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.

Fabian's POV 

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" I punch the steering wheel of my car. Hard. Trying to calm the raging frustration building inside of me.

I keep punching the wheel till I feel like my knuckles have had enough. My breathing becomes erratic.

"I can't..." I sniff in a hot breath, "I can't...believe this!" I weave my fingers through my hair. 

The unleashed anger inside me causes a deep ache in my chest, I place my right hand over it. "I can't believe you Pearl, I can't believe you, that's..." Sniffs, "That's why you aborted the babies, cause they weren't mine! What did I do wrong, Pearl. I made you happy the very best I could, I did every fucking thing you asked, Hell! I didn't know how to say no to you, and you know it! Yet, you were deceiving me all long," keeping my eyes open becomes a problem because my eyes feel so hot like someone poured gas in it, I throw my head back on the headrest, blinking to calm the hot sensation.

Turning to my right, the surprise cake I bought for her is sitting on the chair. I may have been mad at her in the morning after what I saw, but there's no way I would forget her birthday. I wanted to book a reservation for us for the first time and maybe we could talk things out and she'll tell me-if there's a reason-why she aborted our babies. 

Maybe if I hear her side of the story, we can figure it out together and mend our relationship, but right now, I don't even know what to do. This is more than I can take! I don't know how I'll cope with what I've seen tonight for the rest of my existence.

I pick up the cake, open the window, rain droplets drizzle into my car, and throw out the cake in the parking lot. 

She had better plans to celebrate her birthday, I wasn't part of it.

I turn to look at the window, the rain is pouring heavily outside. I wipe the fog off my windshield from my side and I see Pearl walking briskly under the rain.

Anger ressurges in my veins in a vicious wave, my jaw ticks, my chest starts constricting as I battle with the strong urge to get out of the car or stay in.

Then I see the guy from inside the restaurant, running to catch up with her. That's all it takes for my restraint to cut loose and I jump out of the car in the rain.

"Pearl!" My voice sounding like a wounded beast.

They stop, searching for the direction of the voice till their eyes meet mine. Pearl's jaw falls open. She looks between me and the other guy. Never in my life did I think I'll be fighting for my wife with another guy.

She opens her mouth to say something, nothing comes out and she shuts her mouth.

"Do you need a ride home?" I hear myself say, I'll rather swallow my pride than let this guy take my wife home.

Wherever his stupid home is.

"Yes..." She nods timidly.

"Then get in," I say, cocking my head towards my car, "You're soaking wet, " 

She moves without looking back, I go over to the passenger side to shut the car door tightly because it didn't give a loud thud when she shut it.

I and the guy lock eyes for a moment, there's a mix of anger and disappointment in his eyes that makes me smile. 

A sudden feeling of satisfaction owns my chest for the moment.

"You're just a side chick!" I spit out before getting into the car and zooming off the place.

This isn't how I planned my evening, I'm mentally exhausted now and angry. 

The whole drive, my wife is quiet, which isn't anything unusual, but the tension in the air is the thing that's not usual, she has a lot of explaining to do.

Once I turn off the ignition, she tries to bolt out of the car like she's been dreading for the car to stop. I stop her, holding her arm.

She can't even hold my gaze, the sight rattles me but I try to play cool, I can't loose my temper on my wife.

"How long have you been seeing him?" 

"What?" She retorts, pretending to not understand what I'm asking her 

"Pearl, don't me feel more foolish than I'm feeling now, there's so much going on in my head and in my heart, all I need from you is straight answers. How long has this been going on?" 

"Baby, I'll never cheat on you, I didn't sleep with him," 

"You expect me to believe that? With the way you were looking at him when I saw the both of you this evening, the way you're dressed, Pearl, You think I'm so foolish because I love you?" 

"It's not like that?" 

"Then it's like how? Enlighten me please, I need to understand why I have to go through this much pain because I love you, first, you abort kids I'm suspecting may not be mine, and now, you're going out with some guy, because you think he's richer than me? What do you think he'd give you that I won't fight to give you? That guy's father killed my father!" My voice goes higher at the last sentence.

"He's not that special," She argues without looking at me.

"Oh, really? Look me in the eyes and tell me he isn't special, Pearl, look me in the face and tell me that," She doesn't take her eyes off her fidgeting hands.

"It's just what I thought, I was alone in this relationship all long," 

"Fabian, it's complicated," She finally looks at me. 

"So we're on a first name basis now? You have a new guy and I'm Fabian?..." 

"It was a..." 

"You don't have to worry about me anymore, today will be our last day together. I'll let you live your life, you know, do your thing, be with someone who's love isn't complicated, just be ready to sign the Divorce papers tomorrow." 

I don't wait for any other word from her that would hurt my already bleeding heart. I walk inside the house.