*Amelia*

There was absolutely nothing I could have done as I watched Clarissa and Leonardo, Adrian's sister and brother, abuse me before Adrian; after all, this wasn't their first time doing it.

At first things weren't like this because of Adrian's father who despite the scandal still treated me like his real daughter in law, but after he passed away, Adrian's sister and younger brother took it upon themselves to be showing up at Adrian's house just to torment me and also remind me that I am a filthy opportunist who took my sister's place and got married to her boyfriend.

After two years of torment and verbal abuse from them, I have already gotten used to it, and one of the things I'm always grateful for is the fact that they can't lay their hands on me no matter what. The last time Clarissa had tried attacking me, Adrian had thoroughly warned her to say whatever she wants to me but to never lay her hands on me, as he didn't want to see me with any bruises.

This had even been one of the reasons why I had thought that Adrian loved me, but unknown to me, he had only told his sister that because my stepsister had thought him that a good husband would never allow anyone to lay his hands on his wife or even bruise her.

"Adrian, how could you have agreed to such a stupid request from her? Did you even discuss this with Melissa before agreeing?" Clarissa asked Adrian, not minding my presence.

"Sis, please," Adrian said to his sister with a deep sigh.

"No, Adrian, don't tell me that. Do you know how many of my friends I have told about your upcoming wedding with Melissa? And now because of this good-for-nothing woman who doesn't have any place in our family, you are going to postpone the wedding," Clarissa said to Adrian while fuming in anger.

"Me too, I have also invited many of my friends," Leonardo added with an angry tone.

Hearing about the wedding that had already been organised even before Adrian and I fully got divorced, I couldn't help but smile bitterly. I have known that Clarissa hated me so much, but the last thing I had imagined was her organising a wedding for her brother and his ex-girlfriend while both of us were still legally married.

"But ma'am, Adrian and I are still married, so why did you still go on and organise a wedding for him without waiting for us to finalise our divorce?" I asked her, as I couldn't hold myself back.

"And who the hell do you think you are to question my decision?" she thundered angrily at me. "Or is it because Adrian agreed to spend one more month with you that you now think that you can talk to me anyhow? You aren't even ashamed to beg my brother for his love and care, you shameless woman," she spat angrily at me, and at the same time I immediately regretted asking her the question; after all, Adrian is her younger brother and since when their mother passed away, they all saw her as their mother since she was the oldest, so she has every right to tell him what to do.

"Sis, that's enough, and you should really stop talking to her like that. After all, I was the one who asked her to ask for whatever she wanted as compensation, and if it's in my power, I will give it to her, and since what she asked for is in my power, I'm going to give it to her. And as for Melissa, I'm going to talk to her about this, and I'm sure she's not going to be against it. If my three years of marriage with Amelia couldn't separate both of us, then I don't think it's one month that is going to," Adrian said to his mother, making it clear to me once again that our three years of marriage not only didn't mean anything to him, but also didn't have any effect on the love he had for Melissa.

"Well, if you say so, no problem then. I hope whatever evil plan she has in mind for the one month she requested to spend with you won't affect your relationship with my future sister-in-law," Clarissa said to Adrian while glaring angrily at me.

"That will never happen," Adrian said to her, his tone full of conviction, a conviction he never had whenever he spoke about our relationship with anyone.

"And one more thing, Sis," Adrian continued. "I don't want you guys to be coming here again till the end of the one month I'm going to be acting as Amelia's husband," Adrian said to his sister and brother, taking them aback. Even me, I couldn't deny that I was shocked by such a request.

"What!" His brother replied firstly.

"What did you just say?" His sister asked him, not believing her ears.

"You heard me right Sis, Amelia asked me to treat her like a real husband for one more month, and that's exactly what I want to do, and there's no way I'm going to be able to do that if both of you keep on showing up here every time and getting into a fight with her. After all, no real husband would want to see his wife getting into a fight and also being abused by his brother and sister every time," Adrian said to Clarissa and Leonardo.

"What the hell are you talking about bro?" Leonardo asked Adrian with a displeased tone. "Don't tell me you are choosing her over us...

"Yes, Adrian, are you choosing this good-for-nothing woman over us?" Clarissa asked Amelia while fuming in anger.

"For crying out loud, Sis, I am not choosing her over you guys; had she asked for a huge amount of money, I would have given it to her, but since this is what she wants, I will make sure to play my role of a loving husband to the full so that after the divorce, I won't be owing her anything," Adrian said to her mother and sister, who were now glaring daggers at me, but I remained silent without uttering a single word due to how surprised I was.

For the past three years we were married, this was my first time seeing Adrian making a decision that favours me over his family, and I must admit that I was amazed.

Even though I knew that he wasn't doing it because of me but rather to acquit himself after our divorce, I was still happy about it. At least aside from the memory of him feeding me, I will also take the memory of him choosing me over his family to the grave, and also the priceless look on Leonardo and Clarissa's face when he told them about his decision.

"You good-for-nothing woman," Clarissa yelled angrily while pointing at me, and also attracting the attention of the passerbys. "You better not start having any ideas; anything my brother agreed to do for you is just to recompense you before he throws you out to the street where you belong, so you better make sure that at the end of the one month, you get the hell out; if not, I will kick you out myself," Clarissa said to me before turning towards Leonardo.

"Let's get out of here; after all, your brother is now restricting us from coming to his house because of his good-for-nothing wife. How I wish Mum was still alive to hear about this rubbish" Clarissa said to Leonardo before hissing angrily, and with that, both of them turned and stormed away angrily with their trolley.

"Thank you," I said to Adrian after the departure of his brother and sister, and with that, he turned and looked at me with squinted brows.

"Thank you for what?" He asked me.

"For agreeing to my request and for the decision you made today in my favour," I said to him, and with that, he scoffed at me.

"There is no need to thank me for anything, and I also didn't make any decision in your favour; I'm only playing my part of a loving husband, or isn't that what you want?" He asked me, and at the same time, he received a text message on his phone, and on checking it, he smiled before turning and walking away without telling me where he was going.

"Are you going somewhere?" I asked as Adrian turned to walk away after checking his phone.

He didn't respond immediately. He took two steps forward, then stopped before slowly turning to face me, the same faint mockery smile hovering over his face, the kind he had worn ever since agreeing to act like a loving husband for one month.

Normally you have no business knowing where I'm heading to," he began. "But since you are now my lovely wife, I will tell you, I'm going to see your sister, so don't bother waiting for me," he said to me before turning to walk away again, but he was immediately stopped by my voice.

"But you said you would act like a real husband," I said quietly. "And a real husband won't abandon his wife at a supermarket just to go and see his ex-girlfriend," I said to him, and with that he furrowed his brows slightly, clearly not expecting that.

For a moment, he said nothing. The silence stretched between us, heavy and uncertain. Then he exhaled sharply and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"You're really stubborn," he muttered as he walked back toward me. "Fine. I'm not going anywhere," he said to me as he took the trolley and followed me from behind.

Even though I knew deep down that all this wasn't real, I was still very happy, because on the same day, Adrian firstly chose me over his family, and afterwards, he also chose to spend time with me instead of going to see Melissa.

That night, we lay on the same bed, side by side, closer than we had ever been since our marriage began. He was unexpectedly gentle, his arm resting lightly around me, his touch careful, almost restrained, as though afraid I might break.

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to believe in the illusion.

Things almost went further. His breath brushed against my skin, warm and hesitant until suddenly, a sharp wave of sickness crashed over me. My body stiffened, nausea twisting painfully in my chest, my vision blurring.

I pulled away instinctively.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice lower, concerned.

"I'm fine," I lied quickly, forcing myself to sit up even as my body screamed otherwise. "I just need some air."

The moment passed. Whatever could have happened between us dissolved into silence.

That night, we slept in the same bed, but nothing more.

To be continued...

Amelia

Waking up the next morning, I felt a familiar hand wrapped around me, and without hesitating, I quickly turned around only to see Adrian lying beside me while sleeping peacefully.‎

Given what happened last night, I had thought that he would leave after I dozed off to go and see Melissa, but he didn't; instead, he decided to spend the night next to me like a lovely husband.

Despite knowing that none of this came from his heart, I still couldn't stop the small, bitter smile that tugged at my lips. At the very least, he was keeping his word.

Knowing that he would be leaving for work very soon, I decided to go and prepare for him what he would eat for breakfast before leaving.

As I was making my way to the kitchen, I heard a knock on the door, which caused me to squint my brows as I wondered who it was that would be knocking very early this morning.

Getting to the door and opening it, I was surprised to see Melissa standing in front of the door while looking as beautiful as ever.

Seeing how beautiful she has now become after being away for all this while, I couldn't even compare myself to her because she looked exactly like a beauty goddess.

"And who do we have here, my dear sister who is always obsessed with everything that I have?" She said to me with a sweet smile as she walked past me and made her way inside without my invitation.

"Melissa, what brought you here early this morning?" I asked her as I closed the door and turned towards her. "Hope you didn't come here this early to see Adrian; mind you that he's still a married man, and I'm still his wife," I said to her, and with that, she scoffed at me.

"Yes, you are still his wife, but not for too long," she said to me with a wicked smirk.

"I came here to see not only Adrian but also you in order to know if what I heard about you is true," she said to me.

"And what exactly did you hear about me?" I asked her as I folded my hand around my chest.

"Well, I heard that after all these years, you are still obsessed with everything that belongs to me. You even went to the extent of begging Adrian to spend one more month with you so that you can prevent him from getting married to me, the same thing you did three years ago. Tell me, don't you have any atom of shame or dignity remaining in you?" she asked me with a mocking tone.

"You don't know what you are talking about," I said to her with my fist clenched angrily as I tried to control my anger and not also give her something she could use against me because that's what she usually does. And for that statement that I'm always obsessed with everything she has, that's a statement she has been using against me since we knew each other, even though she knows very well that it's not true.

"Don't I?" she asked me with a scoff. "Because the last time that I checked, you created a scandal just the day before my wedding just to prevent me from getting married to Adrian and to also take my place and get married to him, or am I mistaken?" She asked me with furrowed brows.

"That's not true, and you of all people know that. You know very well that I never created that scandal, and I also had no intention of taking your place and getting married to Adrian, but yet, you still make it all look as if it's my fault," I said to her, remembering what had happened on that fateful day, how I had woken up in a hotel next to Adrian just a day before his wedding, and even up to today, I still do not remember how I got to that hotel and who posted the photos of Adrian and me half naked across all social media, creating a huge scandal. That scandal is the reason why Adrian and his family, my father and Melissa hate me to this very day because they believed that I orchestrated everything just to prevent Melissa from getting married to Adrian and to also take her place. The only person who believed that I was innocent was my mother, who passed away later on.

"Isn't it your fault?" She asked me as she took a step closer to me. "You claim that you weren't the one that created that scandal, but as far as I know, you are the only one capable of doing that. Tell me, if you weren't the one that created that scandal, why did you agree to get married to Adrian at my place?" Melissa asked me.

"You already know the answer to that question. I got married to him because Dad forced me to. I had to do it in order to save the face of both our families. And about how I got to that hotel that day or how I ended up in the same bed with Adrian or who posted those pictures, I have no idea," I said to her while raising my voice in frustration.

"Bullshit, Amelia. I would be so foolish to believe any of the things you just said. Even the dumbest person on earth, after listening to you, will tell you that you are lying. The only reason why you agreed to get married to Adrian is because that's what you always wanted. You couldn't stand seeing me getting married to the love of my life, so you did what you do best, which is snatching him away. Tell me, if what I'm saying is not true, then why did you ask Adrian to spend one more month with you after learning that we were going to get married before the end of this month?" she asked me with furrowed brows, but I remained silent, not wanting to tell her what the main reason was, which was that I was going to die very soon.

After all, telling her will be of no use because she would even be so happy to learn that I will be passing away very soon; she might even celebrate it.

"You see," she said to me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I was right after all; you are just like your mother, always obsessing over what doesn't belong to you guys. Unfortunately for your mother, her obsession with my father, who didn't belong to her, couldn't save her life," she said to me, and without even thinking twice, I slapped her across the face, causing her to fall to the ground. I could tolerate her saying whatever she wanted to me, but the last thing I would tolerate is her talking badly about my mother, who has already passed away.

Falling to the ground, she began sobbing before raising her head to look towards the stairs, and at the same time I followed her gaze only to see Adrian walking towards us with his face contorted in anger.

Getting to where we were, he walked past me and went directly to Melissa and pulled her up from the ground before wiping away the tears on her face.

"How dare you lay your filthy hands on my fiancée? Apologise to her right away," Adrian said to me with a cold tone.

"I won't," I said to Adrian, standing my ground, and with that he took a step closer to me, peering directly into my eyeballs with a deadly glare.

"Are you sure about that?"

*Amelia

It's been three good days since Adrian left the house, and since then, I'm yet to hear from him, and he hasn't also been picking up my calls.

I know he's doing this just to punish me because I refused to apologise to Melissa after the heated argument we had that ended with me slapping her.

He had witnessed how Melissa insulted my late mum during the argument and also how she accused me of stealing him from her, something he too wasn't even sure if it was true or not, and yet he insisted that I apologise to her, and when I refused, he just took his car keys and left with Melissa, and since then till this morning, I'm still yet to set my eyes on him.

I have tried calling him countless times to ask him when he will be coming back home, but he hasn't been picking up my calls.

Given that I had asked him to treat me like his real wife for one more month, surely he now thinks that I'm so much in love with him to the extent that I can't even live a single day without seeing him and that him deciding not to come back home is a way of punishing me.

It's true that I have missed him for these past few days that he has been absent, but one thing he doesn't know is that I have begun losing interest in him with each passing day, and this began right from the day he confessed to me that everything he has been doing for me since we got married was just so that he won't forget what Melissa taught him about how a man should treat his wife.

Right from the beginning, my main plan was never to fall in love with him till the end of our three-year contract marriage; by so doing, I won't have difficulties leaving him when we finally get divorced and he gets back with his Melissa, who has always been the love of his life.

The main reason why I pushed that plan aside and allowed myself to fall for him was because I believed that he has fallen in love with me and that was the reason why he was treating me the way he was treating me for the past three years we have been married. Had I known that he was doing it just so that he wouldn't forget what Melissa taught him about how a man should treat his woman, I would have stuck to my initial plan. After all, which woman in her right senses would fall in love with a man who she knows very well believes that she created a scandal that could ruin his life and that with the goal of preventing him from getting married to his fiancee and also stealing him for herself?

Well, it's a good thing that I have begun losing interest in him; at least at the end of the one month, I won't have any difficulties leaving. The only thing I will be leaving with is the memories of him pretending to be a real husband to me, and that will also be the only thing that I will be taking to the grave with me.

As these thoughts were running through my mind, my phone that was lying beside me began ringing, snapping me back to reality.

Thinking that it was Adrian who had finally decided to call back, I immediately took the phone and checked the caller ID, only to see that it wasn't Adrian but rather Andrew, my secret personal doctor and also the only person who knows that I am suffering from a terminal illness.

Knowing the reason why he was calling, I hesitated for some minutes before finally picking up the call and placing the phone on my ear.

"Hello, Doctor Andrew, how are you doing?" I asked him after picking up the call.

"I'm doing good, Mrs Darlington. What about you?" He asked me through the phone.

"You already know how I'm doing, so I don't think I need to answer that," I said to him in reply.

"As your doctor, I know how you are doing; that's why I asked to see you yesterday so that we can discuss what to do for you to get better, but you didn't show up," he said to me through the phone.

"Well, I think what you meant is that we will discuss about how to prolong my suffering so that I won't die in less than six months; if not, I don't think my situation is going to get better unless you have found a permanent cure for my illness," I said to him, and with that he sighed heavily.

"Mrs Darlington, I have told you that what you are suffering from is a very rare illness, and even if I don't have the cure right away, there's still a possibility that I can find one very soon, but in order to do that, you need to be alive," the doctor said to me, and I sighed heavily. "Of what use will it be if you have already passed away even before I find the cure? So please, let's meet today so that we can discuss how you will stay alive while I'm looking for the cure for the illness," the doctor said to me, and once again I sighed heavily without saying anything.

Right from when my Mum was sick, the doctor has already told me that there was no current cure for the illness, but he had also told me that he would contact some of his colleagues outside the country to see if any of them have ever encountered a patient suffering from the same illness and whether they managed to find a cure for the patient.

Since he haven't found a cure since then till now, I knew that there was a high probability of him not finding one anytime soon, and because of that, I didn't want to keep my hopes high only to end up being disappointed; that's why I didn't meet up with him yesterday to discuss a treatment plan for my illness.

"Hello, Mrs Darlington, are you still there?" The doctor's voice sounded through the phone, jolting me back to reality.

"Yes, I'm still here. By what time do you want us to meet?" I asked him.

"Well, today is my day off, we can't meet at the hospital, so I will send the address of where we can meet and also the time. "I hope that's okay with you?" he asked me.

"Yes, that's okay with me," I said to him before hanging up and tossing the phone on the bed as I already knew deep down that all this was going to lead to only one thing which was disappointment.