Chapter 3 She's Carrying My Child

DARLENE'S POV

“What the hell is she doing here?!” I screamed, pointing at Barbara, who stood poised beside Roman, with a haughty expression as she took a look around the house like she owned the place.

“You brought her here? This is our home! Ours!” I screamed.

Roman cast me a disgusted look, his eyes roaming over my terrible state with barely concealed detachment. “What is the meaning of this, Darlene? Why are you acting like a child? Yes, I brought Barbara over, and so what? We all need to talk about this anyway?”

“Talk?!” I screamed. ‘Talk with her? You’ve been cheating on me with this slut, and you want me to talk with her?”

“Enough!” He shouted, making me flinch as fresh tears fell down my face.

“You—You shouted at me. I can’t believe you. What has come over you? Some girl seduces you, and you lose your head! Roman, baby, please, this isn’t you. Just let her go. I’m willing to look past this.” I reached for him, in my pathetic state, but he retreated, much to my shock. My heart clenched, twisting painfully down to my abdomen. It felt as though my heart was painfully twisting its way out of my chest.

“Roman,” I called out, my voice breaking as I stared at the face of the man who held my heart in his hands. “Don’t do this to us. You promised we would build a life together. You said you were going to marry me. You told me to wait—I waited,” I said, my voice dropping to a low whisper as tremors from this heartbreak shook me to my core.

“Don’t do this to us. You love me. You know you love me.”

His expression hardened into one of icy indifference, and it stung beyond words. Barbara sneered, then turned to Roman. “Is this what you deal with every time?” She scoffed, then proceeded to eye me thoroughly. Then she scoffed. “Pathetic. No wonder he doesn’t want you,” she said, her expression smug, with a smile splayed over her face that said she had won.

“How dare you?!” I lunged for her, but Roman was fast. He shielded her with his body and shoved me hard. I stumbled and ended up hitting the edge of the table. A sharp pain tore through my side, and I let out a cry that was raw and deep. The pain was so sharp and bone-chilling, but I bet it was fueled by the pain of my heart breaking into a million pieces over and over in one single day.

“Did you think I would stand by and let you hurt Barbara? She’s carrying my baby, for Christ's sake, Darlene. You’re the older one here; can’t you be more civilized? How come Barbara, who is over a decade younger than you are, is acting more refined?” He bellowed. His blue eyes flashed dangerously, turning icy cold as he pointed at me furiously. I stared at the bulging veins on the side of his neck in horror, then at the face of the man who kept telling me that having a child was going to deter his plans for our future, and all I had to do was wait a little longer. I had taken so much birth control that it had messed with my hormones so much so that I rarely had a functional cycle. I had even told him my observations and fears, that we might not be lucky when we were ready, because my body was changing. He had kissed me and told me he would stay with me regardless; since I had made a sacrifice for us, it wasn’t my fault but his.

We had made love right here on this very dining table when he vowed to never leave me.

I shook my head, fresh tears spilling down my face as I sobbed. “You lied to me. Twenty years—Twenty years, Roman, and you lied to my face. You told me you loved me, that we would spend the rest of our lives together. You told me to put having kids on hold because of your future. I didn’t like it, but I accepted because I love you. I love you, Roman. Shouldn’t that count for anything? I stood by you and built everything with you from scratch! I gave you my youth, my time, my energy, my body, my soul—I gave you all of me, Roman. And you break all that promise for her. Why?”

Silence.

Something close to pain flashed in his eyes, but it vanished before I could make sense of it. “Answer me! You owe me that? Tell me why you chose her over me. A girl whom you hardly know over a woman you’ve spent the past twenty years of your life with! Answer me!” I let out a frustrated scream and smashed every plate perfectly arranged on the table, sending everything flying to the ground in a haphazard heap. The sound of broken utensils made the sound of my sobs even more tragic.

“Control yourself, Darlene!” he sneered, yanking me away from the mess, hurling me towards the center of the living room.

“You wanted to know why? This is why! Look at you!” He shouted, gesturing towards me, and I flinched, noticing how the expensive emerald dress had ripped to shreds at various corners of my body, one of the sleeves was falling loose off my arm, and there were not only fragments of glass hanging loosely over my dress, but blood seeped out of my flesh.

I looked terrible, and I felt utterly ashamed. More so, because he brought his mistress to revel in my pain.

“You did this to me,” I answered quietly. But my voice sounded like a broken woman who had lost all self-worth and self-esteem.

Roman scoffed. “Is that the new coping mechanism for your flaw? Look, Darlene, you’re perfect. Absolutely, in every way. I don’t want to lose you too. But, you’re already—simply put—old.” He shrugged and turned to Barbara, who leaned into his arms and gave him a charming smile that made me feel sick to my stomach.

“Old,” I whispered.

“Yes, old hag.” Barbara chimed in, adding salt to my wounds. ‘Roman already explained your situation to me,” she started to speak, stressing the ‘n’ at the end of the situation. “So, since I’m expecting his baby and going to be the wife, you can still stay by his side. As his go-to-consultant or side piece or whatever, I’m not that selfish. After all, I’m a woman too. I totally get your pain.” She blew at her perfectly manicured fingernail and flashed me a bright smile like she had just said the smartest thing in the world.

Fury consumed me completely, and I saw nothing but red. Of all the uncertainties happening today, two or more people were going to get hurt tonight. That much was certain.

“You want me to what?!”