Fabian's POV 

It's still hard to believe that Pearl could do such a horrible thing, but the truth is in my fucking face, and I have to believe it if not my life will become more miserable than it already is.

My heart stirs with pain, I have been lied to all these years, I trusted her, I fucking trusted her! Why would she do such a thing to me?

I need her to carry my baby, I need her to give birth to a mini-me, someone she and my mother can use to remember me when I'm gone.

I can die anytime.

A cough erupts from my inside and my palm flies to catch the blood that splutters from my mouth before it stains my clothes.

I look around my car, my eyes searching for my tissue until I get my hands on it.

I clean the blood off my hands and mouth before resting my back on the seat to ease my nerves before I start driving.

My vision is blurry and void, I wish things were happening differently. I don't mean to be hard on Pearl to give me a child, but I have a fucking choice.

But I'm still mad at her for aborting her pregnancies without telling me, doesn't she trust me the way I trust her? Why would she betray me like that? She knows I would support her through anything. How long has this been going on? Why didn't I find out sooner? 

Questions start swirling in my mind and I stop myself before I hurt myself even more, my heart is already concealing so much pain, it won't be nice to poke it.

My phone screeches signaling me of an incoming call, I look over to see who it is.

Dr. White? Why is he calling me? 

"Good morning, Doctor," I say after sliding the green icon.

"Good morning, Fabian, Your mother is in the emergency room, she was involved in a fatal accident and she'll need a blood donation," 

"What? When was that?" 

"It's not something to discuss over the phone, please come as fast as you can and save her life," The call disconnects.

I turn on the ignition of my car and drive into the asphalt road, driving at a very high speed.

°•

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 Where the only sounds that occasionally pierced the heavy silence in the room.

My fingers clasped around my Mom's hand, my thumbs caressing her hand and her wrist.

Whenever I raise my eyes to look at her face, I fear for how I will cope if I lose my Mom to an accident.

Tears sting my eyes at the thought that I'll become an orphan. At the thought of losing my only family, Pearl was a part but after what I found out today, I doubt that she is still part, she hurt me deeply.

I slap myself mentally for restraining my Mom from coming around our house because of her.

Love makes you foolish, they say, but I think it went beyond foolish, I was brainless whenever it came to her.

"Fabian," I hear the strained voice of my Mom and I spring up from my seat to embrace her.

"I'm sorry Mom," I murmur into her hair.

"It's okay, Son," She pats my back weakly.

I pull away from the hug, "How are you feeling. Mom?" Sitting half butt on the bed.

"Better," she admits.

"I'm very sorry, Mom... for choosing Pearl over you," 

"I've already forgiven you for that,"

"You may have but I hate myself so much for what I did, Pearl has been aborting her pregnancies, I found an abortion pill in our room, and she denied using it," I shrug softly, still overwhelmed by the bald truth I just discovered.

"What? She has been aborting my grandbabies?" My mother's tone is sharper than her usual tone. I know she's pissed, but I'm even more pissed because I feel like the world is closing in on me.

"Yes Mom," I nod.

My mother looks away, shutting her eyes, I feel ashamed for bringing this upon us.

"I never liked that girl, not once, I tried many times to adjust but we were incompatible, I don't know what she gave to you that made you so in love with her that you don't even care about what anyone thinks, I knew she was evil, but I didn't know she could go to such an extent," 

"I didn't know better," I say.

"You knew better, Son, there are a thousand good girls out there that are ready to have your baby, she doesn't mean well for you, what wife wouldn't want to give her husband a child? She's very evil, and devilish." My mother spits the last part in a venomous tone.

Other times I'll advocate for Pearl whenever my Mom starts spewing how much she hates her, but right now I regret the times I did that.

A deafening silence falls between us.

"What are you going to do now?" She speaks up after a while.

"I don't know, Mom," I reply, squeezing my forehead with my thumb and index finger.

"Look at me Son," she prompts me to look at her, I turn my neck for our eyes to connect.

"I am your mother, and you will listen to me this time, You will Divorce her, " I groan internally, tearing my eyes from my mother's eyes, "You are not getting any younger and so am I, I can die any day, I need to see my grandbaby before I die, I need you to listen to your mother, Son, Divorce her she doesn't love you," I feel an internal impulse to protest or defend Pearl but I can't, not after what she's done.

I'm still very much in love with her, I don't know if I'm ready for a Divorce.

Pearl's POV 

"What will you like Ma'am?" The butler asks, holding tightly onto his notepad.

"I'm okay, thank you," I say with a forced smile but my brother, Paul, beats me to it.

"What do you mean by 'you're okay?' Today is your birthday, I didn't bring you here to watch people," 

"I'm fine seriously, I just don't have the appetite for anything," I say honestly, Paul signs in resignation.

"Give us your best wine, When her appetite comes up we will order some food," Paul says to the butler and he nods.

"Happy birthday Ma," The butler says with a sweet smile and I return it.

"Thank you," I reply and he scurries off.

When the butler is out of sight Paul drops his smile and narrows his eyes at me, I turn away my eyes from him, I know he has figured something strange.

"When we were in the car on our way here you didn't say a word, I didn't give it much thought but when a foodie like you rejects food I know something is up, what's going on with you?" 

I shrug "It's nothing, just marriage issues," I lie, actually there's a little bit of truth in it, but I fear for a lot of things. I chose a part seven years ago. I hope it won't be my doom.

"Marriage issues? Why do I feel like this one is tough? Like tough tough, because you'll always have issues with your partner or... you don't feel like talking about it?" I choose the latter, I'm not in the mood to discuss what happened earlier with Fabian. Not here. Not now.

"I don't want to talk about it," I tell my brother everything that bothers me but when Fabian looks me in the eye and tells me he doesn't trust me anymore, it's too much to handle emotionally, I don't want to make a mess of myself either.

"Okay," Paul relaxes in his chair, but his hands are still on the table, "But you know I'm always here for you when you need to talk to someone?" 

"Yes," I nod, coyly.

"Alright," he gives me a reassuring smile.

The butler returns with a wine and everything they do happens in a haze and before I know it, Paul is handing me a glass, "Let's make a toast." 

"Cheers to more life and happiness, make a wish," he urges me.

I close my eyes.

"I want to get pregnant, I want to have a baby for Fabian, I want my marriage to have the stability it once had, filled with warmth, love, and happiness," 

I open my eyes.

"Cheers!" My brother squeaks, clinking his glass against mine, I sip a little out of my drink and drop the glass.

"Do you feel better?" He asks.

"Yes," I smile genuinely, "How is Dad?" 

"Dad is fine, he hasn't changed much from the man you know, if you ask me he gets even more ruthless as the day goes by," I sigh in disappointment.

"You don't need to worry about the old man, he is doing good," Paul chides with a wave of dismissal.

"Does he talk about me?" I chew the inside of my cheek, mentally holding my breath hoping the answer would be different this time, that itching feeling that my dad will care about me one day never really goes away.

Paul scans my face with a pensive look, beneath his stern face I see pity in those eyes, I get my answer even before he speaks.

"He won't ever love me, will he?" I say looking in another direction but I don't see what's in front, my mind is spiraling with thoughts.

"Can we not talk about that? Today's your birthday," He tries to wave off the matter but I don't feel like letting it slide. I only get to see my brother once in months, most likely every birthday for the past seven years.

"Paul, will you tell me the truth if I ask you something?"

His eyes are hesitant with dread, he reaches for my hand that is flat on the table, "Of course, I will tell you if I have the answer," he says with a small smile.

"Do you think Dad loves me?" 

He drops his head and slowly raises it after a beat of pause, "I can't tell you if Dad loves you or not, but one thing I know is that no parent hates their child, they may go through challenging times, they may not say it with the language you want to hear but trust me they always love their children," My brother's tone has less conviction but there's some truth in his words.

I may not have had the fatherly love I've been craving for all my life, but the love I got from my husband and my brother is close to nothing in this world, but the marks of my father's disdainful glare are hard to get off my skin.

"And this is how you spend your evenings?" A strangely familiar voice rings between me and my brother stealing our attention.

I flinch when I see my husband staring at me with a ferocious intensity, his eyes still red, his hair looks disorderly which is unlikely, his sleeves rolled up to his elbow, his veins bulging out of his neck and forearms, he looks like a raging monster.

I squirm uncomfortably under his scrutiny as his eyes flicker between me and Paul who is also horrified. We have been caught at last, and I feel like disappearing right now.

Pearl's POV 

"Killing my babies isn't the only thing you do in your free time?" He spits in a venomous tone and I grip the hem of my shirt, holding myself from causing a scene.

"Killing what babies?" Paul retorts.

"I wasn't speaking to you, so shut your mouth!" My husband sneers at Paul.

"What the fuck?!" Paul springs up from his seat, "I'm her...," I shoot Paul a warning glare, we can try to play this safe and see how far it goes.

"Paul, Please sit.." I plead desperately, I'm already having so much misunderstanding in my marriage, I can't risk letting Fabian know that I'm the daughter of the man he hates the most in this world.

"Yeah, Sit like the puppy that you are," Fabian adds sarcastically, I signal My brother to not react.

Fabian slams his hand on the table, earning the attention of people around, "You did not answer my question, what are you doing here?" His gaze moves from my eyes to my body, "Who are you, Pearl? So you like going out and you never, not even once left the house with me? You're no longer the shy wife, huh? Or is it an exception for me?" 

His words sears through my mind, piercing my heart, I had my reasons.

I want to come clean, I tried to do it many times but I was scared of losing him.

"Today's your wife's birthday, Asshole," My brother counters.

"You didn't tell me you've found my replacement?" 

Tears prick my eyes, "Fabian..." My breath hitches in my throat, "...you're misunderstanding things?" 

"Oh really? Indulge me," Fabian draws a seat for himself, making us three on the table, one of his bulgy hands under his jaw and the other on the table, "Please explain the dress, the make-up, the expensive necklace, the pricey restaurant...you don't know how shocked I am, as if what I saw in the morning wasn't enough I have to see this, really Pearl? I may have lived with you for a long time but I swear to God I don't know you," 

"You know me," I cry out.

"No, I don't, I think I never did. The Pearl sitting here is not the Pearl I know, the Pearl I know won't want to come here on her birthday. She would rather cook and celebrate with her husband at home. What changed? Were you so ashamed of me? Did you even love me?" 

"Stop saying these words, I've been real with you," I counter weakly through sobs.

Without looking at my brother I know he doesn't like this.

"You've not been real, you never liked public places," 

"Yes, I don't," 

"But we are here now, And you're all dressed up," Paul asked me to dress well so I wouldn't be sent out of the restaurant, I did the makeup to conceal my real look just in case the Media or reporters were here by chance, but It's either Fabian has marked every hair on my skin or my make-up facade did little to hide my true look.

"Fabian, Can we talk about this at home, please," I beg desperately.

"No, I want to talk here, tell me everything I don't know," he said in an insistent tone, tears pooling in my eyes.

"Mr whatever the fuck she calls you, today is her birthday I'm sure you know that, and shame on you if you didn't remember your wife's birthday, you can save the interrogations for when you get home, you interrupted our dinner," Paul states with an air of pride and confidence.

Fabian snaps his head at Paul and they exchange glare. They look like they are about to devour one another.

"If I remember correctly, I told you to shut up, or didn't I?" I grab Fabian's hands before he loses it.

"Fabian, Please, Let's leave here. I'll tell you everything when we get home," He snatches his hand from my grip and springs up from the chair.

"So you can feed me more lies? As you lied about pushing my Mom, or the pills I found in our room as if that was not enough, you're seeing someone...you're cheating on me, I can't forgive that, that's more than I can take...,"

"Your wife is not cheating on you, Asshole," Paul rises from his seat to interrupt Fabian, Fabian's fisted hand lands on my brother's jaw before I even notice his trying to harm my brother.

"Urgh," Paul groans painfully and I rush out from my seat to check on him.

But before I reach my brother he returns the punch with great intensity and closeby customers rush them before they tear themselves apart.

The blood gushing out of my brother's nose catches my attention and I reach for my handkerchief to clean off the blood. "Sorry," I tell him, I look over my shoulders after cleaning his face. My husband is wiping the blood gushing out of his nose himself.

I rush over to my husband to clean his face, "Don't," he stops me, "You've picked sides, I've been stupid all these years, wasting my energy on a woman who doesn't give a shit about me, it's fine. I think I know the truth for myself now, Mom was right, we should get a Divorce, I can't be with someone that pretends to love me," 

I want to protest, tell him I'm sorry, tell him the reason for my actions, tell him I don't want to Divorce, tell him that I'm not my father, but he walks away before any of it even leaves my mouth, leaving me heartbroken.

I turn to my brother who is already closing the distance between us, "Pearl, I don't care who you say that guy is to you, he doesn't look like a husband to me. He is a potential danger to you and I can't have you living with such a person, you will Divorce him, if you don't, I'll give Father your location and he will come and take you away from him, it's either you do it the easy way or you do it the hard way, But one thing is sure, you are leaving him whether you like it or not," Paul straightens his rumpled dress shirt harshly and goes back to his seat, taking a large gulp of his wine.

My brother has never put me in such a situation. Fabian must have thrown him over his edge.

The chattering around me fades into the background, the two most important figures in my life have given me ultimatums, and I can't choose between them.

I don't want to leave Fabian, he has been there for me, for the hard times and struggling times, and there's my brother who has shown me nothing less than pure love all my life.

I feel like an internal war is brewing inside me.