Veronica's POV
The past few days had been normal or so I thought.
Too good to be normal.
After what I had experienced, I knew nothing is normal in my life.
Peace never stayed for more than a day, at times for some hours.
It always came disguised like a lie–soft, convincing and temporary.
And like any other lie, waits for the right moment to break.
So, even if Jonathan was coming home, behaving like a good husband and a father..
It just was so hard to trust him.
I just couldn't, but then the way things were going on…
He went to work, and came back on time. Talked about his office. Talked about Imelda like she was nothing more than a partner. No mention of Adrian.
With Janet, he was the doting father. Taking her to school and bringing her back. Helping with her homework, taking her to parks, gardens, theaters to see cartoon movies.
But Jonathan forgot one thing. We had been married for seven years. He may not know me, but I…is a totally different scenario.
I knew something was bothering him. After the video of Janet, he seemed to have changed. Seeing Adrian harming Janet upset him in a way, I couldn't understand.
And, it wasn't what he said, but more about what he didn't say.
The pauses. The unfinished sentences.
The way he avoided eye-contact when things seemed to surface.
One thing I knew about him, he wasn't a man who hesitated.
And now, he looked like he couldn't find words to express what he wanted to say.
I was busy cutting the vegetables on the table when I saw him fidgeting with his fingers.
"Jonathan?" I said looking at him. "Something the matter?"
"Nicky…" he trailed off.
He's been trailing off while speaking for the past few days. The once confident man, now seemed to be lost as if he didn't have the words to say.
"Yes?" I said, softly as again a hope was rising within me. Maybe it was his guilt that he couldn't speak.
Like a fool, I thought if he apologized, we could begin anew.
"It's about Adrian…" he said trailing off. "There's something I have to tell about his birth…"
"His birth?" I said freezing with the knife halfway in the potato I was chopping.
My blade hovered mid-air, as my hand froze in the air, and a strange unease crept in my chest.
I couldn't understand why the word 'birth' sounded so heavy, and why Adrian's?
Why did it feel like if I knew anything about Adrian's birth, my life would change forever.
"Forget it," he said, brushing it off as he has been doing lately.
I don't know why, but there was something in his eyes…it was as if he was standing on the edge of an important decision and was worried he'd fall if he told the truth.
This was also the fifth time he wanted to talk about Adrian's birth.
What was so important about his birth that he couldn't put words to tell.
"You were going to cook, right?" Jonathan suddenly said. "You carry on."
I picked up the bowl of potatoes and went to the kitchen. I barely kept the bowl on the shelf, I heard his phone ring.
"Imelda??!"
I looked over my shoulder and his face had lost its color. Seeing him like that made me pinch my eyebrows in curiosity as to what was going on.
I couldn't hear properly, but it seemed like he was angry.
"Daddy," Janet said in her bubbly voice. "Do you want—"
BANG!
I ran to the hall.
"Janet!!"
Janet was standing with her tea set and Jonathan was—gone.
"Daddy…," Janet said. "He left. Daddy lied, he said he would not leave me."
My heart twisted as I knew children don't forget promises so easily.
Even small ones, especially the special ones.
I pulled Janet closer into my arms and held her tighter than before.
""Janet," I knelt down beside her. "He got a call. Maybe it was from the office."
"He'll come back," I whispered.
But even as the words came out of my mouth..
I myself wasn't sure who I was convincing…
Janet or me.
I went back to my cooking but I couldn't get his reaction out of my mind.
Then my phone buzzed. An anonymous number sent me a photo that left me in shock. But the message was more shocking.
"Follow if you want to know the truth."
I didn't want to but, the way Jonathan had been behaving and now after seeing the photo, even though the number was anonymous.
I told my neighbor to take care of Janet and went to the address.
I stopped as I got out of the taxi and stood in front of the Grand Cardinal Casino. Events of the night flashed by when Sanders forced himself on me.
My steps slowed their pace.
The lights, music, laughter..everything around was suffocating.
It felt like I could see flashes of that dreaded night on the walls.
My fingers curled into fists as I forced myself to breath and take another step.
Today, whatever it was…the reason I was called here…I would go through.
I took a deep breath, and went inside.
Another message popped up: private room number five-seven.
I stood at the entrance of the private room number five-seven.
My hand hovered over the handle. I still had the chance to walk away.
I could pretend I didn't get any message.
I could pretend I didn't come here.
But my ignorance never protected me before, and it wasn't going to now.
I was about to retreat, but turned back as I heard familiar voices.
Jonathan and Imelda.
My lips curved but not in relief, but in surrender.
After so many days of playing the perfect husband and father. Of saying he won't meet her again, he's in a private room with her.
I could still recall his conversation with me when he came back.
Flashback
"Next week," he said smiling. "I'll host a party and announce you as my legal wife and Janet as my biological daughter."
Present
At the time I really believed him, and now, I didn't know how my thoughts were going to change.
I opened the door slowly so they wouldn't know and tried to overhear what they were talking about.
"Jonathan," Imelda said. "You know whatever I'm doing is for us—"
"For us?" he scoffed. "There never was a us, and you know that."
"Oh, really," she said. "Then what about—"
"That was a mistake and you know that," he said, getting angry. "And, I've paid you for that."
He made a mistake and paid for that. Hearing him made me wonder what did he do and how did he pay.
Does it have any concern with the way he treated us?
"Jonathan," she said softly, but in a very dangerous tone. "If I can let go of him, then you should know what your value is to me. If I—"
"Imelda," Jonathan said. "That's all you can do. Threaten me."
"Joanthan," Imelda says as she throws some photos on the table.
"IMELDA!" Jonathan snapped and it was the first time I saw him get so angry in front of her.
Maybe I was really wrong. I knew she was a manipulator, but did she use something to make him..
"Joanthan," Imelda spoke sipping her scotch. "For now she's just a widow raising a child, but after this—"
"I'm done with you Imelda," Jonathan finally snapped.
"This control," he snarled at her. "You have, it ends today. I'm not hurting them anymore."
"Jonathan!" My heart was racing and eyes were welled up with tears. "He's still mine. He still loves us." I said in a barely audible voice, just to myself.
But Imelda didn't even flinch when he spoke.
My eyes widened as I saw her smiling, and she actually popped a grape in her mouth as if she already knew Joanthan would agree to her.
Then she picked her purse and removed a folder out and threw it on the table.
Her voice was cold. Calculated.
"Are you sure?"
She said as she pushed the folder towards him, and tapped on the folder.
"You wouldn't dare." he snarled.
"I think you'd want to see that before you say another word," Imelda pointed towards the folder.
"If you plan on leaving me…" she trailed off. "I'll take him far away and your position will…I don't need words for you to understand."
I saw Jonathan was in deep thought.
I didn't know who this 'him' she was referring to, but one thing I understood was…
If that person's truth came out, he would lose everything.
But was the loss me and Janet or something else that I didn't know about.
Jonathan went silent. He literally fell back onto the sofa.
While, Imelda was smiling as if she just won a war.
What the hell is going on? What's in that folder?
These questions were running in my head as I was trying to make out what's going on.
But now my hope that had risen was falling once again.
Joanthan went silent the moment he saw the papers in the folder.
Then his reaction changed.
He went from red eyes to going numb.
His fits clenched, and voice began to crack. His voice was almost a slow, monotone.
His next sentence broke the last string of hope I had in him.
"What do you want from me?"
Then what Imelda said didn't make any sense.
"Simple," she said, smirking. "What everyone thinks of us, finalize it. How, you know."
"Fine," he said with an emotionless face. "I'll arrange tomorrow for our engagement. But, after this—"
"I know," she said, swirling her scotch in her glass. "I stand by my words."
I staggered a bit. And let out a low laugh.
My breath hitched on hearing them.
Engagement.
That too, tomorrow.
A broken, hollow, sharp laugh slipped out of my mouth.
So this was the reality.
Not his helplessness.
Not his sacrifice.
It was his choice.
Again. Once again he chose Imelda.
I can't believe who he is anymore.
Back home he said next week he'd announce I'm his legal wife.
Now he says tomorrow he'll arrange for their engagement.
Now, the tears that had welled in my eyes, rolled down my cheeks.
"So this is his truth…not helplessness, but his choice."
After this, all I could hear was mumbling. But it was clear she was giving him some instructions.
But what for? What were they up to now?
I recalled what Sanders did, and chills ran down my spine.
"Okay," Jonathan said, agreeing.
Again his face was emotionless.
"Good," Imelda said. "Everything goes as planned. And make sure you keep her in your hands. I thought she was useless but now…she's still useful."
My stomach dropped as she said the last two words.
Still useful.
The last time I was useful…
Sanders…did…
I was shocked as Jonathan didn't react.
She just said, 'I was still useful.
The last time I was useful was with Sanders.
"Joanthan," I said hopelessly. "What am I to you?"
I slowly closed the door and went back home.
"Mommy!" Janet came running over. "Mommy…" She looked behind me.
"Where—"
"He's not coming back." I cut her sentence before her heart breaks again.
As I said those words, they felt final. Like a door was sealed and it may never open again.
Not only on him, but on the little hope I had just maybe he is with us.
I looked down at Janet as she was holding onto my hands.
At that moment, something shifted inside of me.
If he can make new decisions, I can too.
And what I knew today, is something he won't know.
He just lost another day.
"Janet," I asked in a cautious voice. "Do you remember what I asked you three days back?"
"Yes, mommy," she said, holding my hands. "I'm with you. Wherever you go."