Claiming My Mother's Husband

How? No, Why?

VIVIEN

Three days.

It's been three days since I left the house after our argument, and my mother hasn't called. Not even a single. Nothing.

It hurts.

I've spent my whole life feeling and experiencing her hatred, and you'd think I would have gotten used to it by now. But no. I wasn't used to her harsh words and an even harsher gaze. I would never get used to her treating me like I was a stranger under her shoe.

She blamed me for something that was way beyond my power; for being born, and according to her, ruining her life. I became a burden she didn't need. I turned her body into something unrecognizable.

Those were her exact words. And I've lived with them echoing in my ears all my life.

When my father was alive, it was manageable. I had someone’s arms to fall into and just cried. I had someone to stroke my hair and tell me she didn't really hate me, even though we both knew it was a lie.

I had my father, and he was my everything, my pillar, my safe place, and life decided to take that away from me.

I remembered that night he was rushed to the hospital as if it just happened yesterday.

He had been sick, his body slowly failing him, slowly becoming unresponsive to the medication and treatment. And that night when he collapsed, I knew.

I followed him to the hospital, refusing to let go of his hand, but I had to. I remember standing outside the room, watching from the threshold as CPR was performed on him.

I watched as his chest rose and fell. I watched his face, and it looked peaceful, even though it was a mess around him.

And then the monitor flatlined.

I remember standing so still, my eyes wide as I realised my father was gone.

That was when my mother finally decided to arrive, and when she saw his lifeless body, you know what she did? Nothing. She just stared at him, no pain in her eyes, no sorrow or grief.

And then she left.

The next day, she started squandering his money, going clubbing, and bringing different men home.

I’ve always been cautious of her, but ever since then, I've hated her, despised the sight of her.

“Hey.”

A hand tapped my shoulder gently, and I jumped, startled. I turned to see Aaron standing behind me with worry in his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

I forced a smile. “Yeah. I'm great.”

“Thinking about your mom?” he pressed, stroking my back softly. I said nothing, and that was the answer he needed. “I’ll talk to her. She'll come around.”

I scoffed, the sound void of any humor. “We both know that's not going to happen.”

“Then wipe that look off your face. Today’s a good day for us. You should be all smiles.”

Right… Today…

What's happening today, you might be wondering?

Well, today Aaron was finally going to introduce me to his family, and not just as his girlfriend, but as the girl he wanted to marry.

That… that was a lot.

And you might be wondering, we’ve been dating for three whole years, and I'm only going to see his family now. Well, that's because… because Aaron has… good excuses. But that doesn't matter. What mattered was that the day was finally here.

And I was nervous as hell.

His family was million–oh, who was I kidding? Billionaira! There wasn't a day that went by that you turned on the news and didn't see an update on the McCall family.

They were everywhere, topping the charts. Aaron has appeared on television more times than I can count. He has everything: wealth, fame, opportunities. And I had… I had me.

Just me. Vivienne Lou, a broke girl with dreams and a mother who hated her. Compared to Aaron, I was nothing. And it has always made me wonder what he sees in me. It made me feel–

“Hey, where’d you go?”

I blinked back to reality, and Aaron was standing in front of me.

“Nowhere,” I said, putting my perfect fake smile on. “I'm here.”

“I can tell you're nervous,” he said, his voice soft and filled with love. That made my chest tight. “You don't have to be. My family are simple people. They'll love you. I’m sure of that.”

There was nothing simple about the McCalls.

But I held my comment back and nodded, hoping he was right.

“Come on.” He took my hand and we went to the garage, opening the car door for me.

The drive to his family's mansion was silent, each of us lost in our thoughts, and somehow I could tell we were thinking of the same thing: Nadia Fletcher.

Aaron has assured me over and over again that he got rid of all the evidence and that they wouldn't be able to trace it back to us, but I couldn't shake the feeling of being apprehended that grew in my gut as time passed.

It didn't help that my stepfather was the detective in charge of the case. I felt like I would slip and give myself away. And Ken had the kind of eyes that didn't miss anything.

We reached Aaron's mansion, and my line of thought changed. All I could think about as Aaron opened the car door for me and led me inside, past a lawn that was immaculate, clearly expensive to maintain, and a massive double door that made the mansion seem like a castle, was: “How do I impress his family?”

We entered the house, and I tried not to stare with my mouth open like a fool.

It was perfect, like a caste. The interior looked fit for royalty. And right then, I wanted to turn back to the house where I wasn't welcome and to a mother who didn't want to see me. I think that would be better than whatever I was about to do right now.

Rich people were… complicated. Even though Aaron claimed his family was simple, they were still rich.

“Wait here,” Aaron said as he sat me down on a sofa that looked like it cost more than my entire wardrobe. “I’ll go let them know we’re here.”

I wanted to scream at him not to leave me alone, but I didn't want to seem clingy, so I smiled and nodded.

When he left, my legs wouldn't stop shaking, my heart wouldn't stop skipping a beat every time I sensed movement.

“This is torture,” I whispered.

My phone pinged, and even that made my heart skip a beat. I sighed as I brought it out and saw I had a message from an unknown number.

I was about to dismiss it as one of those spam messages, but curiosity got the best of me, and I opened it. What I saw made me regret not dismissing it as spam.

It’s like I could feel my heart drop down to my stomach.