Chapter 5.

Blair's POV.

I just stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. My tears were falling freely but I had to stop them. If I cry too much, my eyes will get swollen and mom and dad will definitely ask me questions. So to avoid their questions, I wiped my face and smiled and walked out of the bedroom and froze when I got to the stairs. Mom and dad are already here. I ran down the stairs and hugged them both.

"Mom, dad, you're here already." I said.

"We wanted to do a little exercise so we decided to stroll to see you and luckily, the brat is here." Dad replied and I smiled.

"Anyone, over here!" I said and one maid came to me and bowed.

"Did you guys perhaps prepare lunch?" I asked. I told them not to prepare my lunch since I'll be going to the mansion to have lunch with mom and dad.

"Yes, ma'am." She replied and I sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness. Please set the table." I said.

"Yes, ma'am." She replied and bowed and left.

I talked with mom and dad and soon lunch was served and we all dug in. I glanced at Ivan who looked calm like nothing happened between us.

"So dear, how did your anniversary night go? I should be expecting my grandchild soon, right?" Mom said and me and Ivan choked on our foods. Mom and dad quickly gave us some water to calm us.

"What is wrong with you both? You mean that nothing happened between you both that night?" Mom asked.

"Mom, please, you shouldn't be talking about this." Ivan said and she glared at him.

"Why? You're both a married couple so there's no bad in saying things like that." Dad said and mom nodded in agreement.

"We did have a romantic night, we took a lot of pictures and there's one among them that is my favorite." I said with a smile and mom gave me an eager look.

"I'll go get it." I said and went upstairs.

While going back with the picture that I already made an enlarged frame of it, I overheard two maids discussing. They didn't notice I was behind them. I decided not to pay attention to their talk, not until I heard, "madam is barren" from one of the maids.

"Really? How do you know?" The other one asked.

"I overheard boss's mother asking him why they haven't had a child yet and boss told his parents that madam is barren. He said madam can't bear a child because her womb is damaged." The first one replied and at this point I couldn't bear it any longer.

"Did Ivan really say that?" I spoke from behind them and they both turned to me in shock.

"Forgive us, ma'am." They said as they fell on their knees.

"That's not the answer to my question." I said.

"Yes, ma'am. Boss said it." The maid replied shakily and my eyes welled up, my mind refusing to believe it so I walked pass them to the dinning room and almost collapsed at what I walked in to meet.

"Oh, my sweet daughter-in-law is barren." Mom said sadly.

"It turns out she is." Ivan replied.

"Ivan!" I shouted as my tears fell and they all turned to me.

"How could you lie against me?" I said shakily.

"I don't understand, what is going on here?" Dad asked.

"Your daughter-in-law is making me seem like the liar." Ivan replied without remorse and my heart shattered completely as I felt both anger and pain. I walked to him angrily and attempted to slap him. But before my hand could get to his face, I stopped and cried. I couldn't hit him, I just couldn't bear to see him get hurt but how heartbreaking that he doesn't even care if I get hurt or not.

"Blair darling, please tell us what's going on." Mom said, already standing beside me.

"I'm not barren, and my womb is not damaged. We don't have a child because Ivan and I have never had sex with each other since we got married. I'm still a virgin." I said, putting mom and dad in shock as their eyes darted from me to Ivan continuously.

"Ivan, is this true?" Dad said and Ivan was quiet.

"Ivan!" Mom shouted and he sighed.

"Yes." He replied and mom slapped him, making me gasp as I covered my mouth with my hand.

"I don't know why your wife didn't slap you." She said and Ivan looked at me with a look I couldn't understand.

"Are you happy now?" He said and mom raised her hand to slap him again but I held her back.

"Mom, please..." I begged her in tears and seeing my tears, she dropped her hand.

"Blair." Mom called me and attempted to hug me but I moved backwards before she could hug me and ran into the bedroom.

I packed my things as I cried. There was no need waiting for love that will never come. Walking out of the bedroom, I sighed and gave it one last look and left.

I went to the dinning room with my luggage and mom shook her head as she said, "no, please Blair, don't leave."

"I have to. He's the one I'm married to, not you mom. The person I'm married to doesn't want me, so why am I still here?" I replied and I could see the tears in her eyes.

I turned to Ivan and said to him, "the divorce you've always wanted, I'll give it to you. Get the divorce papers and send it to me tomorrow."

Then I pulled out my wedding ring from my finger and dropped it on the table and went out of the house. The chauffeurs and some other workers begged to give me a ride but I turned them down politely.

"Please, ma'am, at least let's give you a lift out of the estate." A chauffeur said.

"No, thank you." I replied and walked out. I walked out of the estate with a lot of things going on in my mind. Luckily, I found a cab quickly and directed him to my apartment.

A while later, the driver opened the door and said, "madam, aren't you dropping off here anymore?"

"Oh, we're here already." I said. I didn't even realize that we've arrived.

"I've been calling you for minutes now and you didn't respond. What's on your mind?" The man asked.

"A lot." I replied as I brought out my money from my purse.

"Whatever it is, don't think too much." He said as I paid him and I smiled.

I alighted the the cab and in a few minutes, I was in my apartment that was looking very dusty. Thank God, I overpaid my rent, now it's useful to me. I rented this apartment three months before my shotgun marriage with Ivan and paid three years advance rent so that I'd focus on other bills. Fortunately for me, cleaning up my apartment took my mind off Ivan and by the time I was done, it was night. Not wanting to do anything again, I wanted to go to bed but my stomach said otherwise. While sighing, I grabbed my purse and left home to get food since all my food items are all expired.

After shopping, getting back to my apartment, I saw the elevator doors closing and ran to it and stopped it from closing.

"Mrs Blake?" I heard someone call and that was when I turned to see who called me.

"Dan?" I said in surprise and he smiled.

"Hold on, Mrs Blake?" The lady with him said.

"Oops." Dan said lowly.

"Dan." The lady said.

"Yes. Mr Blake is married, and this is his wife." He said.

"Are you talking about the Mr Blake we know or someone else?" She asked.

"Yes, the Mr Ivan Blake we know." He replied and her lips parted in disbelief.

"Oh, my, he's married?!" She exclaimed.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." She said and extended a handshake to me which I accepted.

"Thank you." I said and smiled.

"How come no one knows he's married?" She asked.

"Because it's a secret." Dan replied.

"And please keep it a secret." I added.

"But why keep it a secret?" She asked, confused.

"There's a reason for it." I replied and she smiled.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." She said and I smiled.

"I'm Sara, your husband's secretary." She said.

Oh, so she's the new secretary after me.

"Nice meeting you, Sara." I said and she smiled.

"So what are you doing here? You live here?" She asked.

"I'm here to see someone." I lied and she nodded.

The elevator doors chimed open on the tenth floor and I was wondering who was getting off then Sara spoke.

"Goodnight everyone, I'm getting off here. I live at 1026." She said as she walked out with a smile and waved at us and that was when I remembered that I didn't press a button when I entered and quickly did so as the doors closed.

"I know you're not here to see anyone because you have no friends. Did something happen between you and Ivan?" Dan said and I sighed.

I have no friends because no one wanted to mingle with me. Who would mingle with an unattractive poor orphan?

"Sort of." I replied and we were in silence until the doors opened on the fifteenth floor. I stepped out and he stepped out too and he kept following behind me making me wonder why he was doing so but I decided not to ask any questions. I got to my apartment which was 1545 and he walked pass me and stopped at the next one which was 1546.

"You live here?" I asked in surprise and he nodded.

"For how long now?" I asked.

"Two years." He replied.

"Two years? How come I never bumped into you during my stay here? I rented this apartment three months before I got married." I said in wonder.

"Really? So we've been neighbors." He said excitedly.

"But if you rented this apartment three months before getting married then how..."

"I overpaid." I interrupted him. I already know where he was driving at.

He was about to say something to me again but got interrupted by a call so he waved at me instead and I smiled at him and entered my apartment. I had my dinner and laid in bed, then my phone beeped and I quickly checked it. It was a text from Dan which read, "Goodnight, I forgot to say it." I smiled after reading and my smile faded when I saw the wallpaper of my phone the picture of me and Ivan on our wedding anniversary. Unawares to me, tears began rolling down my face and I cursed at the world and everything. I missed my dad over and over again. Since he left me, sweetness left my life too. People said love is sweet, I thought my life will become sweet again when I get married to the man I love but it turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life. At times I'd just want to kill myself but the zeal to fulfill my father's dream kept me going and that's what is erasing the thought of ending my life that I'm having right now.

Hours Later.

My whole body trembled vigorously, sweats broke out on my body. I tried to breathe, struggling to open my eyes.

"No...daddy don't go..." were the words that came from my mouth.

"Dad!!!" I screamed and my eyes shot open.

My heartbeat and pulse was a mess, my vision was blurry, my chest tightened and breathing was difficult and I was losing strength. I quickly reached out to my bedside drawer and took hold of a small container and a bottle of water. I opened the small container and threw two pills into my mouth and gulped down some water. I closed my eyes tightly as tears streamed down my face and after a minute, my heartbeat began to steady slowly.

Some minutes later, I opened my eyes and cried, realizing it's my trauma again. Ever since my dad died, I've been having nightmares, being faced by the scene of the fire accident every night and any time I'm faced with a life-threatening situation. I experienced this, every night for years until one day the nun of the orphanage took me to a hospital. The doctor prescribed some pills for me and asked me to come for therapy sessions but I never attended any one. When my trauma kicks in, I have two minutes to take my pills otherwise, I'd pass out. Every night, I take my pills before I go to bed to prevent my trauma attacks from kicking in when I'm faced with my nightmare. But tonight, I forgot to take my pills because I was crying for Ivan and didn't even know when I fell asleep. Well obviously, Ivan doesn't know about this. How the hell is he supposed to know, when he doesn't even care about me.