"What the hell is going on here?" Alora asks, astonished , the moment I walk into the living room with Sophia cuddled up in my arms.
Seven soon left the hospital for an urgent business deal and there was no one else with her and I couldn't just leave her there.
My house was the best option at that moment.
"Not now Alora"
"I don't want her here!" Alora screams furiously and I look at her in awe. The feud between them runs deeper than I thought
"Look, there was no one at the hospital to look after her or better still take her home, I couldn't just leave her there"
"Yes you could?, I won't care if she rots there!"
"Alora she is carrying your niece or nephew, you need to be a bit considerate towards her right now"
"Ugh! You are emotionally blackmailing me right now"
"I'm not asking you to like her or get close to her, just don't be too mean to her. She's going through a hard time"
"Well, serves her right!"
"Alora..."
"Fine! I'll avoid her like HIV!"
"Better!" I take the staircase leading to the second floor where the bedrooms are located. I open the room door next to Luna's bedroom and walk in, over to the bed where I calmly place Sophia on the bed. She still has on her wedding gown and I can only imagine how uncomfortable she feels right now.
I gently cover her with the duvet and as I'm about to leave, she holds my hand.
"Where am I?"
"Somewhere very safe" I whisper.
"Please don't go away, stay with me, please" She pleads and without hesitation, I toss my shoes aside and get on the bed. She snuggles closer to me and I cuddle her in my arms.
Life is indeed a mystery. Who would've thought that Sophia of all girls will be the one to bear my very first offspring.
I don't know what game destiny is playing here, but it's a very serious game. Like, how the hell did things get to this level?
What kind of wicked game is this?
"My stomach hurts" She whispers and I get alarmed.
"Are you alright? Should I take you back to the hospital?"
"No, it's normal, just that it feels uncomfortable, like this dress I have on. I want to take it off"
"Can I help you?"
"Yes please" She sits upright and turns her back to me and I gently pull down her zip and her very soft and smooth back is exposed.
She has got very fine skin.
She steps down from the bed and strips out of the wedding dress and all she's left with is her pants.
Her breasts are totally exposed and I turn my face away.
"Please Asher, don't make me laugh. You can't possibly be shy, you got me pregnant remember?"
"We had sex in the dark, remember?"
"It's the same thing. It's cold, I can't sleep naked"
"I'll be right back" I exit the room and go to mind where I get a pair of my sweat pants and t-shirt and go back to the room where I meet her seated on the bed.
"Here" I hand her the clothes and she quietly puts them on.
"Thank you"
"You are welcome" She lies on the bed and covers her body with the dover.
"Does your tummy still hurt?"
"A bit. Can you please rub it for me?" She asks weakly and I hesitate, but later nod as I lie by her side.
"Sure" I gently, carefully, place my hand on her tummy and all of a sudden, I get all excited within. This is the unexplainable connection they have always talked about. Sophia is indeed carrying my child.
Wow! I can feel sparks igniting all over my body.
"Do you know you are actually the first person to hold me this close ever since I got pregnant?"
"For real?"
"For real, Ace wouldn't even look at me"
"You can't blame him for his actions"
"What's so special about Luna that has got you all crawling at her feet?"
"We are not crawling at her feet"
"I mean to say, madly in love with her"
"It's unexplainable" I say with a sheepish smile.
"I see" there is a moment of silence. "Asher" She calls.
"Yes Sophia"
"I didn't mean anything I said about the baby back there at the hospital. I don't hate our baby and I will never try to have an abortion. I only said those words out of anger and frustration. I promise to take very good care of both of us"
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that and don't you worry, I will be with you every step of the way. You have my word on this"
"Asher" Someone calls from the door and when I lift my head up to look, I freeze on seeing Luna.
"Luna" I call but she goes away. "Sophia I have to..."
"It's okay, go ahead"
"Thank you" I kiss her forehead and hastily step down from the bed and rush after Luna but when I get to her room, she angrily shuts the door in my face.
"Luna it's not what you think"
"Go away Asher" She scolds and I can tell from her voice that she is crying.
That breaks my heart completely. Why do things always have to go the wrong way?
It's always from one misunderstanding to the next and it's exhausting.
"Leave her alone Ash, you can talk to her tomorrow. Just go and be with Sophia" She walks away and I let out a heavy sigh of frustration. Does it really have to be like this all the time?
ACE'S POV
It's all over the news, all over the internet. The entire country is buzzing with news of the wedding annulment and to be honest, I don't feel bad about it.
This is that miracle I have been praying for all this while and it happened.
Asher redeemed me. I will never be able to thank him enough for saving my future.
But then, there's one thing that baffles me about this circle. It's like destiny is playing dirty tricks with us.
Way back in college, I betrayed Kyle by sleeping with his girlfriend, Sophia and snatching her away from him. Few years later, I got his sister, Luna, pregnant.
These past months, Asher has been jealous and envious of the fact that Luna loves me and not him. He watched us get close, but right now, the woman I was supposed to marry is carrying his child and the woman he loves lost mine.
The game seems complicated and I can't really understand it at all. One time, it seems like I'm winning and the next, it's like he's winning.
I just hope the game ends here, because I'm tired of things happening in circles between us.
"Ace" Someone calls from the door and when I turn to look, I see my mum looking sorry and all.
I roll my eyes and look away.
"Mum, I'm not in the mood to fight you"
"Son, I've not come here to fight with you"
"That's a shocker, then why are you here?" I ask carelessly and she walks over to me.
"I'm here to apologize for all the trouble I caused you son, I didn't know Sophia was capable of..."
"How would you have known, mother?" I cut her off in an angry tone "You were so blinded by your over trust and confidence in her that you refused to look at things that mattered. You literally made my life miserable."
"I was only trying to do what I thought was best for you, son"
"By getting me married to a woman I don't love?"
"Ace, you have known Sophia All your life and you have been together for a while now, it's impossible for you to just fall out of love with her suddenly"
"That is exactly what happened and I know why. I'll tell you why. It was easy for me to fall out of love with Sophia because I didn't choose her for myself, you did! You lured me into snatching her from Kyle and made sure we stayed together for as long as we did and it was foolish of me to let you decide for me for so long. Mom, can't you see? Sophia and I were never meant to be, if only you had just listened to me all this drama we all experienced today would never have taken place. Just look at how Sophia disappointed you"
"That is what makes me want to commit suicide, I trusted that girl I wanted the best for her ..."
"Mom, I am not necessarily the best person for Sophia. There's someone out there who's going to love Sophia and make her happy like I have never done before. That's a fact that you can't change"
"Oh my God Ace, I really did not want things to..."
"Mum please, no more lamentations about how things turned out to be, if you would ask me I would say it was for the better. Now I can finally be with the woman I love"
"Don't tell me you're going after that Luna"
"That is exactly what I'm going to do mum. I am going to do all I can to gain her trust and win her back and there is nothing you can do to stop me, now if you would excuse me I need to rest."
"Luna isn't good enough for you"
"Why do you hate her so much? Is it because her mother snatched your man way back in high school, is that why you can't stand Luna?" I ask and she gasps in shock.
"Who told you that" she demands
"It doesn't matter who told me mum, but that grudge will never stop me from being with Luna. Honestly I don't care how it makes you feel, so if you know what's best for you, just bury the hatchet and move on because sooner or later Luna is going to be your daughter in law and you're going to be seeing her a lot around you" I say with a sinister smile and leave for my bedroom. The earlier she puts her shit together the better for her.
ALORA'S POV
If all this is a game I hope it ends right away. How can this be? One minute Asher and Ace are fighting for Luna and the next minute Ace's fiancé gets pregnant for Asher. This is the last thing in my life that I have ever imagined.
Sophia carrying my brother's child.
Life indeed, is a mystery. You can never predict mother nature's next move
Damn!
I walk into the kitchen and I'm startled to see Sophia opening the fridge. I take long strides towards her and grab her hand fiercely.
"What are you doing here at two AM in the morning?"
"Let go of me Alora! You are hurting me!" she cries, twisting her hand that's currently clasped in mine and I swiftly let go of her. If I hold onto her for too long I might catch being a liar.
"Are you looking for a knife so you could stab us all in our sleep?"
"I am anything but a murderer Alora" she defends and I roll my eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
"As a matter of fact I am hungry, I just came to get something to eat" she says opening the fridge once more but I close it and glare at her.
"What?" She asks, annoyed.
"Sit down there" I instruct and she reluctantly sits on the chair around the round table. It's true that I hate her but I'm not going to let her starve, especially now that she's carrying my brother's child. I take out a plate of chicken casserole from the fridge, put it in the microwave and turn it on.
"Do you happen to have any orange juice in the fridge?" she asks calmly and I look at her in awe.
Is this actually Sophia?
"Just order me around like the bitch you are, why even bother with politeness?"
"Alora, I'm trying to be nice"
"Save it for yourself, I don't need you to be nice for me"
"Is the orange juice available"
"Of course it is. Asher will go mad if a day goes by without him drinking orange juice" I explain as I open the fridge and take out the jar of orange juice from it and serve her.
"I'm indeed carrying Asher's child, I normally hate orange juice but ever since I got pregnant, I have been craving for it" she narrates and I roll my eyes in disinterest.
Who cares?
"Yeah, whatever" I snap and I go over to the microwave where I turn it off and carefully take out the hot food. I serve it to her on another plate.
"Thank you" she thanks me the moment I place the food before her. I sit by her side and watch her eat.
"Aren't you going to bed?"
"So you can finish eating and stab us all in our sleep? No, I'm going to stay here and watch your every move" she just shakes her head and continues to eat her food.
"You know you deserve all this right?"
"I was only trying to keep the man I love"
"Even when it was so clear that he didn't want you"
"Yeah"
"What does that make you? An idiot?"
"Call me whatever you want, at least I wasn't trying to snatch him from someone else, unlike some people"
"They had a connection and you knew it, you saw it!"
"Yes I did, but I couldn't just let go. I loved Ace alright? And I still do"
"Do you love Ace or his money and power?" I ask carefully and she shoots me a nervous glance, when our eyes meet she immediately looks down.
"Money and power have got nothing to do with this, I love Ace and not his wealth"
"I am having a hard time believing that story"
"Well then, suit yourself" she fires back
"Perfect! This is the Sophia I want to converse with, confident, fierce, sassy and many others"
"Why won't you just leave me alone? You've had your victory, I've lost. Just go ahead and celebrate and leave me the hell alone"
"Well, taunting you is my ultimate form of celebration. I like the look of defeat on your face, the sadness in your voice, and the emptiness in your eyes. You reek of grief and sorrow and that excites me. I knew this day would come Sophia, I just didn't think it would be this exciting." I mock and she swallows dryly and I can see tears forming in her eyes. She is hurt and I love it. She quietly pushes her chair behind and storms out of the kitchen in tears. I have never felt so fulfilled in my entire life.