The Second Wife by Melinda Mulera (book club reads .txt) 📗

Chapter 35: Hazel trauma

"So, my lunch." Linda said quietly as I stared down at the pregnancy result on my laps, now letting the harsh reality hit me.

I was pregnant.

With a child that might belong to one of two.

"Are you going to tell Hazel?" She asked and I stiffened at the thought. "I mean, when the baby is born, he might not resemble him. That is... If the baby isn't Hazel's."

"I don't know." I bit my lower lip and sighed out shakily. "Should I? I mean, he's getting disowned today and I don't want to ruin his mood."

"He has to know one way or the other." She shrugged her shoulder and I leaned into the seat, feeling helpless. "At least tell him you're pregnant."

"I know." I growled and glanced out the window. "Let me think things through...."

"I bet Hazel will be excited." She assured and I glanced at her. "He's always talking non-stop about you. About how you laugh at his stupid jokes, at how you smile or blush when ever he says something nice or embarrassing. He's head over heels for you. Just tell him about it."

"I know he'll be at least happy about it. It's the part that I have to tell him about Avery that's bothering me.... I mean... I cheated on him the first day." I whined as I covered my eyes and sighed out. "Will he just leave me? Will I become my mother? I mean, she did something similar right? Then she had me to deal with her entire life without a good job and little to eat, while my father remained cooked up in a white mansion by a beach on an expensive personal island." I sighed out and chewed on my tongue a bit. "My mum really likes Hazel.... I'm afraid she'll just look at me in disappointment when he leaves me...." I sighed out shakily and wiped off my tears. "What should I do?"

"I would tell you to keep it a secret but to be honest, secrets don't last long. He'll find out eventually." She said as I brushed the tips of my fingers on beneath my eyes, wiping off the tears. "I'll be there if you want me to."

"Can't you tell him?" I asked softly, my voice coming out weak and frail. "I mean... I can't..."

"But you'll be there." She deadpanned and I sighed out with a nod of the head.

It was better than nothing.

*****
 

 

It was already in the evening and nearly dinner time as we waited for Hazel to show up as he promised when I told him we needed to talk. He said he wasn't in the right mood to talk that afternoon and asked if he could have the afternoon to himself first before he came over.
 

 

Something about his voice told me he was expecting something bad to come out of my mouth. Plus, he told me he had something to tell me too.
 

 

Probably about the disownment papers. 
 

 

"Sit down. You'll stress the baby out of you." Linda growled from the couch she was sitting on. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair for the hundredth time as I glanced at the clock above the arc.
 

 

"I can't relax..." I sighed out and three myself back, sitting on the couch. "I'm scared...."
 

 

"Don't be. I'll talk sense into him." She winked and I pouted my lips, only to hear the knock on the door echoed the house. I sprung to my feet and made a beeline towards the door, hearing my own heart burst out of my chest. I reached for the door knob with my nerves getting the best of me. I slowly opened it only to reveal Hazel behind it. He stared at me for a moment, looking let down.
 

 

I guess the disownment got the best of him.
 

 

"I feel as though the entire world is trying to kill me from the inside out." He suddenly muttered as he glanced towards the ground with a deep frown on his face. "Even after thinking hard and long about it, I still feel betrayed."
 

 

"You don't need them, there are people who love-"
 

 

"I'm talking about you, Iris." He said as he glanced up to look at me, the redness in his eyes telling me he had been holding himself from crying.
 

 

"What... what did I do?" I asked stupidly as I stared at him clench his jaw, the veins on his forehead clearly pressing on his skin.
 

 

"Don't fvck with me..." He chuckled out breathlessly as he clenched his fists tighter. "You slept with Avery?..." He asked and I clenched on my jaw as I stared at him.
 

 

Linda... Where are you!?
 

 

"Things happened." Linda suddenly said behind me. "You need to know, Hazel, that she didn't let him touch her again."
 

 

"That doesn't give her the excuse to do what she did!" He hissed. "I thought.... I thought she actually loved me... That I meant something to her and when I hear Avery say those words to me, even after I gladly signed the papers, knowing I would come home to Iris... The only person I have left..... It pierced my heart!" The tears running down his face were unbearable to see. So instead, I casted my eyes to the ground. "Iris, why?"
 

 

"You can't expect her to answer-"
 

 

"Let her answer herself!!" He hissed as he landed his fist to the small table holding a flower bed just beside him. It shook for a moment and I thought it would break, since it had been here even before I rented out the house. The previous owners left it and I thought it looked nice so I left it there. "Iris, do you love Avery?" He asked, a little more softly as he stared at me. "Of course you do." He chuckled to himself when I hesitated to answer. "Why would you go that far with him if you didn't feel something about him.... I know you're not the type to have fun and mess around. It's not you. So you must have feelings for him."
 

 

"I don't... Anymore." I stammered to say. "I know I made a huge mistake... I'm sorry. But I really love you Hazel... Avery only used me and that was it, after then we never got close."
 

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