. Pregnant and Divorced

Brie POV

“Congratulations, Mrs. Hunter. You are ten weeks pregnant.”

I got out of the doctor’s clinic completely in a daze. Her words echoed in my head, making my heart beat fast.

In the midst of grief and pain, finally, there’s some good news, I mused to myself.

Ecstatic, I could not help the grin that spread across my face, feeling the slight lifting of the weight on my shoulders.

With renewed vigor, I quickened my steps. The elevator opened. I walked out, passing the nurse station on my way to the ICU.

“Mrs. Hunter.” The nurse greeted me.

“Hi. How’s Noah?” I asked the nurse, feeling a little fatigued.

“Still the same. Mr. Hunter has not woken up yet.” The statement dampened my enthusiasm. Still, I marched to my husband’s bed, took the chair, and sat down.

The nurse left to give us privacy.

I looked at the dearly beloved face of the man I loved, and longing pierced my heart. Involuntarily, my hand lifted to touch his face. I let the tip of my finger trace his eyelids before brushing the lock that fell down his forehead.

I noticed he needed a haircut and a shave, too, and made a mental note to bring his personal barber next time.

“Noah. Wake up. It’s been weeks.” I murmured, feeling a wave of desolation gripped me as I saw the pallor on his face.

At the same time, I pressed the palm of my hand to my lower abdomen. It was an unconscious act I had been doing since I learned about the pregnancy.

“Please open your eyes. There is something you need to know.” I told him, trying to stifle the excitement in my voice despite our situation.

Noah had been confined in the ICU the night of our third wedding anniversary following a vehicular accident that also claimed his parents’ lives.

It was a trauma I never wanted to relive again.

I was at the house at the time. I clocked early from work because of a headache but was waylaid later by an impromptu meeting.

Noah stayed at the office and promised to pick me up so we could go to our anniversary venue together, but he never came.

Our housekeeper later informed me that the police were waiting for me outside. I was so scared when they told me my in-laws passed away and that my husband was in critical condition.

At first, I was confused, and then I was shocked until tears started welling in my eyes, and they ran down my cheeks in torrent.

My phone rings, cutting me off from my musings.

It’s the company lawyer.

Quickly, I wiped the tears that ran down my cheek and took a deep breath to remain calm.

There had been so many things going on at the HUNTER ENTERPRISES. What with Noah’s parents’ untimely death and Noah’s confinement, I had to go back and forth to the hospital and the office to oversee how things were moving. I have to let the business thrive in their absence.

The HUNTER ENTERPRISES is the fruit of the labor of Noah’s parents, and when he took over and married me, we made it even greater.

Absent-mindedly, my hand caressed my lower abdomen, and I realized I did have to go to the office. With my condition, I needed to relegate some tasks, heeding my doctor’s advice to take it easy.

After the call, I got up to drop a quick kiss on Noah’s head. “I have to leave, my love. Mr. Langley wanted to see me. I will be back later.” I told my comatose husband and left.

The company is a good two blocks away from the hospital. The weather is perfect for walking, so I decided to walk. I figured I needed the fresh air. Besides, I am craving for something.

The walk had been good, and after filling my tummy, I resumed my walk. I smiled when I saw the Hunter Enterprises building.

At the entrance, the guards barred me from entering.

“What is the meaning of this?” I asked in surprise.

At first, I thought that guys were pranking me, and I laughed it off, but when they did not join me, that clued me in that something was wrong.

I looked around me and saw heads turned my way. They were eavesdropping!

“Why can’t I enter my husband’s building?” I hissed to cover the sudden shame I felt.

This was the first time I had been humiliated like this in my husband’s building.

“We’re sorry, Mrs. Hunter, but it’s Mr. Bryant’s orders.” My brows shot upwards in exasperation.

Matt Bryant and Noah’s mom are siblings, making the man his uncle.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves, thinking about the baby.

“And I am Mr. Hunter’s wife. I get to say who can or can not enter the building that my husband owns.” I told them impatiently. A hint of anger coloring my tone.

“Not anymore. From now on, you are no longer welcome in Hunter’s Enterprises.” A voice spoke behind me, making me spin around in confusion. It was Uncle Matt.

Then, in my peripheral vision, I saw Mr. Langley, the company’s attorney, rushing toward me.

“Mrs. Hunter, I mean Briana, I am sorry.” He said, handing a folder my way.

I looked sharply at him, but he was evading my gaze.

“What’s this?” I immediately checked the papers he handed me.

Uncle Matt looked on gloatingly.

My nerves prickled at the arrogance of the man. I tried to ignore it while shuffling the papers inside the folder before a frown marred my face. I don’t understand.

I turned to Mr. Langley.

He looked apologetically at me while beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

He self-consciously used the back of his hand to wipe them while I looked on.

“I am sorry, Brie. Noah’s firing you as his executive assistant effective immediately. He also ordered me to draft your divorce papers.” Mr. Langley explained while I looked on with that big question mark on my face.

It was like he was talking alien. His words do not make sense.

“What do you mean Noah ordered this?” I demanded, gripping the divorce agreement hard.

“My husband was still in a coma. How can he do this?” I fired, shooting Uncle Matt a glare.

From the looks of it, I can surmise that this is his handiwork.

Mr. Langley cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head.

“He’s awake, and this is his first order to me.” Mr. Langley replied. “He’s divorcing you.”

. No Longer Mrs. Hunter

Brie POV

Two things came to my head at once. My husband is awake, and he is divorcing me.

“It does not make sense,” I said to Mr. Langley who looked so much like he wanted the ground he stood on to swallow him. His body language screamed of guilt and pity.

I can’t stand it anymore.

There had to be a misunderstanding somewhere, and the only person who could clarify and explain the questions in my head was my husband, who, I believed, was still lying in the ICU bed.

Immediately, I asked one of the company drivers to get a car ready for me, but no one was moving. It looks like everyone knew about Noah’s decision to divorce me except me.

I could not help feeling bitter, seeing how these same people who used to bow down in my presence suddenly turned cold and uncaring. How have the tides quickly turned?

I pivoted on my heels and started walking back to the hospital. But before I could do that, Uncle Matt called me.

When I turned around to inquire, I was shocked when he upended a box and let its contents drop to the floor. Anger rose inside me when I noticed those were my office things he was throwing. My favorite pens, my mug – one of the couple’s mugs I bought for Noah and me, several notepads, and my framed wedding picture, which previously sat proudly on my desk.

I dropped to my knees to collect them, glaring at Uncle Matt’s smirking face.

Mr. Langley took the box Uncle Noah threw to the side and handed it to me so I could put my things into it. The mug was in disrepair, as was the glass on the frame. Still, I took everything with me.

I thanked him and walked away.

With the box in my arms, I half-run to the hospital and went straight to my husband.

“He was transferred to the ward.” The ICU nurse told me, unaware of my inner turmoil.

Noah Hunter was awake from a coma, and the first thing he did was to divorce me.

Even so, I could not help saying a little prayer in my head for this bit of good news.

Hurriedly, I left the box I was clutching in my arms at the nurse station and proceeded to my husband’s room. My heart thudded in my chest.

A small gasp escaped my lips when I saw him standing by the window. I almost cried at this miracle. How I despaired in the past few weeks when Noah’s condition did not show any improvements.

I drank on the sight of his back.

“Noah,” I called to get his attention.

“I knew you would come.” He told me, still refusing to look my way.

A sudden yearning invaded my senses. I wanted to see his face.

I tried advancing to the room, but my feet would not carry me. I suddenly find it hard to step forward.

“I believe you have our divorce papers?” He asked while his back was to me.

His position denied me a glimpse of his face.

“Why?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

There were a few moments of impenetrable silence between us until Noah broke it.

“Simple. My parents are dead. I no longer have to endure keeping you around. You must know that I did not marry you for love.”

The ruthless words were so not the Noah I know. It was like he was a different person now.

My chest tightened.

“Noah.” I said, trying to make an appeal.

“My parents insisted I marry you after they found you in my bed.” He reminded.

Yes, I knew it had always been his parents' idea for Noah to marry me. They had been open about it since they took me from the orphanage.

They groomed me to be his perfect little wife.

I have no complaints. I loved Noah the first time I saw him.

But Noah does not share my feelings. He opposed the idea. He left home and did not return for years.

I also knew he loved someone else while he was away.

He had someone he wanted to marry but later called off the engagement. I was not privy to the reason. Back then, Noah returned a changed man, I was so sure love changed him drastically.

It took him a while before he came around and accepted me. We became lovers secretly until the morning when his parents found out about the affair.

Noah married me.

I thought it was because his feelings had changed. In our three years of marriage, I never had an inkling that he was faking it.

“I thought you wanted me, too? That you liked me as much as I liked you?”

“Have I ever told you that?” He countered, that shut me up.

Not once in the three years we were together did Noah tell me that he likes me.

My silence was broken by Noah’s sarcastic laugh. What he said next sealed our fates.

“I am pretending to be happy for my parents’ sake. Now that they are no longer with us, I could not keep the pretense anymore. I want you gone. From this day forward, we do not have any connection with each other.”

“I don’t love you. I can never love someone like you.”

I bit my lip when a whimper started to break out.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” I asked.

“Never been surer.” He replied with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

The room became silent after that. I did not speak because I wanted to give Noah a chance to change his mind, while at the same time, I debated with myself on whether to tell him about the baby.

In the end, I did nothing and just nodded and accepted what he wanted.

“Okay,” I said.

There was a knock on the door, and Mr. Langley’s worried face showed.

“You asked for me, Mr. Hunter?” He asked Noah before nodding at me.

“Give Briana the divorce agreement so she can sign.” He told her without looking back at us.

I took the paper.

“Where do I sign?” I asked Mr. Langley in a voice that surprised even me. It was strong and steady even when my world was crashing down on me.

Mr. Langley pointed at the space where he needed my signature and handed a pen to me.

I took it, walked to the retractable table on Noah’s bed to lay down the paper, and signed my name in bold letters. BRIANA JOHNSON.

Staring at my signature, one fact glared back at me. It is a reality that I have to face from now on. I am no longer Mrs. Hunter.

. Chased Out of the House

Brie POV

After signing my name on the divorce agreement, I walked out of Noah’s room as if the devil was after me.

There was something about the air in Noah’s hospital room that had me suddenly feeling suffocated.

“Mrs. Hunter, are you alright?” One of the nurses asked when she saw me pressing my palm to the wall for support, breathing heavily.

The nurse walked up to me and held my arm. “You looked pale. Do you want me to get the doctor?” She asked, sounding concerned.

I shook my head. It was then that I realized I had been crying. “I am alright. Thank you.” I told the kind-hearted nurse and hurriedly wiped at my tear-stained cheeks.

I winced, feeling a sudden overpowering sense of nausea.

“I have to go,” I told her.

“Your box.” She reminded.

I looked at the box in repugnance and shook my head, my chest constricting in pain. That box represents painful memories of today. I cannot take it.

“Can I leave it here? You can throw it away for me.” I said.

The elderly nurse looked at me with a frown.

But maybe she saw something in my face.

“You are a strong girl. Whatever problems you are facing now, know that it’s only temporary.”

I nodded and walked away with her words playing in my head.

“This too shall pass,” I murmured to myself.

Outside the hospital, I hailed a cab and asked to be sent to the house I shared with Noah.

From the outside, the mansion looked the same, but knowing that it would no longer be my home starting today, it felt different from afar. It was like looking at someone you love and before your eyes that someone turned into a stranger - like Noah.

An unexplainable ache gripped me.

“Are you going out?” The driver asked. He was a kind gentleman.

The car had been parked outside the gated mansion for a while, but I didn’t dare get out.

I let my eyes roam outside the house, committing it to memory. For three years, this mansion had become my home. It was our nest.

We had so many memories here. As it turned out, all of those were a hoax.

My husband never loved me and was just pretending.

That had to be one of the most excruciatingly painful realities I had to deal with.

“I am sorry, miss, but I have to go. I have another client waiting.” The driver called my attention. A look of hesitation was on his face.

Reluctantly, I opened the passenger door and got out.

At the gate, I rang the bell.

A maid opened the door for me, but her face showed a coldness that wasn’t there when I left the house that morning.

“Carla.” I greeted her.

“Sorry, Mrs. Hunter.” Carla cut me off before I could say anything. And then she half-run to the mansion, scared stiff like a mouse.

I followed her uniformed figure with my eyes as it disappeared inside the house and squinted when I noticed my things strewn outside the main door.

Dorcas, our head housekeeper, had been standing by the door with her hands on her hips. A disdainful look covered her face. She was blocking my entry.

“Mr. Hunter’s orders.” She informed me even before I get to ask my question.

She had been with the Hunters for as long as I can remember, and her loyalty will always be with Noah.

I remembered how Uncle Matt threw my things outside Hunter Enterprises’ building and grimaced.

Hunter may have divorced me, but do I deserve to be disrespected like this? I felt like a piece of sh*t nobody wanted.

It was too much.

The anger that was simmering inside me at the treatment I received from my husband and his people started to boil my blood.

I took my phone from my bag and dialed Noah’s number.

“I presume you already evacuated the house?” His cold voice greeted me when the call connected.

“Do you have to humiliate me just to make sure that I leave your house and company immediately?” I could not help the bitterness that frothed off my mouth as I asked in a grave voice.

I could not believe Noah, the man I loved with all my heart, could be this cruel!

While tears started to blur my vision, Noah’s taut and clipped voice came to the other line.

“You should be thankful that’s all you got from me. I could have thrown you to jail, but I figured humiliation is enough.”

“What do you mean? What have I done to warrant throwing me in jail?”

Noah snorted. “Don’t play innocent on me, Briana. You may have fooled my parents with your innocent act, but you cannot fool me. Are you sorry that you did not kill me, too?” He sneered.

From his voice, I could feel how hard Noah was restraining himself. He was so angry.

I was angry, too.

“What?” My brain could not process what he said.

“Are you trying to imply that I was the perpetrator of your parent’s death and the reason you were in the hospital for a coma? What motive do I have?”

Noah snorted.

“Do you want to go to court so they can extract that from you? We could go public if you want.”

He was threatening me, and something inside me rebelled.

I also wanted to prove my innocence. How can Noah think that way of me?

But I figured Noah, with all his wealth, could easily make life a living hell for me. I should settle for what he was offering because fighting him on this would be exhausting and detrimental to my baby.

If it were just me, I could do it. But I have my child to think of.