Goodbye, My Love

6 –Pregnant? Too?

“Simone. Your true colors show too soon, once he leaves.”

But once the words left my mouth, I came to the conclusion that getting involved in all of this, was not something that I was not going to do. After all, where was it going to get me? What could I possibly benefit out of any of this?

Just because Austin believed himself too good to attend the funeral, did not mean that I felt the same. I was going to go. Come hell, or high water.

I had already decided last night that I would go somewhere else and get ready for the funeral—I would even get ready in the car if I had to! But what I wouldn’t do, is stay here and allow myself to be degraded like this. I simply refused it. Due to the fact that I had already made this decision beforehand, my suitcase was waiting downstairs, by the front door, which would make it much easier for me to make a quick get-away. No one needed to know where I was going.

But as I reached the door, I found myself blocked off by no one other than Simone. It seemed to me like she was determined to get in my way, literally. And that was something that I simply was not comfortable or happy with. She was already pushing her way into my home, and now she wanted to push her way into a conversation as well. When was this going to end?

“When are you planning on signing the divorce papers, lovely Laela? Austin has been asking you for weeks now, and you still won’t give in. What is it going to take?

Her tone of voice was just as cold as her expression was, and I couldn’t help but feel my anger flair up at the unfairness of the situation. After all, I didn’t have someone breathing down Austin’s neck, telling him that he shouldn’t divorce me. And now, here Simone was, doing that exact thing. Who did she think she was?

“Excuse me, Simone, but I was not aware that you were a third party in the divorce.”

Having her as a third party would make things so much easier for me, financially, because then I would have proof of the fact that Austin has been sleeping around, and then I would be able to take everything from him that I possibly could. I could tell that she was quite unhappy with what I had said to her, because that cool gaze of hers fired up with rage, and I knew that whatever was coming, was going to be something that was specifically designed to hurt me.

“That’s rich coming from you—the woman who is a third party in her own marriage!’

And there it was.

The statement that I had been preparing for.

It was amusing for me to realize just how predictable Simone actually was. After all, could you imagine someone who didn’t even know you, being able to predict what you were going to do? But something that didn’t sit well with me, was the fact that despite this, Austin still hadn’t been able to see through her bullshit and lies. It seems like I was the only one who was able to do it for the both of us.

“Laela, you know just as well as I do that your relationship with Austin is nothing more than a front. If it weren’t for you standing in the way, I would be the one married to him! This would be my house instead of yours! And now that his grandfather is dead, there is no one keeping him from leaving with you. There is no one to protect you anymore. Do you hear me? No one. Just make your life easier and sign the divorce papers—before Austin changes his mind and gives you nothing.”

If Austin did happen to change his mind and decide to leave me with nothing, I knew that it would have absolutely everything to do with her. She was the one pulled the strings, and I knew that Austin would lovingly dance to the tune of her demands. I couldn’t say the same. She wasn’t going to manipulate me in the way that she was manipulating him.

I would rather die and fall into a sewerage hole, than to allow that to happen with me.

“Simone. Something that you need to realize, before trying to convince me to sign anything, is that you will never be able to fill the shoes required to be Austin’s wife. If he was really so desperate to marry you, he would have forced me to sign those papers a long time ago.”

I had to admit that I was quite proud of myself and the fact that I had managed to keep myself from doing something as foolish and inconsiderate, and yet, I had still managed to bite back. If it was possible, I would have given myself a pat on the back.

At this point, I was certain of the fact that there was absolutely nothing that could make me feel bad—nothing other than an insult coming from Austin, but considering the fact that he was nowhere to be seen, I felt like I was safe from that.

I passed her by, starting to make my way to the stairs, but once again, Simone had other plans. Her hand wrapped around my shoulder, her nails digging into my flesh as she pulled me to a stop and forced me to turn around and face her. I was forced to clench my jaw, to bite down on my tongue in a desperate attempt to keep myself from returning the favor of what she had just done. Did she have any idea how much that hurt?

“Laela, do you not understand? You are embarrassing yourself. Do you realize that? He does not like you, let alone love you. And you want to remain by his side, for what? For show? Please. You’re humiliating yourself, and I have a front row seat to it.”

I had to admit that seeing her get so worked up over all of this was quite amusing. I felt calm. Relaxed. The fact that she was reacting to me in this manner told me that she was the one who was worried. After all, I was the one married to him and sleeping with him. Whereas she was just sleeping with him. He had nothing to show that he had committed to their relationship. Nothing other than his show of asking for a divorce.

“If Austin truthfully didn’t care for me, as you say, then why do you seem so insecure? So nervous?”

Everything that happened after that, happened very fast. I didn’t even know how I reacted in the way that I did, but as it turned out, my reflexes were much better than I had initially given them credit for. I stepped out of the way, barely missing the flow that Simone had been planning to deliver to me—and in doing so, I opened the pathway for her to go falling down the stairs. And that was exactly what had happened.

I didn’t touch her.

I didn’t even move.

I simply stared as she desperately tried to grab onto the balustrade to keep herself from falling all the way down, but that simply didn’t happen. I heard her head bash against the wall, watched as her teeth connected with a corner of the stairs—and not once while any of this was happening, did I dare to feel anything that could remotely correlate to guilt.

She let out a piercing scream upon coming to a stop at the foot of the staircase, and I still found myself incapable of moving, watching as blood soaked through the nightgown that she was wearing. Where was she bleeding?

I was pushed harshly to the side, nearly losing my footing and falling down the stairs too, but luckily I was able to catch myself on the balustrade. My heart had tripled in pace, feeling like it was about to bounce right out of my chest at any minute now. It had been no one other than Austin who had pushed me aside, desperately trying to make his way to the woman he loved.

She played the role of the damsel in distress, perfectly.

“Austin, I’m bleeding. I’m bleeding. The baby.”

Even though I was all the way up here, I knew that I couldn’t have misheard what she had said. And judging by the paleness of both her and Austin’s faces, I guessed that they were very aware of what was happening right now. They seemed to be solely focused on one another, trying to process what they were supposed to do next—while I could do nothing more than stare down at them in disbelief, my eyes dropping down to the blood that was pooling on her nightgown.

How had I not realized?

Simone was pregnant.

And the only person who’s child it could be, is Austin—Austin who happened to be the first person to snap out of the shock induced daze that they had fallen into.

“We need to get her to the hospital.”

The statement came from Colin, who had come from the kitchen to see what was going on. He must have come to the same conclusion as I had, and was now rather desperate to handle this matter before it got out of control.

“Don’t you think I know that?”

To say that Austin sounded upset, would have been an understatement. I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing, that Austin actually looked concerned for something other than himself. Never in my life would I have guessed that this would happen.

“The baby will be fine.”

This comment was directed at no one other than Simone, his desperate attempt to console her failing miserably. I didn’t think that he realized it just yet, but things weren’t going to be alright. He had picked her up off of the floor, hooking his arms beneath her arms and knees. I could see the blood smearing across his clothes, soaking into the white-button shirt that he was wearing. It was truthfully a horrid sight to see, but that was all that there was to it.

I didn’t feel an ounce of pity for them—only a primal urge to protect the child that I was going to have.

Austin must have made it halfway towards the door when he suddenly stopped. He didn’t turn around to look at me, but I knew that what he was going to say was going to be directed at me. After all, anything that he planned to say to Simone or Colin, could have been said while they continued to walk.

“Laela. You’re going to answer for this.”

And with that being said, he disappeared out the front door, unaware of the fact that his words had caused a chill to run down my spine. Colin was frozen in place where he stood holding the door open, and he was the next one to turn to me, looking at me with desperate eyes.

“You need to explain what happened to him, Laela. You can’t just allow him to think the worst. It’s not going to help you at all. Alright? Please, just make sure that he knows the truth. He has to.”

Never in my life would I have been able to guess that Colin would know something like this. Had he seen what had happened? It was possible, since I hadn’t once dared to look who was watching us.

“What should I explain?”

“Yourself. If you leave him to believe whatever Simone tells him—and she will undoubtedly pin the blame on you, since the opportunity is already there—then this will turn out to be a lot more than merely a misunderstanding.”

I dropped my gaze down to the floor, finding that I didn’t really have in me to look at him. Not when he was going to talking to me in this manner.

“Whether I pushed her or not—it doesn’t change the fact that Austin’s baby is dying, and he needs someone to take accountability for it.”

He shook his head, a bitter laugh slipping from his lips.

“Well, since you have it all figured out, I’ll leave you to your misery.”

And with that being said, he walked out, following in the footsteps of his brother.