Meek and kind-hearted Robert is stuck in a turbulent marriage with Pamela, the love of his life, whose family appears to harbour an irrational hatred for him. He constantly experiences hostility and abuse from his wife's family because he is the son-in-law. Robert's in-laws are unaware that he is not the poor, common man they believe him to be. In truth, Robert is the last survivor of a sizable wealth that was left to him by a distant uncle who died many years ago. Robert had decided to keep his financial situation a secret from Pamela and her family out of concern that his money would overshadow any true relationship.
Trey's POV
Kendall has been ignoring me for over a week now, ever since I told her I wasn't in support of her telling my mother that she was pregnant without my permission.
Mother has been over the moon because of the news. Everyone now knows that Kendall is pregnant.
Whenever I have the intention of resolving this conflict between us, I always find her curled up in bed, leaving the couch for me to sleep on.
I got the maids to take another bed into the room where I sleep now. I no longer sleep on the couch but I wish I can sleep beside her on the bed.
Guilt is one of the emotions I feel more ever since she came into my life. I have no idea how she manages to let me feel this way.
I feel bad for what I said to her which caused her to become mad at me and I really want to apologize to her.
She is just trying to help.
Casually, I stroll out of her room and close the door behind me when someone bumps into me.
It is Kendall and she is raising a brow at me.
"What were you doing in my room?" She scrunches up her face at me in curiosity.
I never thought I would be caught. I didn't even sneak out because she is always in my room. I don't know what excuse to give so I say the only thing that comes to my head.
"I was looking for you", I answer gently, scratching my chin.
She throws me a suspicious glare, not convinced by my reply. She is wearing a short nightgown and it looks like she is ready for bed.
I just arrived from work. Instead of going straight into our room, I came to Kendall's room to get something.
Folding her arms around her bosom, she demands. "Why were you looking for me?"
I expected her to tell me that I was lying. I have met her in my room for three consecutive nights, other times, I met her in the living room watching a movie.
"We have dinner at my parent's", I lie perfectly, hoping she won't suspect a thing. We haven't even exchanged more than three words at a time for over a week now.
Sometimes, I want to ask her how her shoulder is doing but I haven't been able to summon up enough courage to start up a conversation that might lead to another argument.
I wanted us to make up first. Not argue with her again, endlessly.
"Tonight?" Her eyes bulge open in surprise and I nod, happy that she bought my lie.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Displeasure crosses her expression and I shrug.
She glares at me once more before turning around to go back to our room. I heave a deep sigh of relief, thankful that she bought my lie.
I thought she was going to insist on knowing what I came into her room for.
I watch her disappear out of sight before striding towards my room. I just need to change into something light and then off we go.
When I get into the room, Kendall is going through the closet and I realize the last session of my closet is filled with her things.
How come I never noticed?
The rain has stopped but she isn't going back to her room. Does she enjoy sleeping in my room better?
She brings out a brown silk gown with sequins. I am about to tell her to wear it when she moves away from the closet with the dress, not sparing me a glance.
I nod with a smile, then drop my briefcase on the bed before taking off my suit. I don't know what to wear yet. When I get closer, I begin to rummage through it to find something simple to wear.
I find a shirt and chinos black pants with a black classic sneakers. Without hesitation, I pull them out and then quickly change into them.
By the time I am done, Kendall is making herself up in front of the mirror. I stand behind her, watching in admiration and waiting so we can leave.
When she stands up, our eyes meet in the mirror and she hurriedly looks away.
She looks stunning.
"Shall we?" I ask, with a light smile. She ignores me, picks up her brown purse, and walks past me to the door.
Her heels are making those clicking sounds and her hair bounces up and down as she walks majestically out of the door.
What a woman! I muse within me.
I hope she doesn't get mad at my plan, though. It won't be worth it if she leaves angrily.
I dash out of the room and catch up with her on the staircase. Walking side by side, we take the front door out to the courtyard where the car is waiting.
John opens the door for us and we get in. He closes the door before going around to slump into the driver's seat.
An awkward moment of silence falls over us. Kendall is glancing out of the window, purposely ignoring me while I watch her, thinking of the best way to strike up a conversation.
"Aren't we going to your Mother's?" She suddenly questions as she turns to catch me staring.
I nod without a word and she looks out of the window again.
John is driving on a different route. She must have figured it out. I guess the reason why she believed my lie was because my Mother was supposed to invite her over so we could celebrate the news of the pregnancy and Mother hasn't done that yet.
The lie is working to my advantage.
Mother is super excited and I wonder why she hasn't invited us over yet.
"This is a different route, Trey", she snaps her head towards me again, this time with a troubled look on her face.
"I am not kidnapping you, Val. Stay calm", I try to laugh but it comes out as a snort.
She does not say anything. She keeps staring at me. She must be wondering if trusting me is right or not.
I am thinking she has given up on the topic until she mutters. "Why aren't we taking the other route? Are we going somewhere else?"
"Yes," I reply sharply.
There is absolutely no use lying anymore. I lied so I could get her out of the house. I am sure she must have learned her lessons now so she can't possibly ask John to stop the car and jump out like she did the other day.
The least she can do right now is scream her lungs off at me or become angry.
"What?!" She exclaims with a tone of disbelief, her lips parting slightly, giving me a clear view of how beautiful they look.
"We aren't going to Mother's", I say without any more hesitation.
We don't need to keep fighting each other. It's high time we do this thing called marriage responsibly like adults.
She gawks at me in shock. "Where are we going, then?"
"It's a surprise."
The surprise has been ruined already. I have no choice but to tell her half of the truth.
"Surprise?" She questions, sounding a little calmer and I nod. She shakes her head, folds her arms, drops them, then shakes her head again and opens her mouth to talk again when I interrupt her.
"Here we are", I call out pointing my fingers out of the window to reveal the light illuminating the street the car just drove into.
Her gaze follows the direction of my finger with her mouth still slightly open. The surprise is still a meter away and I hope she will be patient enough not to question me till the car halts.
She seems to be in a trance because she doesn't blink or say a word until the car comes to a stop in front of her favorite Chinese restaurant.
Slowly, I watch her mouth drop open and her eyes bulging out in amazement.
CHAPTER 39
Kendall's POV
There stands Christine Moore.
My favorite guitarist.
My jaws drop open fully and I turn to meet Trey's gaze. He is smiling proudly and I find myself running into his arms.
We are out of the car already. I couldn't believe my eyes so I had to come down quickly to be sure I am not seeing something wrong.
Christine stands there gracefully, looking extremely handsome in a black cotton jacket on a white purple shirt. He is also wearing a pair of blue purple trousers with a brown leather belt.
He is wearing matching black sneakers too. He has short wavy black hair that fits his entire outfit as he slides the guitar across his body.
I realize I am still in Trey's arms and I quickly disengage from the hug, a chuckle leaving my mouth.
I have no idea how Trey got to know about Christine and how much I love his songs but I appreciate whatever effort he has made to bring Christine here.
I have always seen him on TV. When my father's business was still doing well, Nancy, Karl, and I had plans to go to one of his concerts in Paris. I was going to sponsor my trip and that of Nancy's but things changed and we couldn't go.
Karl didn't even offer to sponsor our trip.
Live and direct, Christine is staring back at me with a huge smile on his face. There are two men behind him and suddenly, he begins to play the guitar and he starts to sing as well and I feel butterflies in my stomach.
It's been so long since I felt them. It feels unreal but it is surreal.
I thought they were gone with my best friends. I thought my best friends were the only ones who could give me this much happiness.
I turn to Trey again. His hands are clasped behind him and it suddenly dawns on me that this is his way of apologizing to me for what he did the other night.
I already forgave him. I was just ignoring him on purpose. But right now, I want to forget everything he has done to piss me off.
"Thank you", I whisper into his ears and I nod at myself.
We stand watching Christine play till it comes to an end and I walk majestically to hug Christine.
It feels like a dream.
"Congratulations", he says with a cute voice that makes me blush.
"Thank you", I answer before realizing that I don't even know what he is congratulating me for.
Before I can ask, Christine shakes hands with Trey and I watch them talk like buddies before a big car appears and they all get into it.
He has two hefty bodyguards as well, all dressed in black.
We watch them get in and the car roars to life. It feels like a short dream. It feels like he was never here and I was dreaming the whole thing.
When he is gone, I turn to Trey. "Congratulations?"
He looks amused for a second before asking. "Aren't you pregnant?"
My mouth is agape. Did he tell Christine that I am married to him and pregnant?
Oh no! My face falls.
"Don't tell me you told him that", I stamp my feet on the floor.
He laughs to himself and then guides me into the restaurant. "Are you in love with a celebrity?"
"I was going to use you to get to him, why did you have to tell him all of that?"
"Well, I thought you said men are scums?"
"Of course, you all are but Christine Moore is different. Did you see how his eyes sparkled when he saw me?" I face him squarely, stopping him from walking ahead.
Jealousy flashes across his face but I don't want to read meanings into it so I continue to walk ahead.
I really do not know if I can ever be in another relationship again but I won't mind considering Christine. He is more handsome than I thought.
My marriage with Trey is just a month out of the twenty months we agreed to spend with each other.
Argggh!
We get to the reservation space and he hurries over to pull out the chair for me. I smile and sit down gently.
He takes the seat opposite me as a waiter approaches us.
"What would you like to order?" He asks us.
Trey shifts his gaze from the waiter to me. "What would you like to order?"
"Can we order later?" I ask him and he nods. Turning to the waiter. "We will order later."
He nods and walks away.
I am not hungry because I ate some snacks before Trey arrived from work. Aside from that, I am dying of curiosity. I want to ask him a lot of questions; how did he get to know that I am a die-hard fan of Christian Moore and how did he get him to come here? I want to know about his relationship with Christian and if it's possible to meet up with him again.
"You look like you have a lot to say to me right now", Trey mentions and I nod promptly.
"Of course. How do you know him? How do you know I like him? Are you friends? Why did you bring us here? Where..."
"One question at a time, mi lady", he cuts me short and takes a hold of my hand, just like he did the other day.
I inhale and exhale deeply before blurting out again. "How do you know him?"
"From someone."
"How do you know I like him?" I can't stop the questions from rushing out.
"I found out from someone."
That someone must be my mother. She loves him as well.
"Why did you bring us here?"
It's a Chinese restaurant, one of the biggest, and having to get a reservation here is very hard. I wonder how he did it. Has he been planning this for some days?
"He happened to have a show here so I reached out to him because I wanted to ask you to forgive me. He could spare me a few minutes and here we are." He explains and I almost laugh out loud.
That explains why he left immediately after singing one of his famous songs about love.
I can't believe Trey went through all of this for me. Just to seek my forgiveness.
Even though he is an asshole, he does have a conscience.
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