The sudden rainfall caught up with Lucius on his way back home. It seemed the weather wasn’t actually mocking him but maybe weeping for him because of the humiliation he just endured. Whichever way, he loathed getting soaked, but at the same time, he was glad for the rain because it seemed to be calming down the fire of anger that was blazing inside his heart.
He hadn't realized it but he had walked for hours until he reached the gates of the Wilde mansion. The gates that were always golden and ethereal were now dark and menacing in this ungodly weather.
He pressed the buzzer signaling that someone was at the gate. A moment later a voice was heard over the intercom.
“Who is it?”
“Lucius Wilde.”
A loud buzz cut through the rain and the gates were opened. Lucius went in since they never bothered to search him as they did when he first entered the family. He opened the door to the house and the staff gasped in shock.
“Sir Lucius. What are you doing? You will catch a cold and you're tracking water and mud everywhere..”
Someone brought a towel and wrapped it around him but he just shrugged it off, onto the floor and kept on walking, leaving a trail of wet footsteps behind.
Lucius got to the room that he and Valerie shared and was briefly blinded by the brightness of the place when he opened the doors. He turned the lights down and grabbed a bottle full of luxury bourbon from the mini bar by Valerie's temporary work station.
He had never liked alcohol, that was Valerie's favorite pastime but at this moment he wanted to forget and drown his feelings in the drink. He took a swig and his throat burnt from it.
“That bitch!”
The bottle flew across the room shattering on the closed door. In anger he went for another bottle of alcohol. Vodka this time. As he drank he flung things everywhere until the room was in total disarray. As he flung over their bed side table, a stick fell out. In his drunken state, he picked it up and looked at it. It was a pregnancy test and it read positive. A million different thoughts ran through his mind at that moment but he could only utter one.
“How could that bitch do this to me? I loved her."
His knees buckled from under him and he fell to the floor still in his wet clothes, drinking and crying with the pregnancy test still in his hands. Minutes went by and soon he was fast asleep on the floor covered in tears.
•••••
The blinds were pulled open and the rays of the morning sun filled the dark room.
“Ugh… “ Lucius shielded his eyes.
“Get up you fool!”
His mother-in-law Mary Wilde spoke from the doorway as one of the maids walked back to her. Lucius tried to get up but instead he threw up on the white velvet rug. Mary winced and her red lips curled in disgust when she finally noticed the room.
“You pig! Do you know how much that rug costs? Can’t you do anything right?”
She sighed and pinched her nose as her good for nothing son-in-law laid back down on the floor.
“Get up and clean this mess. Come to the dinning hall when you are done. Do not keep us waiting.”
She avoided him and left quickly as if not wanting to contact a disease from the man sprawled out on the floor.
He got up disheveled but went to the bathroom to take a shower. Thirty minutes chock full of vomit and dizzy spells passed and he came out feeling better. Lucius looked at the room he destroyed the night before but paid no mind to it. His eyes glanced at the discarded pregnancy stick that he had discovered last night and his anger grew. He picked it up knowing that he had some questions that Valerie had to answer.
Lucius put on black jeans with a black tee shirt and walked barefoot to the kitchen. After pouring a hot cup of coffee for himself he went to the dining hall. He had to fully get the alcohol out of his system and have a clear head to deal with this family.
One of the staff opened the double doors for Lucius and behind those doors, the whole Wilde family sat at the table. Mary, his father-in-law Kent, the brothers-in-law John and Frank and of course his wife Valerie. They all glared at him.
Mary spoke before John did.
“You are an hour late, you imbecile.”
“How dare you keep us waiting?”
Lucius' face was blank and he took a sip of his coffee and sat down at the end of the table. Normally, he was always somewhat frightened of ever wronging this family but last night in his drunken haze, he had come to a realization. This wasn't his family. Above all he was a slave and not a family member to any of them.
The man in charge Kent sighed and asked Lucius a question.
“What happened last night?”
“Why don’t you ask your loving daughter.”
John sneered.
“We’ve already asked her. Now, we’re asking you.”
Lucius took another sip.
“I went to surprise my wife for our third anniversary with some gifts but I caught her…”
Valerie scoffed.
“How did you get the gifts? You must have stolen them since you are too broke to afford anything.”
Lucius set his mug down and frowned.
“I’ve been working part time everyday for the past two months to be able to afford a luxurious night to make you happy. Anyway, I caught her cheating on me.”
A snicker filled his ears. Frank was laughing at him.
“I don’t believe it. And even if she did, why wouldn’t she? She can’t be content with someone like you.”
Frank's words were lost on Lucius. How could he not reprimanded Valerie for what she did? Instead, he encouraged it. The evidence he had weighed heavy in his pocket but he kept quiet about it.
“You’re right so I’ve decided I want a divorce.”
Valerie shot up from her chair.
“How dare you ask for a divorce when no wrong was done against you? You couldn’t take care of my needs and still I didn't cheat on you.”
Lucius shouted.
“Couldn’t take care of your needs? I treated you with respect, like a queen and I couldn’t even touch you. In our three years of marriage I have only kissed you once and that was on our wedding day. How am I the one that gets blamed? Like you said you only married me to get an inheritance over your brothers. I am not going to keep being your wealth card anymore."
John and Frank looked at Valerie but held their tongue. The anger in the air was thick.
“He is lying. Don’t you see that?"
Lucius stood up.
“I am not putting up with your humiliation anymore. I can't even be with someone who carries a child for another man."
Mary looked at her daughter.
"What is he talking about?"
Valerie's face morphed into one of fear. Her family couldn't know. Not now while she was meant to be a faithful wife to this maggot.
"He's lying. Can't you see that? I would never get pregnant out of wedlock. I can't..."
Lucius brought out the proof from his pocket and placed it on the table. He slid it over to Mary who grimaced at the sight. It was a pregnancy test, all right. She couldn't deny that but she had to keep up an appearance. She would deal with Valerie later. Mary turned to Lucius.
"So? This doesn't prove that she is pregnant and even so It doesn't matter. A child that isn't from you is still a blessing."
Lucius scoffed.
"Of course, you would support her bad deeds. Like mother like daughter. I'm leaving."
As he walked away Valerie stopped him in his tracks with her words.
“You won’t live like how you did before. No expensive apartment, no cars, you won’t even have me. You will have nothing.”
Lucius turned and smiled.
“That’s the point Valerie. I hope you have a horrible life.”
He walked away leaving the family stunned. He never spoke back let alone insulted one of them. Valerie seethed as she watched him walk away.
Lucius went to his room and packed all that he personally owned into one suitcase. When he was done he removed his ring and placed it on the bed. He started at the ring for a minute wondering where he went wrong in falling for someone like Valerie. Did he really not notice all the red flags before they got married? He shook his head. There was no point thinking about it now. He was done with her.
The staff took his box outside to the uber that was waiting for him. Lucius walked out and thanked the man but before he got into the car he turned back and saw the whole family watching him leave, disdain clearly written on their faces. He shook his head, got in the car and left.
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