"He Was Never Mine"
1195 Words
Osita pushed open the door of the Dike mansion like a man returning from a long day at the office, not a groom who abandoned his bride in front of hundreds of witnesses yesterday.
He dropped his phone on the center table, pulled off his suit jacket, and sank into the couch like the world owed him rest. His eyes closed instantly.
For a moment his chest rose and fell with strange calmness, as though yesterday was nothing but a small disagreement that lovers would eventually sort out.
Without opening his eyes, he stretched his arm lazily along the sofa.
“Thea…” he muttered quietly, sounding irritated but expectant, “come massage my head.”
No footsteps.
His brows twitched, still not opening his eyes.
Then another step approached from the hallway, slower and heavier than Thea’s usual light movements.
Mrs. Lena - the long-time Dike’s housekeeper, stopped two steps away, hands folded respectfully, looking divided between duty and disbelief. “Sir…” she began, her voice soft, “she didn’t come home. She has been gone since yesterday.”
Osita opened his eyes sharply. The shock slipped out before he could stop it, but only for a second. His expression rearranged itself like someone locking emotions away inside a drawer.
He looked away, raised his hand to glance at his wristwatch. It was 12:09 pm. He swallowed, trying to mask the tension swelling inside him. “Did she call?”
“No, sir.”
He exhaled through his nose. The silence grew longer than normal.
Then, flatly—
“Tell Ray Willis to prepare the car. I’m going to St. Andrew’s.”
Mrs. Lena watched him stand and walk towards the staircase like a stone sliding across polished marble. The name St. Andrew’s hung in the air, and she instantly knew he meant the hospital. He didn’t say Natalia’s name, but he didn’t need to. The pattern was clear.
“Mr. Dike?” she called.
He paused, one foot already turning.
“Ms. Waterhouse has been out all night. Aren’t you worried?” she asked gently, almost pleading with her eyes.
He stared at her like she just said something ridiculous. “Who the hell does she think she is?”
He walked out before she could say anything else.
The drive to St. Andrew’s hospital was quiet. Ray Parker, his assistant, sat in front while the driver navigated. Osita’s gaze stayed glued to the window, but his mind was far behind him.
Years ago, he saw Thea crying, holding a little girl at a charity event and begging the doctors there to attend to her. Her hands trembled, but her voice remained firm. Something about the way she protected a child she didn’t know made him stop and look twice.
Back then, he wasn’t looking for anyone. His eyes were still trapped somewhere between pain and memory, somewhere in Natalia’s shadow.
But the moment he looked into Thea’s eyes, something small and selfish inside him whispered… ‘at least she looks like Natalia.’
Thea blossomed around him like sunlight, but he didn’t fall in love; he simply felt less lonely because her presence somehow reminded him of another woman.
Thea didn’t know that she was sharing a life with a ghost she could never compete against.
***************
The driver soon entered the hospital compound. Osita’s jaw clenched, his gaze tightening like he was bracing for something.
Natalia Johnson.
That name still lived inside him like a curse and a promise that refused to expire.
Years ago, before her disappearance, everyone expected engagement announcements. Their families were already planning wedding venues. She smiled when she talked about his surname and how perfect it sounded next to her first name.
Her parents adored him. His own family adored her. They were the perfect equation, the fulfilling conclusion, until she vanished like she never existed.
He remembered calling, texting, emailing… only to receive no reply. He remembered that cold afternoon someone told him she had left the country with another man. He remembered refusing to believe a single word.
He remembered refusing to admit defeat even when her number suddenly said “unreachable” permanently.
No goodbye. No explanation.
Just silence.
He survived, yes, but not whole. Something remained broken, sharp enough to cut any woman who tried to get too close, including Thea.
***************
Thea dragged her small suitcase through the quiet corridor of a modest hotel. She didn’t look back once.
Her hands shook while she inserted the room key into the lock. The door clicked open.
The room was plain, nothing compared to the luxury she was used to around Osita. But for the first time in years, she felt like she was breathing air that didn’t belong to him.
She shut the door softly and sat on the bed.
“Thea, you are fine,” she whispered to herself like she was trying to convince her own heart.
But the next second, she burst into tears.
Her voice trembled painfully as she began talking into empty space, like she expected him to hear somehow. “I gave you everything,” she murmured, pressing both palms against her face. “I was willing to wait forever if it would help you heal.”
She remembered nights he barely spoke to her but she stayed anyway. She remembered sitting awake just because he needed assistance with some business proposals. She remembered when she first heard the name Natalia and how quickly her fear swallowed her heart.
She remembered the day he told her, “I don’t know if I’ll ever find myself again.”
Natalia broke him. Completely.
But he allowed Thea to become the tool that patched the broken areas temporarily. She took insults from his family, endured humiliation, allowed people to say she wasn’t good enough, yet she chose hope over self-respect.
His family wanted someone of status, someone like Natalia. Not a foster-home girl who studied with scholarship funds.
Still, she believed love could conquer that gap.
Slowly, she started seeing traces of change in him. The silence reduced. He started saying “thank you,” even if occasionally. He held her hand sometimes. He even discussed marriage without hesitation.
She sincerely thought she was finally healing what someone else destroyed.
Until Natalia returned. Unannounced. Unexpected. Unforgiven.
Exactly three months before the wedding.
Thea closed her eyes tightly as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Was I really just a placeholder?”
She wiped her face and got up, forcing herself to unpack. But every piece of clothing she placed in the wardrobe felt like she was packing away seven years of humiliation.
Suddenly—
A sharp knock came at the door, snapping her back from her thoughts.
Her breath froze. She looked at the door, heart thudding.
No one should know she was here.
She stepped toward the door cautiously, gripping the doorknob with shaky fingers.
Her pulse raced.
She opened it slightly, just enough to see clearly.
And the moment her eyes recognized the unexpected figure standing there, her entire body went cold. Every breath escaped her chest all at once, her heart leaping in fear and confusion.
- Writer
