I No Longer Belong To You

She Broke My Vase

'’Jennifer, are you not happy for me? I am pregnant, didn’t you hear?’’ Julie’s voice sounded like honey caramel. She deliberately wanted to taunt me, to get a reaction out of me. I was determined not to give her what she wanted, but I was not fast enough because Mrs. Cane had also been waiting for an opportunity to talk down on me.

‘’Leave Jennifer alone. If you were in her shoes, won’t you be bitter too? She just got drained of all her blood, and Nathan is afraid that she will die if she tries to give birth. She can only wish to be you, a woman who gets things done no matter the consequences.’’

The expression of satisfaction on Mrs. Cane's face cannot be explained. One had to be there to confirm that if she had the means, she would gift Julie anything she wanted for proving herself to be more of a woman than me.

I didn’t expect any better from Mrs. Cane, so I didn’t say anything. Instead, I looked out for what Nathan would say. That would have made a difference. But I was not surprised when Nathan still had a smile on his face as he cherished Julie in his arms. He didn’t stop his mother from talking down on me the way she did.

In fact, Nathan did not even act as if there was any sort of chaos going on around him. All his attention was on Julie.

When Julie was trying to adjust closer into Nathan’s body, she deliberately stretched further than she should have. I saw Julie calculatively kick forcefully towards the bed stand, and the vase that was by her side started to fall.

‘’My mother’s family vase! Nathan, please help me to catch it.’’ I launched myself forward, reaching for the vase in a bid to save it before it landed but I failed, neither did Nathan move an inch to catch it.

The sound of the vase scattering on the floor caused my heart to quake so hard, I screamed in agony. That vase meant so much to me. It was the last thing my mother gave me before she died. That was all the memory I had of her.

Each shard of ceramic on the floor broke my heart to as much pieces as there were in the room.

When Nathan saw the way my face fell concerning the vase, he scoffed and said; ‘’Julie, is it because of an ordinary vase you are acting so childish? What’s with a vase? How much does it cost? I’ll buy a million vases for you and get you a villa to store them in.’’

That was what Nathan told me. No apologies, no remorse. All I was expected to do was shut up and stop crying about a 'silly vase.'

Ignoring Nathan’s words, I got up with determination, walked towards Julie, and slapped her. I slapped her so hard because I knew she deliberately broke that vase, the same way she had been deliberately trying to taunt me since.

Julie’s cheeks turned red instantly as she gazed at me, shocked at my guts. I looked back at her, a smile on my face to show that I loved to see her looking confused, however, no matter how satisfied I was concerning slapping Julie, I knew that my satisfaction won’t last long. I heard someone gasp behind me – as I turned to look at the person, what I received was three sharp slaps on my face.

I saw stars as I staggered to catch a grip of myself. ‘’How dare you?’’ Mrs. Cane’s voice sounded like a shrill vulture angry at losing a roadkill. ‘’Have you been able to get pregnant since you got married to my son?

Do you know what Julie means to the Cane family?’’

Mrs. Cane had been dying to say this for a long time, also, she had been dying to lay her hands on me the way she just did. I could tell from the venom she spat and the way her eyes shot daggers at me.

While I held my red cheeks, trying to get used to the sting that burned my skin, I saw Nathan walking towards me.

‘’Nathan...’’ I called his name. Thinking that he wanted to defend me for once. I reached out to grab Nathan’s hand when I saw him reaching for me, instead, I was not prepared for what happened next.

My back slammed against the wall, and the back of my head hit the wall as I glided down, blood dripping from the back of my head. Blood that I no longer had, blood that I had and was still giving to Julie. Nathan flung me angrily against the wall, with his nose flared and his eyes boring hot holes in me.

‘’Nathan, why?’’ I curled up at a corner, wondering at how fast Nathan made me bleed. Just because of Julie, look at the extent he had gone with me in a bid to protect her. Then I heard his angry voice reply; ‘’if you touch the mother of my kids again, I will kill you.’’

Nathan sounded like a stranger. Blood had covered my face and my hair hang in front of me. I looked like a crazy woman. Between bloodied eyes, I looked at Nathan, and his countenance was foreign to me.

Standing above me, Nathan was heaving with anger, unbothered about the fact that I was bleeding profusely when I should be preserving my blood for myself and- Julie.

‘’Apologize.’’ The words came out low and heavy. Nathan didn’t raise his voice, but I heard him, and I heard him loud and clear.

‘’Since you are out of your mind, make sure to stay away from Julie. Don’t go close to her again or else you will regret that you met the Cane family. Now, apologize.’’