ANDREA'S POV

The pen fell from my hands again.

“Just sign the goddamn papers, would you? ”Mother ordered, eyeing me with disgust as she did.

“Andera can't even hold on to a pen, it's not surprising you couldn't hold your husband's heart, too. It's a wonder how my big brother tolerated you this long.” Anna hissed.

I took a look at the papers spread in front of me, one signature, and I'd be back to the place I was all those years ago.

The place of helplessness.

“I...I can't.” I stammered.

They both groaned. The hate and disgust on their faces were palpable. I know they have always despised me but I couldn't do it. I would rather face their hatred than be alone on the streets. Hot tears trickled down my face; my body convulsed with my persistent sobs.

“For the love of God, is that the only thing you can do Andera, cry? Yuck, look at your face; it's covered in snort; you're so disgusting. We don't want you as a part of our family anymore; so just get this divorce over with!” Imogen, the eldest of the siblings thundered.

More than anything, I love Thane. He hasn't been the best of my husbands, but the love I have for him runs deep in me; I've loved him from the first day I stepped my mud-covered shoes into this house.

Thane walked back into the living room, and I got on my knees to beg him.

“Thane, please don't do this to us. I love you, Thane. I don't have a life outside the one you've given me. Thane please, I'll do anything you want.”

Tears flowed from my eyes in torrents while I begged him on my knees. I prayed to every holy being that Thane would be compassionate with me today. Just today.

“You can keep your useless love to yourself, Andera; it's done me no good.” He spat.

Seems like there's no one willing to answer the prayers of an orphan today. I might as well help myself.

“No Thane, I won't. Thane I......”

The words were lost on my lips as he reached for my hair and pulled it roughly. So tight was his grip, my scalp hurt. My teary eyes met Thane's scornful stare; his gray eyes were filled with burning hatred. Not to be surprised though, he's never looked at me with anything but that in our two years of marriage.

“Andrea, you should be lucky we're doing this the easy way. You preyed on my late father's weakness and forced your way into my life you cunning thief.” He hissed, his words sliced through me.

“No, I swear, Thane, I didn't steal your family heirloom.”

“Lair.” Imogen cut me. “It was found in your bag, Andera.”

They were accusing me wrongly; I didn't steal anything. I'm not foolish enough to jeopardize my stand in this family. I would never steal. Pa Eugene raised me better than that.

“If you could just check the security footage, you'd find the real culprit.”

I tried to convince Thane while his fingers still held their tight grip on my hair, staring daggers at me from those gray orbs

“Andrea you disgusting b!tch! Now you're trying to accuse one of us? Just admit to your crimes and we won't turn you over to the police.” Anna, the youngest spat.

“Oh, Andrea, we won't put you in jail because of the blind love my husband had for you, but don't test us. Sign the divorce papers and leave our family! Heaven forbid my son would stay married to a thief! Just imagine if this gets on the News.”

“The wife of the renowned CEO of Renihardt's infrastructures steals a family heirloom worth millions; that would be terrible; do you know all the setbacks that could cause us?!”

Mother's words were enough to snap the last thread of Thane's patience. He had always been rough and aggressive in a way I found attractive, well, until now.

He pulled my hair. My heart hammered in my chest, and a small voice in my head that kept repeating the same thing for two years spoke up again: ‘You're nothing to him, a nobody. Did you believe Thane could love you?’

I had thought that with time, my love would be reciprocated, but I was wrong.

Thane pushed me forcefully towards the table, causing me to fall face-first on it. The fall sent a sharp pain coursing through me, but it was nowhere close to the damage done to my heart. If only his father hadn't died a month ago, we wouldn't be here.

“You have ten seconds to sign these papers, Andrea. Ten seconds till I do my worst!” He seethed.

My eyes burned. This level of hatred was something I never expected, he doesn't trust me, and all I've done is give him the entirety of myself!

I held the pen again, my grip tighter this time; even if I had no one to go to, it was better than jail, and so I signed my divorce papers. Dropping the pen, I looked up at Thane. The man I dreamed about whenever I slept. The only man I let into my heart, the man who took my innocence.

“Leave.” He looked away from me as if the sight of me repulsed him.

“We've packed your things already,” Anna announced happily. I didn't break my gaze from Thane, now my ex-husband.

“You'll be happy, right? Now that I'm gone.” My voice quivered.

“Yes, Andera, I feel like a burden has been taken away from me.” He answered dryly.

Picking up my bags, I cast one last look at the four of them, the only family I've had for fourteen years. They had never seen me as family, and painfully, my marriage to Thane didn't make me one either.

--

The emergency shelter is far from Thane's mansion, thirty minutes of walking has me weak and tired. My stomach started to churn. Barely three steps later, I fall to my knees and throw up, not before I see people hurrying towards me.

Next thing I know, I'm waking up to a slow beeping sound by my side. It's so bright in here.

“Where am I?” I asked weakly

A woman dressed in an immaculate white gown walked up to me, a big smile on her face.

“You're in the hospital; you passed out, ma'am.”

“Hospital?”

“Yes, ma'am, congratulations, you're three weeks pregnant.”

--

I'm Pregnant.

There's a baby inside me.

Thane's baby. It's all I can think about when I walk out of the hospital with nothing but a box of old clothes.

Pregnant, with no home, no family, and no money but whatever I have to do to survive, I will for the sake of this child I'm already starting to love.

“Miss, please wait up.” Someone calls. I turn around to see a man in a black suit running towards me.

“Miss, there's someone who wants to see you.” He points to the other side of the road. Another man steps out of a black Bugatti.

The moment our eyes meet, he inhales loudly, and his hand flies to his chest.

“My child. Andera.”