•CAMILLA•
"Alisha."
I was about to get inside my car and drive home when someone called my name. I turned around and looked at the person.
"Hi," I replied with furrowed brows because she was wearing big shades that made it difficult for me to see her face.
"I wanted to confirm that it was really you," she smirked as she leaned closer to me. "You don't know me, but I'm sure you have an idea now about why I'm here. I don't even have to say his name."
Then it clicked.
Well, I'd be damned.
The last time she and I talked was when she called my husband while he was in the shower, and I answered the call.
I could recognize her voice since it was a few days ago when she called.
"I don't know who you are if you don't mind refreshing my memory." I smiled at her.
She narrowed her eyes at me, irritated. "We talked. Three nights ago. Do you remember?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't." I folded my arms on my chest and looked at her.
"My name is Sasha."
"Oh. You're my husband's mistress?" I chuckled. "What a lovely surprise. You must be a brave mistress to approach me so boldly. I thought that only wives had that tendency of sneaking up on their husbands' mistresses."
"That's not the point," she scoffed.
"Then why are you here? If I were bothered by you, I think I would've taken the first step to approach you woman-to-woman, but as you can see, I'm not bothered by your existence."
"Thought this might be a good time for me to introduce myself since Lucious has decided to make me the mother of his child," she answered as she caressed her stomach and my heart sank.
It couldn't be true. She had to be lying. If Lucious had made her pregnant, then our childlessness all these years had to be my fault.
It didn't come as a surprise to me that he was cheating with her because I knew for months, and as long as he came back home to me, it gave me hope that he would change and realize that I was enough for him.
But getting her pregnant meant that she had succeeded in proving to him that he wasn't the one with the problem, and that was enough for him to finally leave our marriage.
"You do know that I'm his wife, don't you?"
"Yet, that didn't stop him from planting his seed inside of me. I've given him something that you've been failing to give him for 3 years, love. So now, tell me, what good does your title do?"
I gulped and didn't know how to answer her. It took everything in me not to shed the tears that were creeping at the corners of my eyes.
I clenched my fists in my frustration, and my heart raced. How dare she? I was Lucious' wife, and she owed me that respect.
Or was I no longer entitled to receive any kind of reverence from her because she was carrying his first child and heir?
Sasha chuckled when she saw my distress. She closed the small gap between us, and when I smelt that cologne that was always left at the collars of my husband's shirts, my blood boiled.
"Lucious will make me his wife, and me and this baby -" she scoffed as she looked down at her stomach before she returned her gaze to me. "Me and this baby are going to be his family. If I were you, I would make sure that I leave the marriage before things get too bad."
"What makes you think that he would leave me to be with you?" I asked, scolding.
"Why wouldn't he, babe? You're nothing but a barren woman. He can't build a family with someone who can't give him any children. Not only that, you come from nothing. While I am literally from royalty."
"Until Lucious tells me himself that he no longer wants me, I will remain his wife," I turned to get inside my car when I stopped and turned to her.
"The fact that Lucious had never once said anything about you, means that you were nothing but his cumrag. So, you're a fool to think that a baby will make him leave his wife to be with someone that he has never made a mistake for his wife to find out about."
"I know it won't be easy to accept that the man is now mine, but in due time, you shall see."
I rolled my eyes, got inside my car, and drove back home.
***
Two days later, something strange happened. Something that changed my life forever.
"Where were you?" He asked as soon as the door closed behind me.
"I was in the laundry room doing our laundry," I replied as I slowly walked closer to him. "I'm sorry."
"Didn't I tell you to prepare something for me to wear before I come back from work?" He seethed as he turned around and looked at me. "Why do I always have to fight with you when I've clearly given you instructions before I left the house?!"
"I'm sorry, Lucious, but your mother told me to cook and clean the house all day. You know that I slept very late and had to wake up early and prepare breakfast for everyone, so it slipped my mind. I'm sorry that your suit wasn't ready when you came -"
I felt a hot slap on my face before I could finish my sentence.
There was a ringing sound in my ear before it registered in my mind that Lucious just laid his hand on me for the first time since we had been married.
"The next time I tell you to do something and you don't do it, I am going to do something that you and I will regret," he snarled as he pointed his finger at me.
"I am your wife..." Was all I could whisper under my raspy voice, trying so hard to hold back the tears at the corners of my eyes.
"Then act like one," he frowned before he walked out of the room and left me standing there with my hand on my cheek.
I closed my eyes and couldn't believe that the same man who loved me so much and could've given me the world if needed was the same man today who made my life a living hell.
It suddenly became clear that I didn't know the man that I had married and called my husband for the past 3 years.
Taking a deep breath, I fixed my dress and my hair and wiped my face before I walked out of the room and went to the dining room to prepare it.
But when I walked in, everyone was already seated, including Lucious next to a woman who looked familiar. But I just couldn't trace where I knew her from.
"Oh, you're here, Alisha!" Olivia exclaimed. "You might as well be useful and bring us sharper table knives. Seems like your steak needs a lot of cutting. Should've kept it on the stove a little bit longer for it to be tender and eatable."
Everyone at the table chuckled, and I felt my heart being ripped apart. What hurt more was Lucious joining in and laughing.
I swallowed the little pride that I had and went to get the table knives, and when I laid a table knife in front of Lucious, I noticed his hand brushing over the woman's thigh next to him.
"Did you get a new maid?" One of the 3 ladies who visited asked. "She's an amazing cook. This food is so delicious."
"She's Lucious' wife," Brandon answered, earning a frown from Olivia and Nevada.
"This is your wife? I thought she was the maid." The woman next to Lucious asked as she glanced at me and chuckled.
That's when I realized who she was.
"She's nothing but a useless junk, sweetie. You don't have to worry yourself about her," Olivia answered. "Lucious is only keeping her around because she has no home. You are the one who's going to make this family happy by being my son's wife."
"What?" I dropped the table knives I was carrying.
"Tell this thing that you're engaged to be married to Sasha, Lucious. She needs to start getting herself ready to leave your bedroom for your fiance. You can't keep inhabiting a useless thing that can't bear you heirs," Olivia answered.
Lucious stood up from his chair and looked down at me. "You've heard my mother. I want a divorce, Alisha."