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.

*Adrian*

"Babe, do you really have to go back? You know we can stay together as long as you want," Melissa said to me with pouted lips while clinging to me.

"I'm very well aware of that, but unfortunately I can't continue staying here. I have stayed here for over three days with you, and now I have to go back to where I live," I said to Melissa, and with that she frowned unhappily.

"And also to be with her, right?" she asked, and with that I sighed heavily, knowing she was talking about Amelia.

Three days ago, after the argument she had with Amelia, I had done something which I knew deep down was very wrong.

It's true that both of them were arguing, but she crossed the line when she insulted Amelia's late mum during the argument, and despite knowing that, I still took her side and asked Amelia to apologise to her, and when Amelia didn't agree, I angrily left with Melissa, and for the past three days, I have been living in one of my safe houses with Melissa.

Even though what I did to Amelia was wrong, deep down I don't regret it; after all, she had done worse than that to Melissa and me.

If Melissa and I aren't married today, it's all because of Amelia. Three years ago, she had orchestrated a scandal that not only threatened to ruin my life but also ruined my marriage with Melissa, and that's the reason why I got married to her instead of Melissa in order to save both my reputation and that of her family.

In order to get back at her for doing that, I had treated her so well since when we got married to the extent that she completely forgot everything that she had done to Melissa and me and fell in love with me, and when I was very sure that she had fallen head over heels for me, I served her a divorce agreement in order to get back with the love of my life, who is Melissa.

I know that I may seem like a devil for doing that to her, but this was the least of the punishment I could give to her for what she did to me and Melissa; if not, there were many other harsh and cruel methods I could have used to make her pay, but I chose the easiest method because of how kind and lovely she has been to me since we got married.

Even though I was so angry at her, I just couldn't bring myself to hurt her more than I already did. Aside from all this, one thing that is still bothering me the most is what she requested as compensation for the divorce. I had expected her to ask for a huge amount of money or a mansion like every other woman would do, but she didn't; instead, she asked me to treat her like a real husband for one more month, and after that, she would leave for good.

Even though the demand seemed harmless, I can't help but feel that there's a hidden motive behind it, and whether the motive is good or bad, I still can't tell for now, but one thing is sure: I'm very well prepared for whatever it is.

"Babe, are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Melissa, who was still clinging to me, asked me, snapping me back to reality.

"Ooh, sorry, I was thinking about something else, so what were you saying?" I asked her.

"I was asking when we will get the chance to spend time together like this again," she said to me.

"After we get married, so you just have a little patience with me; the one month will be over very soon, and after that we will get married and spend as much time as we want together without anyone separating us," I said to her as I kissed her on the forehead.

"I can't wait for that," she said to me with a warm smile.

"Me too. I will be taking my leave now. Just give me a call if you need anything, okay?" I asked her as I opened my car and got inside.

"No problem, babe, drive safe," she said to me as I ignited the car.

"I will," I said to her in reply before driving away.

Getting back to the mansion where I was living with Amelia, I had expected to see her at home looking all worried as usual and asking me why I haven't been back home for the past three days and why I haven't also been picking up her calls, but contrary to what I had expected, there was no one at home, and strangely, for the first time, the whole mansion felt cold and lonely.

At first I didn't even want to mind the fact that she wasn't at home; after all, this wasn't my first time coming back home and not meeting her at home, but for a strange reason unknown to me, I kept on feeling restless. I couldn't even bring myself to sit down. I don't know if it was because I haven't seen her for the past three days or because I have been ignoring her calls without knowing the main reason why she was calling, and strangely, this morning she didn't even call.

After strolling around the sitting room for what seemed like eternity while trying to hold myself back from calling her, I finally took my phone and placed a call to her, but after some minutes of ringing, she didn't pick up. Without hesitating, I placed a call to her once again, but just like the first time, she still didn't pick up. After calling her over four times and not getting a reply, I couldn't hold myself back anymore. Using the localisation app on my phone, I immediately traced her phone number to where she was, and on getting the location, I took my car keys and immediately made my way to the exit, as I was determined to know where on earth she was and why the hell she was ignoring my calls.