Fractured Promises

Chapter 5

“Kai! How was your trip, son?” Victoria happily greeted Kai, and Ellyse as soon as she arrived.

“It was good Mom,” Kai kissed his mother on the cheek before they all heard Claire’s high-pitched voice at the second floor.

“Grandmama! Finall, you visited! I missed you!!” Claire ran as fast as she could from the stairs, even skipping some levels just to get to her grandmother.

“Claire! Be careful!” Both Ellyse and Kai ran toward their daughter Claire, worried she might fall.

“I told you to take it slow, Claire,” Kai warned her, Claire only pouted at her parents before running to her grandma.

“Look at you! You’ve grown so much since I last went here!” The last time Victoria visited, Kai also had just arrived from his business trip in Paris.

“I’ve grown 20 centimeters, grandmama!” Claire tells her grandmother happily.

Ellyse smiled at the sight of seeing Claire and Victoria together, it warmed her heart. In a few weeks, she’ll never get the chance to witness this anymore.

“We should eat, Mom,” Kai says and gestures his arm to the dining area.

Victoria nodded and we all went to eat at the dining table. Kai was sitting at the very end, Victoria was in front of me, and I was sitting adjacent to Kai beside Claire.

“Kai, you should lessen your business trips to spend more time with your family!” Victoria scolded her son who’s silently eating.

Ellyse and Kai’s eyes met after what Victoria said, but Kai looked away, unbothered.

“I have things to do overseas, I can’t put them aside,” He explained.

“Give them to your dad! Goodness! You can’t leave your wife here all alone,” Ellyse had the urge to say something but she stopped herself.

What’s the use of siding with Kai now? So what if Victoria nags him about being a horrible husband? Ellyse doesn’t care anymore.

“I’m sure she can handle herself pretty well, Mom,” Kai seemed like he was dissociating himself from the conversation.

He was always like this whenever Victoria would confront him. Nothing was new to Ellyse. She’s gotten used to it by now.

The only difference is, she stayed silent. Before, she would always try to convince Victoria that she was fine, that she didn’t need Kai to come home frequently when she felt the complete opposite.

“What if you found out that she’s pregnant, Kai? Would you let her suffer alone?” Ellyse’s head shot up as she heard that from Victoria.

Victoria seemed to have noticed her reaction and immediately retaliated back. “Ellyse’s pregnant?” Kai asked, his brows arching.

“Mommy you’re pregnant?” Claire who’s bisy eatinf her food earlier, now seemed interested.

Victoria laughed nervously, “No! No! That’s not what I meant, Kai! What I meant was, if she was pregnant, would you continue this kind of treatment towards your wife?” Ellyse swallowed the lump that has been forming in her throat.

Kai who seemed shocked earlier now relaxed his tensed up shoulders and only shook his head.

“If that happens, I would drop things immediately…” To her surprise, Kai turned his head to look at her.

“And she knows that,” He finished his sentence before returning his eyes to his food.

Ellyse only sighed heavily before she managed to smile, “That’s true, Mom. He was with me the whole time I was pregnant with Claire.”

Kai was indeed a good father, and she saw that. When they found out that she was pregnant, Kai did everything for her. He didn’t let her work, he fed her, and was with her whenever she needed him.

She thought then…that maybe there was a chance for Kai to truly love her.

She saw a glimpse of hope six years ago…at the time, she felt like she truly had a husband who cared for her like he loved her.

But it was cut short the moment Claire was brought into the world. Kai went back to his usual cold self and started going on long business trips again.

After the whole ordeal about Kai being a bad husband, they finished eating dinner. Victoria insisted that she’d handle Claire and even volunteered to bathe her.

On the other hand, Claire had to sleep in the same room with her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

Just like the usual, Kai would always be the first to take a bath so Ellyse spent her time working. She had a scheduled online meeting with her client so while she waited for Kai, she immersed herself to working.

“Alright, Thankyou Mrs. Forster,” The meeting ended soon after Kai finished bathing.

Without a word, Ellyse took her towel and pajamas to go in the bathroom. She had takes these from her house and brought them here since majority of her things were taken with her when she left.

She sang a few songs in the bathroom until she finished. Afterwards, she blowdried her hair and dis her skincare.

Kai was on the bed with his laptop sitting on his lap, he’s wearing his reading glasses and had this serious look on his face as he typed mindlessly on his keyboard.

He didn’t even seemed to notice Ellyse climbing on the bed beside him. She covered herself in the comforter before closing her eyes.

However, she couldn’t seem to sleep. The lights were still on and the noise Kai’s keycaps made were bothersome.

She kept shifting and turning on the bed, trying to find the perfect position when suddenly, the noises died down.

She heard Kai close his laptop. He left their bed to probably put it away before the bed shifted again, he was now beside her. The lights were turned off and there was a long line of silence between them.

Ellyse could hear her heart beating, she felt restless as she tried multiple positions of sleeping.

“If you can’t sleep, count sheeps in your head,” Now Ellyse felt more awake than ever, hearing Kai’s baritone voice.

“How is that supposed to work?” She asks him, confused. She had no idea if he was joking or not.

But Kai never joked around her. So she assumed the latter.

“Your brain will get tired,” He answered nonchalantly.

She didn’t answer him anymore and instead closed her eyes and did exactly what he said.

1…2…3…4…5…she counted in her mind.

67…68…69…70…71-

“Can I ask a question?” She almost flinched when she heard him speak again!

She was getting sleepy! Come on now!

“Hm?” She hummed in response.

“Are you pregnant?” She froze. Thankfully, her and Kai were facing opposite directions so he couldn’t see nor sense her reaction.

“No,” She lied.

It was no use telling him…although Ellyse knew that Kai had the right to know since it was also his child, she wanted more time before she would tell him.

After all, they were still in the middle of a divorce.

“Alright,” Ellyse thought Kai would ask another question but he didn’t.

The next thing she knew, she was already sleeping soundly.