My Ex Now Calls Me Stepmom

It was 9:45 PM. The whole building was empty. Everyone had left at 6. The cleaners had left at 8. Even security had done their last round. Only the rain was left, hitting the big glass windows like it was trying to break in. And only two people were left in the whole company — me and him. "Demise, you should have left hours ago," his voice came from behind me. I jumped. I didn't even hear his door open. Lothra was standing there. No jacket. White shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His tie loose. He looked tired, but in that dangerous handsome way that made all the interns gossip. "I'm finishing the monthly report, Mr. Lothra," I said quickly, trying to fix my hair. "You said you needed it tomorrow morning." "I said morning, not midnight." He walked closer to my desk. "You take this secretary job too seriously." That's him. Always telling me I work too hard, while giving me more work. He stopped right behind my chair. Too close. My body froze. "Your AC is too high in here," he said quietly. And then I felt it. His breath on my neck. Warm. Slow. My heart started beating so loud I was sure he could hear it. "Mr. Lothra..." I whispered. My hands were tight on my keyboard. "You've been shaking since this afternoon," he murmured, and his voice was much lower now, not the boss voice. "Since the meeting. What happened?" What happened was him. In the meeting, he had looked at me the whole time. Not at the clients. At me. "Nothing," I lied. "I'm just cold." "Liar." His hand brushed my shoulder. Just one finger, fixing my crooked collar. I should have moved. I should have stood up and said goodnight, sir. But I didn't. God help me, I didn't. Because for three months since I became his secretary, he had been the only man who actually saw me. David, my fiancé, only saw what I could do for him. My sister Edden only saw what she could take from me. But Lothra — he noticed when I was tired, when I didn't eat, when I stayed late. I leaned back slightly, without thinking. His breath was still on my neck. He was so close now I could smell his cologne — expensive, dark, like rain and wood. "Demise," he whispered my name, and the way he said it made my legs weak. I turned my head. Our faces were inches apart. I was stunned by the look in his eyes. He was looking at me with a hunger his son has never shown me before. His gaze lit some forbidden part of me, l did not even know l had. Before l could gather my thoughts and notice the distance between us. Lothra kissed me—l would be lying if l said it wasnt the best kiss l have ever had. I would also be lying if l said l did not kiss him back because God l did. With all l had l kissed him back as his tongue sought entrace into my mouth and l let him. It was not a mistake anymore. It was conciously done. His tongue invaded my mouth and fought for dominance with my tongue which my tongue obviously lost and let him just lead the kiss. Then he bit me. That woke me up and l pushed him hard before he let me go. What happened after, I will never forget. The guilt hit me like a truck. I pushed my chair back so hard it crashed against the wall. My lipstick was ruined. My breathing was a mess. My brain was screaming. What did I just do? What did I just do! This was Lothra! My boss! The CEO of Lothra Group! The father of my fiancé! "Mr. Lothra, I'm sorry," I stammered, my voice breaking into pieces. "I'm so sorry. That was a mistake. That was a huge mistake. It should never have happened. Please, please forget it. I beg you." He looked at me. His eyes were dark, his jaw tight. He was breathing hard too. For the first time since I've known him, Lothra looked like he lost control. "Demise, wait—" "No!" I grabbed my bag, my phone, I didn't even shut down my computer. "I love David. I love your son. I have to go. I have to go and fix this. I have to make this right before it destroys everything." I didn't wait for his answer. I ran. I ran out of his office, out of the 42nd floor, I hit the elevator button like a madwoman. My reflection in the elevator mirror scared me — messy hair, swollen lips, eyes full of tears. The rain was heavy when I got outside. 9:58 PM. The city was wet and cold. I needed to see David. Now. For three years, David was my everything. When my parents died and left me and Edden alone, I was 21. David was the senior who promised to take care of me. He asked me to marry him last year under the mango tree behind campus. He said, "Demise, you will be my wife and I will protect you forever." I held onto that promise like a lifeline. If I confessed to him now, quickly, before this lie grew bigger, maybe he would understand. Maybe he would forgive me. Because I stopped it. I did stop it. I stopped a taxi. "Hai Town, near University, fast please," I told the driver. The whole ride, I was shaking. Not from cold. From fear. I was rehearsing my apology over and over in my head. _"David, something happened at work tonight. With your dad. Nothing serious, I swear I stopped it immediately. But I felt so guilty I had to come tell you. Because I love you. Because you are the man I want to marry."_ Yes. That sounded honest. That sounded like me. The good Demise. The loyal Demise. We reached our apartment building. I paid the taxi fare with wet money and ran up the stairs. Third floor, door 3B. Our home. The door was unlocked. My stomach dropped instantly. David NEVER leaves the door unlocked. Never. He is so paranoid he checks it twice even when we are inside. He always says, "City J is not safe, babe, lock the door." But tonight, it was wide open. Just pushed, not locked. I pushed it slowly. The living room was dark, but the bedroom light was on. And by the door, I saw them. A pair of red strappy heels. Size 6. Expensive. Still wet from rain. Not mine. I wear size 7. I never wear red because David said red makes me look cheap. But my sister loves red. Edden loves red. Then I heard it. A laugh. A girl's laugh. Soft and fake. "David, stop... you're so bad..." That voice. My blood froze in my veins. Edden. My little sister. My blood. The girl I brought from the village two months ago because she cried and said she wanted to go to university in Juba. The girl who had no money, no place to stay, so I begged David to let her sleep on our couch. The girl I gave my clothes to, my makeup, my food, my bed when David was not around. I walked toward the bedroom. My legs were not my own. My baggy cargo pants felt so heavy. The bedroom door was half open. I looked. And everything I believed died in that second. There was David — my fiancé, my future husband, the man I was coming to beg for forgiveness — naked on our bed. On the white sheets I washed on Sunday morning. And under him was Edden. My sister Edden. She was moaning. "Oh David... yes... you are so much bigger than..." And David was whispering to her, "You are so much sweeter than your sister. That fool Demise thinks I'm going to marry her." That fool. He called me a fool. I stood there. I watched them for maybe five seconds that felt like five years. I watched my fiancé betray me. I watched my sister steal my life right in front of me. The ring he gave me — that small silver ring from the market — felt like it was burning my finger. I wanted to scream. I wanted to enter and pull her hair and scratch his face and break everything. But I didn't. They didn't see me. They were too busy. Too lost in their own sin. So I did something I didn't know I could do. I stepped back. Quietly. One foot, then the other. I didn't make a sound. I walked out of the apartment. I closed the door gently, exactly how I found it — unlocked, slightly open. I left them inside. I went down the stairs. One floor, two floors, three floors. And once I was outside in the rain, my knees gave up. I collapsed on the wet stairs of the building next to ours. The rain was pouring on me, soaking my white crop top, soaking my leather pants, soaking my boots. And I cried. I cried for David. I cried for Edden. I cried for my stupid self who was about to apologize to a cheater. My phone buzzed. It was almost dead. 5%. A message. David: _Babe where are you? You working late again? Miss you, come home soon._ I stared at that message. Miss you? Come home soon? While he was still inside my sister in my bed? I laughed. A crazy, heartbroken laugh that scared even me. I took off the silver ring. I looked at it in my wet palm. Three years. For this. I was too heartbroken to even be angry yet. I was just... empty. Hollow. Like someone scooped everything inside me out. What was I going to do? Where was I going to go? I brought Edden to the city, I have no family left here. That apartment was my only home. And now it was dirty. Contaminated. I sat there in the rain for a long time. Maybe 20 minutes. Maybe an hour. I had no phone, no money left, no home. The rain got heavier. Then my dead phone buzzed again, but this time it was a call. Even with 1%. Unknown, but I knew the number by heart. Lothra. I stared at it. Should I pick? The man I just kissed. The father of the man who just destroyed me. My finger moved on its own. "Demise?" His voice was deep, worried, serious. "Where are you? Your computer is still on. You left your water bottle. Are you okay?" Hearing his voice — broke me again. "Mr. Lothra..." My voice was a whisper, full of tears. "Demise, are you crying? What happened? Did someone hurt you? Tell me where you are right now." "I... I went to tell David..." I couldn't finish. I was sobbing so hard. "Don't. Don't talk. Send me your live location. Now. I'm coming to get you." "I have no home," I whispered, and it was the truth. "I have no home anymore." "Yes you do," he said firmly. "You have me. Stay where you are. Don't move." The call ended. My phone died completely. Black screen. I sat there, in my wet cargo pants and crop top, in the rain, at 10:47 PM, with no home, no fiancé, no sister. I was completely alone. Or so I thought. Because ten minutes later, a black Range Rover stopped in front of me, splashing water everywhere. The door opened. And Lothra came out in the rain, without an umbrella, in his expensive suit getting wet, and he looked at me on those stairs like I was the only thing in the world. "Demise," he said, his voice soft. That was the end of my old life. And the start of everything else.