My Ex-husband's Uncle Can't Let Me Go

Valerie's pov “Good morning, hubby.” I greeted my eyes, locking on the tall handsome man with sharp black eyes that stood at the foot of the stairs. The man was no other person but Adrian Whitmore, my husband. “Morning,” Adrian replied, heading towards the dining area. He took his usual seat and I quickly dished out his meal and placed it before him. “Thanks,” Adrian mumbled, focusing on his meal. We ate in silence except for the soft click of our cutlery on our plate. I glanced at him from time to time and barely focused on my food. “If you have something to say, go ahead,” Adrian said, taking a quiet sip from his glass of milk. I inhaled deeply, placing my fork down. “Today is our third—” “I'm pregnant!” a familiar voice yelled, running into the room. My head snapped towards its direction and there was my younger sister, Isabella. Adrian sprang up instantly. “You know you shouldn't be running.” “I'm sorry, Adrian,” Isabella said, slowing down at her pace. She stopped before Adrian and handed him the report. Adrian didn't bother glancing at it before pulling her into a hug. I felt a sharp sting in my heart as I watched them and, for some reason, something felt off with their behavior. It seemed Adrian remembered his legal wife was still there as he turned to me. “Val, our baby is finally here,” he said, stepping away from Isabella. “What do you think we should name her?” A bitter smile appeared on my face. If only I wasn’t infertile, I wouldn’t have any need to look for a surrogate mother to talk more about letting my sister carry my baby. I had known this day would come since, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't accept a baby. I didn't feel a kick in my belly as if it was my own , even though he or she was my blood. “I'm sorry, sister, it seems like my timing was wrong,” Isabella said, voice smooth like velvet. “I was just too excited to share the news.” I glanced towards her, even though they hadn't grown up together, I wasn't that dumb to notice that Isabella had intentionally chosen this timing. But the last thing I wanted to do was argue with a pregnant woman. “That’s fine,” I said, standing up. “I'll take you to the mall to—” “Don't bother, I'm taking her.” Adrian interrupted, taking Isabella's arm. My gaze furrowed, that felt off because Adrian had always been a workaholic. “There are documents in the office that need your signature,” I reminded him. “It can do with yours,” Adrian said, picking up his phone. “You're the vice president after all.” “What about you taking her shopping another day? Today is our—” “Have you forgotten tomorrow is the grand opening of the company,” he interrupted me sharply. “I just want to shop for my baby's clothes myself, is that too hard to ask?” I clenched her fist by my side before I realized. But what about today? Today was our anniversary… our three-year wedding anniversary and my birthday. “I'll see you in the evening then,” Adrian said, dragging me back to reality. Before I could reply, Adrian was already walking out of the door with his hands draped carefully around Isabella's waist. My eyes met Isabella's and for a second, it felt like she was mocking me. I stood there longer than I should have, staring at the closed door like it had stolen something from me. The food on the table had gone cold just like the warmth that had left my chest. Was I going to be alone again on our anniversary and my birthday? I swallowed the lump in my throat, refusing to cry. Instead, I went upstairs, freshened up and chose to focus on work like I always did. My grandma would always tell me never to give up on something that would surely work out, but how long was I meant to keep holding onto a man that barely made time for me? The only time we spent quality time together was maybe in the office or when we had to brainstorm a business idea late at night and even though we had been married for three years, we have never shared a room together, not even on our wedding night. I slipped into a brown office suit with a matching short skirt alongside a brown heel before picking my bag and walking out of the room. “To the company,” I said to the driver after I got into the car. The driver nodded, mumbling a Good morning before speeding off. We arrived at the company after some minutes, someone opened the door from the outside and I got out. I handed my bag to my secretary, Wilson, before walking into the huge company. My heels clicking softly against the polished floor, ‘Good morning, ma’am’ flew towards me from all directions, but I barely paid attention to it. I stopped in front of my private elevator and Wilson pressed the button. “Oh my God! Are we expecting a young master soon?” a young intern gushed, heading in my direction. “The boss was just sighted shopping for baby clothes with madam, so what do you think?” the older woman beside the intern queried. “I thought she was infertile?” the intern asked, titling her head to look at the woman. “Did you see her medical records?” the woman demanded, hitting the intern’s head with the document in her hand. Wilson cleared his throat forcing them to look up, their faces whitened when they saw me. “Ma'am, we didn't mean to—” The elevator dinged and I stepped inside without sparing them another glance. Wilson followed me immediately. “They didn't mean it. I'll have the—” “Do I have any meetings now?” I cut him off sharply not wanting to hear anything apart from work. “No, your first meeting is in an hour.” Wilson replied, staring at me quietly whatever was going on in his head was the least of my problems. Silence enveloped the elevator as I barely nodded without a word. A few seconds later, the elevator opened and I stepped into the empty hallway. Only two offices were on this top floor, hers and Adrian's. I glanced at Adrian's door briefly but just as I was about to open the door to my office, the finance manager came running towards me. “Ma'am, we have a problem.” He said, breathless. I twisted my door knob without sparing him another glance. “Wilson, take care of it.” “It's about your grandmother's company,” the man rasped,his voice heavy with urgency.