THE CONSORTIUM SYSTEM

SURPRISE PREGNANCY

A loud sound resonated through the house and Xaden held his face as Bianca gave him a hot slap. 

"You wretched man! You did it again. You messed up the whole place. Now you'd have to clean it up again. How many times do I have to remind you that my marble floors are worth more than your miserable existence?” Bianca said as she walked past Xaden who was holding his cheek.

 Bianca just slapped him for messing up the house with his mud filled shoes for the second time today. Xaden wiped his hands on his shirt, took his shoes and went down the hallway. He had just come from the garden and had forgotten to take off his work boots. 

It has been two years since he and Ashley got married and things never got better like he had expected. They were all treating him badly. Sending him on unnecessary errands, punishing him if he wasn't back on time, making him prepare dinner for the family, doing chores for even the servants of the household, the list could go on and on. Bianca was the one in charge of running the house and she made sure to remind him daily how worthless he is.

Ashley had travelled six months ago on a business trip and was supposed to return this evening and everyone has been so excited. Catherine even came back from Italy where she was enrolled in a famous Arts school and was a 3rd year student there. Jay was still the same. He broke up with his girlfriend a few months back after forcing her to get an abortion for him. Emma and Connor were both done with College now and Mason was in his second year. Trevor handled the company so he was at work at the moment.

Xaden finally reached his room. He threw the dirty towel he hung round his neck on the desk opposite the bed and fell into his bed. He was so exhausted. He has been working since morning, cleaning the garage, trimming the shrubs outside and watering the plants too. As he was trimming the grasses, he noticed that their new neighbours, the smiths, had brought home a little girl. He overheard from Bianca when Mrs Smith told her about the adoption ceremony she was going to. Xaden wished he had kids. A least a little version of him. But he knew that Ashley wouldn't listen to him if he ever mentioned having a child together. Ever since they got married, he has never touched her, let alone slept with her on the same bed. They both slept in separate rooms even before she travelled. He had spoken to Trevor about it and all he could say was that Xaden should have a little patience with Ashley. But two years have passed and he still hasn't even held hands with his supposed wife. 

He decided to shut his eyes close for at least a minute before Bianca came yapping again. And he was right. About ten minutes after he closed his eyes, Bianca stormed into his bedroom with a dirty towel in her hands. 

"Do you know where I found this?" She asked, holding up the towel for Xaden to see. 

Xaden sighed deeply and slowly sat on the bed. He rubbed his forehead and sighed again. He was tired and sick of all this. Couldn’t they just give him one day of peace? Why did his grandfather send him here to suffer like this? He wished he had listened to his instincts before coming all the way here and just stayed at home. At least there, nobody treated him like a slave even though he lived in a simple house.

"No, I do not know where you found that, Bianca."

She threw the towel on him. "The garage, silly. The very place you cleaned so why was it there And did you clean the mess you did in the sitting room?"

Xaden slowly removed the towel from his body and dropped it on the floor. 

"No, I was going to…"

She interrupted him. "So now, you're waiting for me to tell you what to do huh?"

"No, no." 

"Good. Remember your place in this house. Do your chores well or you’ll be thrown out into the streets."

She snorted and left the room. Xaden sighed. He took the towel from the table and angrily slammed the door as he left to clean everything again then prepare dinner.

Xaden wiped off the beads of sweat from his forehead. Dinner was almost done.Cooking was one of the things he happily did. He was the one in charge of meals back at home when his grandfather was alive. His Grandfather taught him some culinary skills before he died. Xaden was forever grateful to him for that. 

Today's meal was a special one because of Ashley's arrival from overseas. He missed her so much even though when she was around, they never said anything past a few sentences. At least he could see her everyday then. Somehow, she was the only reason he was still here. He believed he could still make things work between them.He wondered what it was like to hug her or know how soft her body was. He shook his head to shake off those kinds of thoughts. The pasta was done so he opened the pot and he smiled as he inhaled the sweet aroma. 

He walked into the dining room and set the table. He could see Jay with a new girl sitting across the table. He didn't say anything. There was nothing on earth that would make Jay agree to help him in the kitchen. If only Catherine was here. She was the only one that helped him sometimes. Bianca often complained about everything. Xaden arranged the plates and added an extra plate for Ashley. As he was about to head back to the kitchen, Jay called out. 

"Yo, did Ashley tell you that she wanted to eat whatever you cooked? You better make sure you cook what she wants."

"Ashley enjoys whatever meal I make. Maybe you should start cooking for once so that your girl would stick with you for more than two months. I bet you'd chase this one away just as you did to the others with your bad character."

Jay was furious. He flung the girl's arm from his shoulder and clenched his fist and started walking towards Xaden with a glare. How dare Xaden speak back to him?

"What did you just say to me? Looks like you have guts now, right? You see my girl here and you think you can talk to me anyhow you please?"

Xaden sighed. "I didn't mean for it to come out that way-"

Before he could finish, a blow landed across his right cheek. He stumbled back and held the dining table for support. 

Jay looked down at him, with fury in his eyes. He couldn't believe that this trash actually talked to him so disrespectfully in front of his new bae. That was unforgivable. He rubbed his fists and was ready to strike another one when someone held his arm from behind. 

It was Bianca. 

"Please, let's not ruin this beautiful evening with violence. My daughter is returning today/" And she turned to Xaden whose eye was almost affected because of the hit.

"Clean up this mess. And also, set an extra plate for Trevor. He's coming home soon."

Xaden rubbed his hurt cheek and straightened up. That was two hits in just a day. Some days, he had it more. Bianca would hit him for the slightest mistake. If Jay's underwear gets missing, Bianca would hit Xaden and blame him for it. If he complained about his food, same reaction. He had tried to stand up for himself a few times but was severely punished, One time he had been locked outside the house and nearly froze to death. After that, he learned not to challenge them.

He brought out the food and he was assisted by Samuel, Trevor's personal butler. The butler was the only one that was kind enough to help him in the kitchen sometimes. The rest of the servants were scared of Bianca so they always mistreated him at her request. Xaden respected Samuel a lot. 

Soon everyone was on the table. Jay and his girlfriend were having a little romantic moment and Bianca snorted in disgust. She preferred Jay’s former girlfriend to this one and wasn’t afraid to show it. Connor was the only one left. Few minutes later, he arrived with Catherine. Catherine walked up to Xaden and hugged him tightly. 

"It's been long. How have you been and.” she touched his face, "What happened to your face?"

She was the only one who seemed to care for him in the house at least a little bit.

"I fell down but it's just a minor wound. I'm okay."

"You sure? Let me see…" she tried touching his eye. 

Bianca cleared her throat and immediately, Catherine composed herself and went to sit at Connor's side. 

"Xaden, sit."

Xaden nodded and sat down. As usual, he was only permitted to join them only when Bianca approved of it. Soon, everyone dug in and Xaden just watched. He was only allowed to eat when everyone else was done eating. Jay took the largest share as usual and had a little food fight with his girlfriend. 

"Jay, manners." Bianca ordered. 

Jay frowned and continued eating. They were almost done eating when Bianca gave him permission to eat. As he was about to take the second spoonful of pasta and salad, someone walked in. Everyone just stared. Nobody muttered a word. It was Ashley with two small bags over her arm.

"What? You guys are acting like you just saw a ghost? C'mon guys, it's me. I don't think I've changed that much, have I?"

She was right. She was still as beautiful as ever with her auburn hair flowing freely on her shoulders. But she was a bit bigger than she used to be. What on earth was she eating over there? It took him up to a minute before he realised why she looked big. It was her stomach.

"Ashley! Are you… You're pregnant?!"