eyes snapped open from my sleep and I yawned.

I sat up with a blank face and I stretched my arms and legs.

“What a bad morning.” I thought as my mind drifted to the new b***h. I looked beside me, expecting and not expecting to see her.

I hissed when she wasn't there. Not out of disappointment but out of disgust.

A pauper can't possibly sleep on this expensive bed of mine.

I removed the blanket from myself and while standing up, my stomach made a sound. A protest of hunger.

I only ate a meal yesterday before the wedding and after that, I worked my time out.

I stood up, holding my stomach and then, my nose caught the aroma in the air.

It was Tuesday and the maids only worked on Mondays and Fridays, they couldn't be the one cooking.

Then I remembered someone else was living with me, Hailey.

I quickly stopped the thought and tried to not perceive the aroma.

“I will eat at work.” I tried to say but the aroma of the food became stronger and harder to ignore.

“No.” I held my head with my two hands and tried to concentrate.

No matter what that pauper is cooking, I won't go there to see.

That was what I said. Until I found my legs moving towards downstairs.

The aroma became stronger and stronger with each step I took.

I didn't mind whether she was there in the kitchen or not. All I had in mind was to look at what she was cooking, have a taste and leave.

It sounded absurd that the person I was threatening and making rules for yesterday was the person I'm currently tiptoeing to her food today.

It took minutes to go from my bedroom to the kitchen as the mansion is extremely large.

When I got to the kitchen, I peeped. No traces of her. Just the pot on fire.

I walked in with a smile and opened the pot of rice. I was salivating as I saw the food. My stomach grumbled one last time.

I took a plate to dish out for myself and took it to my room to eat. Then I heard footsteps from behind.

I didn't look back. I was too engrossed in dishing out the food.

“Rule number one. Do not touch my things.”

I froze. I knew I had just broken her first rule.

I looked back. The f**k. Her body was damp and she was wearing only a towel tied to her chest.

TBC