Barren Heiress Returns With Quadruplet Novel – My husband had been having an affair with my stepsister during my three-year marriage. “Divorce, sign them. Now.” “You’re not breaking this marriage because of her, you’re doing this because of Ellen. You never got over her, did you? It’s pathetic that after three years of marriage” “Shut your darn mouth, Kamille!” He slammed his fists on the mattress, “She’s the woman I’ve always loved! I want her in my life, not a free-loader like you.” How could I love such a man? I can’t stand this betrayal any longer. “You used me. I hope your shaft can be useless in your sexual life. Scumbag, I will make you pay the price!”
Kamille Hel burned right before my eyes. And no, it was not some fiery hot pit. It was in the form of a towering, delicious man who my entire life revolved around, and the divorce papers in his hand. The deep blue of his eyes burned colder than artic glaciers, pinning me with an intensity more dangerous than hate, like I was nothing but filth in his path. “Sign them. Now.” He threw the papers across the bed and they fluttered in front of me, taunting me with words boldly spelled on them. Divorce. My blood had fizzled out, leaving my veins empty. A loud, repeated knell of doom reverberated from one ear to the other, but I was frozen stiff. I refused to believe this was happening. I had never filled myself with delusions of Ezekiel ever loving me, but I had truly believed we could both tolerate our obligations to each other. Perhaps I was just blinded by love.
“You cannot just order me to end this marriage, Ezekiel.” I said in a trembling voice. “I am not one of your employees. I am your wife, and I deserve the barest bit of consideration at least. I just buried my grandmother three hours ago. I am already grieving.” A cruel glint entered his eyes as he tilted his head at me. “What makes you think you deserve that? I have no time to waste exchanging words with you, Kamille. Sign the papers now that I ask nicely. Don’t piss me off.” A spike of fear cracked down my spine. The fear wasn’t just for me. It was for the innocent baby slowly forming in my womb. One that I had to protect with my life, one that he had no idea about. My trembling hand rested on my abdomen, but of course, he didn’t care enough to notice.
“I will not sign them.” I said, strengthening my voice. He let out a dark chuckle that sent the temperature of the room various degrees lower. He raked a big hand through his dark hair, sending strands falling out of the slicked-back hairstyle. His other hand loosened his tie. When he looked back at me, a vein was throbbing in his forehead, promising me that he was close to exploding into an ugly fit of rage. “You will sign the divorce papers, Kamille.” He nodded darkly. “Your old fart of a grandmother was the only thing holding us together. Now she’s dead, thank the bloody heavens, and this marriage is going to follow her to the darn grave.”
Tears burned my eyes, turning my vision blurry. How could he speak about a poor old woman in such manner? She was still warm in her grave, yet this was how he spoke about her, to my face. Not even a slap across the face could hurt worse than this. “Don’t blame my grandmother for your decisions.” I whispered. “You’re not breaking this marriage because of her, you’re doing this because of Ellen. You never got over her, did you? It’s pathetic that after three years of marriage—” “Shut your darn mouth, Kamille!” He slammed his fists on the mattress, “You have no right to utter her precious name through that foul mouth of yours! She’s the woman I’ve always loved! I want her in my life, not a free-loader like you! You can resist all you want, but I will make you sign those papers. It’s up to you.” He looked unhinged, I had never seen him like this. His anger was usually cold, like the still waters of the sea hiding the vicious creatures lurking underneath. But now, it was a raging tempest.
How could I love such a man? Our marriage had been an arranged one, but the moment I caught sight of him for the first time, I was arrested. He was sculpted by the gods, a product of superior breeding and rare genes. He wielded power, influence and confidence. A man women scrambled for without shame or dignity. So I fell helplessly, with no one to catch me. He, on the other hand, was already in a relationship with Ellen, my half-sister. She held his heart in her palms. Why not? She was a skilled violinist, elegant, graceful and famous among the elite circles of the royals and billionaires of London. She was a white swan, pure and lithe, the epitome of feminity. At least that’s how it seemed from the outside. Her true self, was terrible, twisted and ugly. No one but me seemed to see that. Ellen was studying in France at the time of my engagement to Ezekiel. His grandfather and my grandmother were lovers, but could not be together for undisclosed reasons, and decided to bind themselves through their offspring, settling as best friends instead. I fulfilled my grandmother’s last wishes to give her peace in the last years of her life. Ezekiel, on the other hand, had to marry me to become CEO of the powerful Reid Conglomerate.
It was a deal solidified since we were mere children, after I was adopted into the powerful Manor family. “You used me. And this is how you end things? No regard for my grief, no ounce of respect, nothing—?” “—oh, he has given you plenty of respect, Kamille.” A nauseous voice snapped from the open door. My eyes whirled to the side, and it was Ellen, my half-sister and archenemy. “If it were up to me, this would have been done and over with ages ago! Isn’t that right, baby?” She cast a sultry smile at Zeke, strutting straight into his strong arms. His face underwent an instant transformation, from rageful to serene, his eyes following every movement of hers like he was transfixed. “You’re far more effective at dealing with difficult leeches, baby.” He held her closer, running his aristocratic nose along her smooth cheek. It felt like an invisible foot was stomping my heart into a splatter. Her fingers massaged his muscles, “Oh, you feel so tense. What kind of bloody woman did you get mixed up with, my goodness.” She sent me a contemptuous, dirty and repulsed glance. “Here, let me kis it better.”
She went on her tiptoes —even with her skyscraper heels— and slanted her lips against his. He held her tighter and deepened the kis, their mouths moving hungrily and in sync, devouring each other right in front of me. The tears that were burning in my eyes finally spilled onto my cheeks, making wet paths down my chin. My throat constricted in a fight against the sobs pushing upward, and my breaths trembled. It dawned on me then. I had no place in this marriage. I could refuse to sign the divorce papers, but I could never stop Ellen and Ezekiel from humiliating me, parading themselves in my face. I did not deserve that. My unborn child, did not deserve such a home. Only once, had Zeke and I shared this bedroom which he was currently desecrating. Perhaps something had gone wrong with him and Ellen that night, he got drunk and forced himself on me. I remembered the pain, the fear, the violation of my body that I felt. But the love I felt deluded me from seeing the monster that he truly was. So I had held him, silently crying when he spilled his seed into me, whispering Ellen’s name in my ear.
A part of my soul went permanently black since then. Dead. He remembered nothing of it. But here in my belly, a lifetime reminder grew, innocent and pure. I would give the child my all, and I had to start by giving Zeke what he desperately wanted. A divorce. I picked up the pen and gathered the scattered papers in trembling hands. They paused their snogging to look at me in triumph. Ellen let out a snort, “There you go. Not so difficult now, is it? Anyway, everyone is waiting for grandma’s will to be read, back home. You’re delaying us.” I ignored her, wiping my sweaty palms against my drab black dress. When I was done, I straightened up and dropped the pen, barely holding in the tears, yet, my voice was strong when I spoke again.“You do not have to worry about seeing me again, Ezekiel. I will come get my things tonight.” He barely acknowledged that I spoke, all his attention was focused on the signed papers. I picked up the tatters of my heart, and walked out of the bedroom.
Father, and mother sat on one of the couches, with forlorn expressions on their faces. His arm was thrown around her shoulders, as she sobbed into her wad of tissue. From an outsider’s perspective, this was just a normal grieving family. From my perspective, however, this was all a performance. Grandma’s death meant nothing to them, if anything, they were glad. In silence, I moved to sit on the couch in the farthest corner of the room. Father’s phone began to ring, and he raised it to his ear, “What?” There was a moment of more silence, before he got up from his seated position, hung up and threw the phone on the couch. “Honey, what’s wrong?” Mother sniffed, standing. “Bad news. Why now, of all times?” He exclaimed, crossing his arms and tapping his feet in obvious agitation. “It’s the lawyer! The call came from the hospital, claiming that he got into an accident on the way here. And he’s currently having emergency surgery.” “He has no replacement to send here to get Grandma’s Will read or what?”
Gabriel, that weasel, tossed carelessly. Liz snorted and got up, “ He’s the only one who has access to the will.” Her black piercings and neon pink wig contrasted with the strong and toned body hiding under her black shirt and pants. But of course, this was Liz, the most volatile one of the Manor household. It didn’t help that she had an ugly temperament and was a professional fighter, either. Father was stressing, pacing back and forth, “ I have no time to waste waiting for some incompetent lawyer!” It was confounding, that the lawyer’s life was at risk, yet this was all they could say concerning that. “Now, where is Ellen?!” Mother exclaimed, “We were all supposed to be gathered here!” She looked at me accusingly. “Shouldn’t you know where she is—?” “—I’m here!” The clack of heels announced Ellen’s arrival. “I’m right here, mom. Dad.” “Good.” Father snapped, outstretching his hand. “Where are the documents I told you to get me?” “Right here!” She sounded so excited, giving me a nauseating smirk as she reached into her handbag. “By the way, mom, isn’t the lawyer supposed to be here by now? Why the delay?”
She asked, handing Father the papers. Liz answered instead, “Lawyer’s in the hospital. How inconvenient. How am I going to know if Grandma left me an extra trust fund or something?” “Here I was already daydreaming of renting out an entire strip club for a week-long party, just to celebrate my additional riches, bro.” Gabriel chuckled. “Too bad.” Ellen raised her stiff eyebrows. “I never liked that man anyway. Once he reads the will, we’ll fire him. If he doesn’t like it, he can go meet his employer in the grave!” They laughed, but my heart only ached. Father and Mother were not even paying them any attention, they were going through the documents with intensity. “Kamille?” Father suddenly called. I got up, moving closer. “Yes, dad?” His eyes were cold and eager, like he had been waiting a long time for this moment. “Here. Take these. Since the will can’t be ready today, we’ll move straight to the next order of affairs.” I slowly took the papers, “What are these—” Family Annulment Document. Those three words slammed so hard into my eyes that I stumbled back. “What is this?” “Can’t you read?” Liz snapped impatiently.
“We want you out of the family, Kamille. You were never a Manor, and signing those papers solidifies that fact. It was all your grandmother’s idea to adopt you when you were nothing but a pathetic three-year old. We were under instructions to treat you like family, but now, grandma’s gone. You have to go as well.” My mouth opened and closed. My mind flailed and failed. The papers began to shake in my hands, as I looked from one face to another for help, for a hint that this was all a cruel prank and it wasn’t real. I found none. “But… this is my family…” I muttered, “You all …you’re the only family I have…I—” “We’re not.” Mother said firmly. “I only have three children, you are not one of them. Sign that and get out!” “This can’t be true. You can’t do this to me!” I choked. I lost my marriage. Now, I was losing my family. They never really treated me as good as grandma did, they always blamed me for problems and framed me as a bully even if I was always the victim…they were still the only family I ever had.
“You’re nothing but some tramp grandma picked up along the way!” I dropped to my knees and clung to father’s legs. “Please!” I sobbed. “Please, this is all I know..!” He kicked me off, “Stop with the crocodile tears, girl! I do not want to see you or your belongings by the time I come back downstairs!” He turned and headed up the stairs. My hands fell to the marble floor, clutching the papers. I looked up at Mother through teary eyes, but she only stared me down and walked off after Father. “How pathetic.” Ellen spat. “If you don’t take your shity, trashy belongings, I’ll have fun setting them on fire.” Liz sneered. “By the way, you’ll not be able to access your trust fund.” Ellen settled on the couch and began examining her nails. “Father made sure of it. Why do you deserve the same treatment us real Manors get?” My pain, devastation and agony slowly simmered into rage.
I would be cut off from any financial support? How did they exepct me to survive? I had no real source of income, and what little money I had to my name was made off writing weather forecast articles. I could not get a proper weather forecasting job, because Ezekiel’s family had not wanted me to work while married to their son. Now, I was helpless and penniless. And rageful, oh the rage. It fueled me. Gave me strength to get off the floor and head towards my old bedroom. In the hallway, I realized Gabriel had followed me. “What do you want?” I snapped shakily. A hard slap on my a ss made me gasp. He squeezed the flesh for good measure, leering into my face. His breath smelled of weed and whatever expensive liquor he had chugged down. “I could help you out of this pathetic situation, Kamille. If you would just give me what I want. This soft round a ss, and the holes between them. Just once.”
Incensed, I swung my hand out to slap him across the face. “You’re my brother! We’re family, how dare you!” He barked a curse and clutched his face, definitely shocked that I hit him. This was not his first time harrassing me. But this was my first time giving him what he deserved. “Did you just hit me?” Before I could respond, a hand grabbed my hair roughly from behind. I was twisted around to see Liz’s angry face. “Liz—!” Crack! Her fist collided with my cheek, sending me crashing into the wall. The breath was knocked out of me, an an ear-splitting pain tore through my face. “You dare hit my brother?!” She charged at me again, but Gabriel held her back. “Not worth it, Liz. You know it’s illegal to hit a non-fighter. If she reports it, your career could be over.” “I dare her to try!” Liz screamed bloody murder, and Gabriel managed to lead her away from the hallway.
Holding my rapidly swelling cheek, I moved into my bedroom and locked the door behind me. Reaching under my bed, I pulled out a box and unlocked it to make sure the contents were intact. They were all there. The camera and USBs which contained footages of all the abuse I had endured from my “family”. Gabriel, many times before, had tried to force himself on me, and many of those r ape attempts were recorded here. My “parents” also embezzled the company’s funds even when Grandma was alive, it was alarming to think of what they would do now that she was gone. I was enraged, that they were throwing me out now, with nothing. They believed they would get away with everything they had done but I would destroy every single one of them with everything I had in this box. One leak and their entire lives would be shattered. It was a vow I made to myself.. It only took a few minutes to shove everything of importance into boxes and load them into my old Wrangler.
The precious white Jeep grandma gifted me on my eighteenth birthday, four years ago. Locking the trunk, I made my way to the driver’s seat and sped out of the garage, without looking back. A few moments on the highway, and I decided to take the next turn leading to Ezekiel’s house, so I could pick up the rest of my things. I eased my foot off the accelerator and moved to the brakes. The car did not slow down. I looked down, frantically jamming my foot this time, because a truck was coming up ahead, and I needed to turn immediately. The brakes were still unresponsive. My heart dropped to my toes. The truck blared its horn, so terrifyingly close that I panicked and swerved out of the way, careening off the road and straight into a tree. There was a loud crash, and all I could hear was bangs and ringing, my shaky hands cradling my belly… then… nothing.