Chasing the Shrew

Amelia Stein ran across the lawn, flush with excitement. Her loose dusty brown hair looked like strands of amber waving in the glaring sun. Dustin is coming home! Her husband of two years was going to be home for their anniversary! She couldn't contain her squeal of delight as she gingerly bounced up the steps to the small villa. They were unable to spend their first anniversary together so this time, she was eager to make up for it. She rubbed her lower abdomen and smiled sadly. They met almost three years ago at a dinner party and clicked immediately. He appreciated her witty humor, and she fell for his damn good looks, which resulted in a steamy one-night stand. The morning after, they parted ways amicably leaving nothing behind. That was until she found out she was pregnant. She figured he had the right to know so she did her due diligence to find a trace of him. She was a pretty good sleuth and discovered that he was THE Dustin Roger of Roger Inc.; the enigmatic billionaire, a woman's dream man (which she attests he is truly so, at least in bed), and all the other superfluous titles befitting a stud. She originally just wanted to let him know of the existence of her child but somehow she got swept up in the whirlwind that is Roger's family. They insisted that the child could not be illegitimate and a month later she was Mrs. Roger. Dustin was a reticent man and they got along like a couple on paper, apart from the bed-breaking s*x, they were rarely seen together. Amelia dismissed the red flag as 'that's just how rich people are'. After the marriage, she was forced to give up her job as it was unbefitting of a madame of the Roger family to be a wage-slave and she humbly submitted to the family's plethora of demands. She was of course just a self-made orphan and had little say in anything. Life was idle, lonely, and quiet until the day she had a miscarriage. Amelia was having tea for the first time with her sister-in-law, the young Ms. Tana Roger, when all of a sudden she fell atop the table, clutching her stomach in pain. Blood gushed from below her in torrents and she passed out. The next waking moment, she was in the hospital with a nurse hovering over her letting her know she had a miscarriage. Amelia was devastated and cried pitifully into the nurse's arms. She had to stay overnight for further observation but the entire time, she was alone. No one from the Roger family came to visit her as her husband was away on business. Amelia didn't think much of it, she was used to the cold treatment of the Roger family so she didn't care to see them anyway. Her husband, on the other hand, she believed he was too busy with work so the family didn't want to break the bad news to him over the phone. The next day when she was discharged from the hospital, she went back to the Roger estate to find her things being moved out. She rushed up to inquire why her things were out of the house and was ignored until the head maid arrived on the scene and explained that Dustin had arranged for her to move to his private villa to recover. Amelia thought that this was just in consideration for her. She had never truly gotten along with his parents or sister so living at the villa was a Godsend. It was a neat little place, tucked away in groves of fruit trees. She spent her days running around the grounds and laughing with the staff. She was never asked to go back to the main residence which she was okay with. Dustin would come every once in a while and they would have the same amazing s*x and he would leave the next morning. He never contacted her or brought her out of the villa for any holidays. Amelia didn’t want to confront him about it when he did come over, afraid that doing so would make him angry. But today, was their second anniversary, and he called in letting the staff know he was coming. He never did that, it was a clear indication that something was different and Amelia could feel that somehow, he knew her little secret: she was finally pregnant again! When she found out early on, she hesitated to say anything, afraid that another miscarriage would destroy their marriage so she waited 12 weeks. Now, chances for a miscarriage were low and she could finally share the good news with her husband. She rubbed her stomach with a soft smile on her face, "Baby, today is mommy's anniversary! Can you yield the limelight to me first, and then I'll introduce you to your father?" Little did she know her long-awaited anniversary celebration would end with divorce.