Chasing the Shrew

Regret *Trigger Warning: Infantic*de*

The moment Amelia got into the elevator she started sobbing. DS hurriedly patted her shoulder, “Don’t cry!! Don’t cry!! It’s okay, this isn’t the only company we can sell to! If you don’t like them, neither do I! Since I know my worth now, we can get another partnership!

Amelia smiled weakly at his attempts to cheer her up. She knew he didn’t pick up the conversation enough to realize she had previous relations with Dustin. If he knew Dustin was her ex-husband he would have added a few punches and kicks himself. DS was a simple man, he protected his family.

Amelia wiped her tears and clenched her fists, “Fighting!”

DS smiled broadly echoing, “Fighting!!”

***

Dustin sat in his office with his head tilted back. That shrew of a woman! Still what she said hurt more than her headbutt. Why did she take such strong offense to what he said? Was the child not DS’s but someone else’s? He was curious. He called Henry, “Go have someone dig up information on Amelia for the last 6 years. I want to know what she was doing, where she lived, and who she lived with.”

Dustin hung up and closed his eyes. Maybe he shouldn’t have said what he said but hearing that she had kids with another man rubbed him the wrong way. He didn’t realize at the time but he was looking forward to their baby six years ago. After all these years of seeing other happy mothers with their kids, he thought how happy Amelia would have been with a child by their side. He sighed and got back to work.

***

Life at the Roger estate was chaos personified. Tana was constantly agitated and throwing tantrums; a far cry from her usual composed and aloof nature. Her mother, Gloria, had even asked a priest to come for an exorcism but nothing seemed to help. Listening to one of her Asian friends, she consulted a famous shaman.

The shaman had a dark aura about her; when she walked into the parlor, the room instantly felt colder. Gloria shuddered, even Tana quieted for once, her eyes fixed on the old lady. The shaman walked up to Tana and looked behind her.

"Hm, you're being followed by an unborn child. It's affecting your baby. If you don't make things right, your baby will be lost."

Gloria's eyes opened wide. She knew what the shaman was referring to but she didn't want anyone to know about it. Gritting her teeth she asked, "How do we make things right? How much money do I need to pay?"

The shaman turned to look at her and Gloria realized her pupils were so dilated that they covered her iris, even her sclera looked grey. Gloria shuddered at the sight but was unable to look away.

The shaman shook her head, "No amount of money will be sufficient. If I use dark magic to kill the ghost, it will still drag the living to hell with it. For the living to survive, you must make amends to the living. Prostrate yourselves before her and beg for her to bless this child, if she forgives you, your child will live. If she does not, your child will die before the month's end."

The shaman turned to look at Gloria once more as if seeing something behind her, she threw back her head and cackled before walking out of the room.

Immediately, the room felt warm and bright again; the afternoon sun shone through the windows chasing away the lingering chill.

Gloria huffed, "What a load of bull. I rather just throw money at that hussy than apologize to her."

Tana said nothing, her arms cradling her showing belly. Six years ago, she was just a spiteful rich brat. Her brother married a nobody just because she was pregnant. Her mother took every opportunity to demean the daughter-in-law, and her father blatantly ignored her. Since her parents treated the newcomer as trash, she did the same. Her sister-in-law was never allowed to eat with them, her food was always sent to her room. One day, her mother mentioned that if there was no child between the girl and her son, then her son could divorce her and marry someone respectable. Tana thought she would save her brother.

It wasn't until she fell in love with Henry that she realized what a monster she had been. She had seen her sister-in-law's lifeless amber eyes bloom with vitality and adoration whenever her brother came home from work. It used to disgust her but since she started dating Henry she was constantly reminded of those happy amber eyes. Her happiness made her miserable. When she got pregnant, she was ecstatic. At the six-week health check-up, she heard her child's beating heart for the first time over the transvaginal ultrasound. All of a sudden, the room grew dark around her, and she could smell a faint hint of grass and tea. The sound of the fast drumming heartbeat slowed down to nothing and was replaced with slow dripping sounds. She screamed and ran out of the room. Since the visit she could always hear her baby's heartbeat in her head; day by day it was slowing down. It terrified her, it was her retribution.

When she heard that there was a way to save her child, it was the first time in weeks that her head cleared. She had to find her ex-sister-in-law, come clean, and beg for forgiveness.

But…what was her name again?

***

Amelia and DS hurried back to the hotel. When they got to the lobby they saw an elderly woman holding the hands of two adorable blonde children. Except for their amber eyes, they were the spitting image of their father. Amelia smiled and ran to them.

“Peter! Jenny! Have you been good for Ms. Mary?”

The children looked up to see their mother running towards them and they squealed, “Mommy!!!!!”

Poor Mary was dragged a couple of steps before they let go to glomp their mother.

“Mama!! You took so long!”

Peter let go first and looked up at DS. He walked over to pat the adult’s leg, “Uncle Dae! You did well today!”

DS smiled, bent down, and picked up the little boy, “Haha, thank you!”

Amelia turned to Mary and smiled, “Thank you so much for taking care of the kids on your own. I hope they weren’t too much trouble.”

Mary laughed, “No trouble at all. They were little angels as usual. We were just walking around. Is there anything else you two need to do today? Otherwise, the weather is great. We may as well go to the villa earlier to walk the grounds to pick fresh fruit; it'll be good for the children.”

Amelia agreed so they all went to their rooms to pack up for check out.

They had come into town last night and didn’t want to waste time commuting the next morning so they checked in at a nearby hotel. Now that the meeting was over, Amelia wanted to take the kids to live at the villa for a few days before they headed back. The villa was a good 45-minute drive away.

It had been six years since she came back to town and she couldn’t wait to leave.