The comment section suddenly quietened down with Marco calling me almost instantly.
"Mila, there is no need to misunderstand my friends. They just like to joke around with Lucia and me, your comment made them uncomfortable. I know you must be sad to see the post, but understand, you disappointed Mom too much this time. She wanted us to attend the royal party together but at the last moment you were absent. I know I couldn't make it to our anniversary dinner but I am busy unlike you, you can't throw tantrums like this always."
I listened without a word, making Marco feel odd.
"Mila, when you come home let's sort this out first, you should apologize to Mom quickly."
"Okay." Horrible emotions choked my throat as I barely managed to utter a word. The man who killed my child was asking me for an apology.
"Mila…why aren't you asking anything about me?"
"No need, I already have my answers." With that I did not wait for him to respond as I hung up quickly, breaking into heart-wrenching sobs that made my entire being immersed in pain.
My parents were against I and Marco's relationship, yet when they realized that I loved this man too much to live without him, they gave our relationship a chance. But it was all in vain.
I booked a taxi home, and it was almost dawn when Marco arrived in a delirious state. The pitter-patter of his feet woke me up, and when he saw I was wide awake he froze, trying to come up with an excuse.
Marco, fearing that I would scold him for drinking so late, asked why I hadn't been home for the past three days. I just turned my body away from his direction.
"Are you now pretending to be angry with me?" he asked somewhat softly.
"No sobering soup for me tonight?"
"I am tired." Taken aback by the cold response, he sighed before adjusting the duvet to warm me up.
"You are pregnant, you should rest well. The child will be the future alpha." When Marco sat beside me, the aroma of a fruity perfume assaulted my senses, making it impossible to sleep.
I got up, collecting my pillow and blanket before making my way outside amidst tears.
"Mila?"
"I don't feel comfortable here." As soon as I shut the door behind me, Marco looked at the empty space beside him in shock.
The next day I left for the office early in the morning without waiting for Marco to wake up.
"This project is the most tedious and would require you to work overtime. Does anyone want to take it? The budget allocation is higher and you will be paid a good bonus."
"I will do it." As soon as I agreed, my colleagues were all startled while my boss asked hesitantly.
"Mila, what about your husband…also you are pregnant so we thought you would soon be going on maternity leave"
"Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage so I would not be needing any leave." The tense atmosphere made the meeting abruptly come to an end. My boss asked the others to leave while retaining me in the conference hall.
"Mila, I am sorry if I am overstepping my bounds but is everything alright between you and your husband?"
"You are an exceptional employee and I always wished to promote you, but then you would not have liked being separated from your family. I was wondering if you want to work at the main branch in the capital city." Her tone was careful not to offend me.
I smiled gently. "Thank you for considering me. I would love to relocate."
Surprised, she paused. "Actually, my husband was at the Southwest bar last night when he heard Alpha Marco talking to his friends." When I saw her hesitating I urged her to continue.
"He was discussing your baby, saying that since you are an orphan, you might not know how to raise a child, thus he asked a friend of his, Lucia, to help him around with the baby. I am sorry Mila, I just thought that if I were at your place I would want to know if my husband talked like this about me outside."
I felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was poured over my head.
So this was what my husband really thought about me.
I gave a teary smile, shaking my head. "Thank you."
At that moment my phone rang with Marco's caller ID flashing across the screen.
"Mila, did you leave early today? You are working too much, and you are already in your second trimester. Didn't I tell you already to resign? I am not sure if you ate your breakfast because when I woke up, there was none for me." At first he sounded concerned yet there were hints of displeasure in his voice.
I simply hummed as he continued.
He paused. "Even though I could not attend the anniversary dinner, I got a gift for you."
"Did you?" I asked indifferently.
"You love diamonds in a heart shape don't you? I bought a pendant for you…Strange, where did I keep it." He mumbled under his breath incoherently as I heard the sounds of shuffling around.
I heard him fumble through his pockets, muttering, "Strange, it's not here"
The rest of the words were swallowed as he recalled that he had given the pendant to someone else. In yesterday's photo, Lucia was wearing a diamond heart pendant around her neck. The imagery flashed across my eyes, making me tear up.
To quickly cover up the incident Marco made an excuse.
"I must have lost it somewhere"
"No need. I forgot to get you anything anyway."
"Mila, you have been like this since yesterday. Since you cannot do much, the least I expect from you is to take care of the household chores, cook and look good for me. Stop behaving like it was a big deal!"
"Yes, it was unimportant." Tears dribbled down my eyes listening to his cruel words.
Yes he did buy me a gift. One that must have first been worn by his childhood sweetheart and later given to me as charity.
"I can never make you happy no matter how hard I try.
Also Marco, my favorite gemstones have been sapphires since I was a child. Not once in my life have I ever worn diamonds."
With that, I hung up.
