The continuous knocking on the door got Vanessa's eyes fluttering open. She realized that she was still inside the bathtub, she was already shivering, before she could stand up from the bathtub, Riccardo's pushed the door open and walked in. When he saw her state he scoffed, he was already dressed up for work, he wore a black suit and pants with a white shirt tucked in, with two buttons left undone, revealing his tanned chest. Riccardo always liked leaving two of his shirt buttons opened, he only wears tie during special occasions.

Vanessa couldn't help but notice that he looked extremely Good looking this morning in his black tuexudo.

"What are you doing there?" He asked, his voice cold as usual.

"I suddenly fell asleep last night" Vanessa replied as she stood up from the bathtub, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. She was shivering a little. She watched as Riccardo took off his jacket and covered her with it. She smiled at his kind gesture.

"Today is our third Marriage anniversary" Riccardo said. "Let's go out for dinner later" he said.

Vanessa nodded her head as she moved closer to him and engulfed him into a tight hug which he reciprocated.

"If you want to kill yourself, don't do it in my house!" Riccardo's loud voice brought Vanessa out of her imagination.

She realized that she was still inside the bathtub, shivering uncontrollable. She forced herself to get out of the bathtub, before taking a towel and wrapping it around her body.

"I'm sorry" she muttered as she stood beside him.

"Let's have dinner together this evening" she suggested

"I'm busy, I won't be able to meet up" he said rather calmly.

"It's okay" Vanessa held his arm. "I'll wait for you."

He replied with a light grunt. "I'm off to work" he said, and without giving Vanessa a chance to reply he walked out of the bathroom.

Vanessa's shoulders dropped and her face fell, but quickly lit up when she realized that she might get the chance to have dinner with him tonight.

She ended up taking a hot shower before leaving her room to go eat breakfast.

In the dinning room, she met their house keeper Madame Emily.

"Good morning Emily" Vanessa greeted as she settled down on one of the chair in the dinning.

"Morning dear. I trust your night was good?" Madame Emily asked

"Yes, it was" Vanessa smiled, Madame Emily returned the smile as she began serving her meal.

Few minutes into the meal, Vanessa started to feel nauseous. She put her palm on her mouth as she quickly ran into the bathroom to throw up. It wasn't the first time she was getting this type of morning sickness. She made a mental note to go to the hospital today.

After coming out of the bathroom, Vanessa brought out her phone and texted her boss that she won't be able to come to work because she was feeling sick. She actually worked in an art shop, where they made paintings and other beautiful drawings. Vanessa loved painting and drawing, it was actually the gift she had prepared for Riccardo for their wedding anniversary. It was a painting of him and Vanessa believed it to be her most perfect art work so far.

Inside the hospital, Vanessa went directly to the doctors office and knocked gently on it.

"Come in" she heard the doctors voice, and she pushed the door open and walked in.

"Good morning Doc" she greeted as she settled down on the chair.

"Morning Mrs Gonzalez. How can I help you today?" The female doctor asked.

Vanessa smiled secretly, she always liked being addressed with Riccardo's surname.

Vanessa went ahead and explained her situation to the doctor and she suggested carrying out a pregnancy test on Vanessa, which she was skeptical about but later agreed.

"So, when will the result be out?" Vanessa asked as she stood up.

"By evening. You can come pick it up or I'll send it to you through email in pdf form" the doctor replied with a small smile.

"Alright, sending it through email is okay by me" Vanessa said as she straightened her outfit.

"I'll get going" with that she walked out of the room and outside the hospital, making her way towards her car.

Back home, Vanessa had a little nap. When she woke up, she began preparing dinner since it was evening already. By the time she was done it was already 6:30pm and she decided to start waiting for Riccardo in the living room.

As she sat on the couch, she remembered that the doctor should have sent her the test results. She quickly unlocked her phone and clicked on her Gmail app.

Opening it, she saw that the message was already there and as she opened it, her eyes went wide like saucers. She gasped.

"I'm pregnant!" She half yelled and her hand quickly covered her mouth.

"Two months at that"

Vanessa couldn't contain her joy as she jumped around the room happily. That means in a few months time she'd be welcoming a child to this world. It was surely a thing of joy. She suddenly stopped smiling as she thought about how Riccardo will react once she tells him.

Will it change the way he feels about her? Will it make him love her? All those questions swirled in her mind, but no answer came.

She then shrugged the thoughts off and decided that she'll share the good news with him.

"But what if he doesn't what a child?" She wondered

Riccardo didn't like her, what if it gets him more angry than he already is?

Vanessa was lost in her thoughts and time flew so fast soon it was 10:00pm and Riccardo was still not home.

Vanessa was already feeling sleepy, just then she heard the sound of Riccardo's car drive in. She quickly stood up from the couch and went to open the door. She stood in front of the door as she watched him come down from his car with his briefcase. "Welcome" she said, her face full of smiles.

Riccardo didn't reply her, instead he walked past her and entered inside the house. Vanessa couldn't help but notice that he was frowning deeply. Anyway, she followed him inside and closed the door behind her.

"What's the problem Rick?" Vanessa asked staring at him.

His eyebrows furrowed, drawing together into a tight knot above narrowed, smoldering eyes. The corners of his mouth turned sharply downward, lips pursed in a thin line, while his cheeks flushed a deep, angry red. A vein in his forehead throbbed visibly, pulsing with the force of his ire. His nostrils flared as he drew in a ragged, indignant breath, and his jaw clenched tightly, the muscles twitching beneath the surface.

"You're my problem!" His tone made Vanessa flinch back in fear. "What do you mean?" She asked trying to keep her voice steady.

"You still pretend not to know? All these while I thought you were a good person but now I know that you're nothing but a slut! A whore! Nothing else" he growled.

Vanessa flinched at his sudden outburst. What was he talking about.

"Why are you suddenly insulting me?" Vanessa asked, her heart clenching in hurt and she fisted her hands tightly.

Riccardo opened his briefcase and brought out a document and threw it on the table.

"What's this?" Vanessa asked

"Sign it" came his reply.

Vanessa moved forward and picked up the document, her eyes scanning through it.

"This is a divorce agreement Rick. What the hell is going on?" Vanessa asked staring at him, surprise etched on her features.

”And what the hell do you think it is?" His cold voice sent shivers down her spine. She stared at him shocked. She threw the divorce papers on the table, before facing Riccardo.

"Why? Why can't you just reciprocate my feelings? Was loving you all these years a crime!?" Vanessa asked as she stood before her husband Riccardo, her heart clenching in hurt. "After all these years, is this what you repay me with?" She asked staring down at the divorce papers on the table, her eyes burning with unshed tears.

She didn't want to cry in front of him, but the continuous pain she felt in her chest made her want to just run away and cry her eyes out. Riccardo didn't reply, he brought out an envelope and handed it over to her. Vanessa's heart pounded loudly in her chest as she tore the seal of the envelope.

Her heart literally stopped beating as she saw the content on the envelope. "Riccardo..." "You don't need to say anything, the picture says it all" Riccardo waved his hands in front of her face. "No. This is definitely not true, I would never cheat on you" Vanessa pleaded.

"You don't have to keep pretending. Sign the divorce papers and get the hell out of my house!" His nostrils flared as he yelled at her. "No Riccardo, Please I would never do that to you" Vanessa pleaded as she tightened her grip on the pictures.

"Just sign the divorce papers and get the hell out of my house you fucking whore!" Riccardo yelled his eyes already red from the anger.

Vanessa flinched, she could barely understand what was going on around her. "Riccardo, please you have to believe me. I would never do such" Vanessa pleaded as she took a step closer. Just then Riccardo's phone rang.

Riccardo fished his phone out of his suit jacket and somehow she got a glimpse of the callers ID. It was his ex-girlfriend.

“She’s the one right?” Vanessa asked.

“What do you mean?” Riccardo asked not taking his gaze away from his ringing phone.

“She’s the one who sent you this picture. Riccardo you have to believe me, this is just an edited picture” Vanessa said.

“Stop saying trash and sign the papers, it’s obvious that you’re the one in the picture” Riccardo uttered coldly.

“It’s crazy how you’re accusing me of cheating on me when you’ve never stopped cheating after all these years. You don’t even trust me, rather you prefer trusting outsiders.”

“That’s right. I’d rather trust outsiders than trust a fucking gold digging whore like you” Vanessa could feel the chill in the air as his cold voice echoed through the empty living room, devoid of any warmth or compassion.

“I guess this marriage is not worth fighting for anymore” her heart clenched in hurt as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, but she managed to hold it in.

“Sign the papers and leave my house before I get back” with that being said, Riccardo walked out of the house.

Vanessa knees felt like jelly and she slowly brought herself to sit on the cold floor, the tears she had been trying to keep in came rolling down her cheeks and this time she didn’t try to force them in or wipe them, she just let them roll down. The pain she was feeling was so unbearable. Her heart broke into a thousand pieces as she remembered his words. How he spoke to her like a piece of trash. She found it hard to believe that he actually left in the middle of the night to go meet his ex-girlfriend! This just proofed that she meant nothing to him. Absolutely nothing. She has just been wasting her time loving someone as cruel as him.

Just thinking about all the things she had been through in this marriage made more tears roll down her cheeks. “I can’t believe it’s come to this” she thought sadly.

She suddenly began wiping her tears off. She wasn’t going to keep crying because of Riccardo, he didn’t deserve her tears.

She stood up from the ground and reached out for the divorce papers that was on the table. Since his signature was already there, she just signed hers then took the papers into their room and dropped it on the nightstand. So that he could easily find it whenever he decided to come back.

She went ahead and brought out her suitcase from her closet, then she began folding her clothes into the bags, she took all her properties and when she turned around and stared at the wardrobe, it was only one dress that was left hanging there. She left it because that was the only thing that Riccardo had bought for her since their three years of marriage.

She didn’t bother to wake the workers up from their sleep, before leaving. She just walked out of his house and out of his life.

Walking down the lonely streets, she decided to lodge in an hotel to get a little rest.

Few minutes later, she reached the hotel and checked in, she was shown to her room. Getting inside, she didn’t bother to unpack her luggage since she was still going to leave the next morning.

“Such a hectic day” Vanessa muttered as she ran her hands through her already dishevelled hair. Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of the window and she decided to look out from it and see the stars that illuminated the darkness. She walked closer to the window and stared up at the sky, she also saw some customers entering inside the hotel from the window, but that was the least of her problems right now. She stared at the sky, admiring how peaceful they looked. “If only my life could be like the stars” she muttered to herself. She stood there and slowly seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours. She was beginning to feel very tired so she decided to get some rest, but as she was about to leave the window, something caught her eyes, not just something, someone; it was Riccardo and he wasn’t alone, he was with a female. Slowly her eyes got sight of the woman’s face, but it wasn’t just any random woman, it was his ex-girlfriend and both of them were walking inside the hotel together. Before Vanessa’s brain could process what she had just seen, a lone tear rolled down her cheeks.

But she quickly wiped them off and returned to her bed. She picked up her phone from the nightstand and dialed a number, the person picked up after the third ring.

"Hello Mom" Vanessa said.

There was silence before her mom finally replied.

"You finally decided to call?" Her voice sounded from the other end.

"I'm sorry for not calling all these while. How are you and dad doing?" She asked slowly.

"We're fine, but you don't sound fine to me. What's wrong?" Her mom asked.

"Nothing Mom, I'm just tired" She lied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am."

"When are you coming to visit us? It's been ages"

"Tomorrow" she replied

"Okay, I'll send my PA to pick you up at the Airport"

"Thank you"

"It's nothing, take care of yourself" with that being said, she disconnected the call.

Vanessa brought down her phone from her ear and sighed.

She quickly booked the earliest flight to Madrid, Spain.

After, she was done, she laid on her bed and soon, she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Vanessa quickly got ready, she tied her hair into a bun and wore a white Floral gown.

She booked and Uber and soon she was on her way to the Airport.

An Hour Later.

As Vanessa sat in the Airplane on her seat close to the window, she suddenly thought about all the years she had spent here in America. All her efforts to make Riccardo love her, but sadly, everything was just futile.

She still found it very hard to believe that Riccardo could accuse her of cheating.

He didn't even allow her to speak, so she didn't get the chance to tell him about her pregnancy. Her hands subconsciously moved to her flat stomach.

"Don't worry, your mom is going to take good care of you" she whispered.

Now she remembers that picture was taken in a club.

She could still remember clearly that someone had texted her that Riccardo was drunk and throwing a tantrum at a club.

And as Caring as she was or should she say foolish, she quickly rushed to the address that was sent to her.

Reaching the club, she had asked the bartender if something like that happened and he said 'Yes'. He also went ahead to tell her that Riccardo fell asleep and was kept inside one of the club rooms.

Rushing inside the room, Vanessa couldn't find Riccardo, she decided to leave but before she could reach the door, she started feeling dizzy, that was when it dawned on her that the room was drugged.

She woke up some hours later alone on the bed, she didn't give it much thought. If only she had known that then was when such defaming and whoring pictures were taken.

She had gone to ask the bartender about it, but he wasn't there anymore. Oh how foolish of her to have thought that it was a mere coincidence and Mistake.

Now she where it was landed her. But she was so going to make Riccardo regret ever calling her a Gold digging Wh*re!

She was going to make sure that he regrets everything he had done to her!

She'll make him come crawling down on his knees, pleading for forgiveness. And then she'll turn her head and say. "I don't give second chances".

But all that will come later, for now, she was going to establish a good life for herself and her unborn child.

She wasn't going to continue crying over spilled milk. She was going to fight her way to the top of the business industry!

NINE HOURS LATER

Vanessa settled down into the plush seats of the car. Which the lady which she guessed to be her Mother's PA came to pick her up with.

"So, you're my mother's Personal Assistant?" Vanessa asked the young lady who was now driving the car out of the Airport.

"Yes, I am" the lady replied.

It was unlike Vanessa's Mom to hire someone so young to work for her. But three years has passed, maybe even her own mother has changed.

"I'm Vanessa"

"Camila. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you" Camila smiled.

"Really?"

"Yes" Camila replied.

Vanessa nodded her head slowly, before staring at of the window. She inhaled the fresh air.

"Home" she muttered.

Suddenly her phone began to ring. Bringing it out of her purse, she saw the Caller. It was Riccardo's Grandfather, but she couldn't bring herself to pick the call. She just let it ring.

"You're not picking the call?" Camila asked.

"Yes, I'm not" Vanessa replied, her voice a mixture of different emotions.

Once the ringing stopped, she quickly put her phone on Silent mode and kept it bag inside her purse.

Few Minutes Later

"We're here Ma'am" Camila informed.

"Wow" Vanessa muttered as she looked out, her parents had refurnished the Mansion and it was looking so Luxurious.

"Well, you can just call me Vanessa" with that she opened the car door and stepped out. She quickly sighted her Mom who stood in front of the gate to welcome her.

"Mom" she called running towards her, and her Mother welcomed her with open hands.

Vanessa ran into her embrace, she has missed her Mom's warm hug so much. Her Mom wrapped her hands around Vanessa as she reciprocated the hug.

"I have missed you Mom" Vanessa muttered.

She has been away from her family all these years.

If only she had listened to her Mom when she warned her about getting Married to Riccardo.

Just remembering how she had disobeyed her Mother brought tears to her eyes. And soon she was crying uncontrollable.

"Vanessa dear, what's wrong" Mrs Rodriguez asked.

But Vanessa couldn't reply she just kept crying, still hugging her mother. She felt safe in her mother's embrace.

In her mother's embrace, she felt a cocoon of warmth and security. The gentle rhythm of her mother's heartbeat and the soft, familiar scent wrapped around her, dissolving her worries and fears. Every tension in her body melted away as she nestled closer, finding solace in the unwavering love that surrounded her.

Thirty minutes later, Vanessa was seated in the dinning room opposite her Mother.

The big windows let in lots of warm light, and a beautiful crystal light hung over the big, shiny wooden table. There were pretty flowers in the middle and soft, comfortable chairs all around. The walls had wood panels with paintings, and a soft rug covered part of the shiny marble floor.

A cabinet with nice vases and candles stood against one wall, and a small bar cart with expensive drinks was ready for the evening. The table was set with fancy plates, glasses, and silverware, making it look super elegant.

But now, Vanessa felt refreshed after taking her bath and eating the Tortilla Española, her Mom specially prepared for her.

"As soon as the maids where done clearing the dishes, her mom faced her fully.

"You look thin and stressed, just what the hell have you been doing In America?" Mrs Rodriguez asked, her lips stretched into a thin line.

"Mom, I'm Pregnant" Vanessa spoke slowly.

"What? For your husband?" Her mom asked.

"No" Vanessa replied

"What do you mean by that?" Her Mom asked scrutinizingly.

"We've divorced" tears stung at the back of her eyes as she said those words.

Vanessa went ahead to tell her Mom all that had happened, but she knowingly left out the part when he had insulted her.

Her Mom sat composed after hearing the whole story, but Vanessa knew that she was very angry.

"But I warned you about this whole marriage stuff. Now see where you are"

"What are you going to do about the Pregnancy?" Her mom asked.

"I'll give birth to the child" Vanessa said, her voice firm and determined.

"So what?" Her mom asked

"Huh" Vanessa replied confused.

"I mean why did you come back after all these years? Is it because your marriage didn't favour you. So, you came back here so that we can help you?" Her mom asked, staring at her with a mixture of anger, and the other that Vanessa couldn't comprehend.

"No, that's not the reason. I came back because you're the only one I had left."