New House

"Whose house is this?" I asked with a creased forehead when our car suddenly stopped in front of the gate of a fancy house.

Its design was beautiful and modern. The glass itself made it more classy. And I also noticed that there was a rooftop when I looked up. Outside, there were beautiful plants, and the green bermuda grass was very clean and refreshing to look at.

"It's our new house," Nicholai replied, smiling before lowering his side window and moving his head out a little.

I stopped when the gate suddenly opened.

"It's automatic. It opened after the camera saw my face."

I nodded and looked at the house. "You know you don't have to do this. We can stay in my condo or yours."

"We're going to have a baby. I want a big place for him or her to play around. And I've also fixed up the baby room. I'll tour you around the house. You're going to love it. There's a pool at the back. I know you always love to swim." He maneuvered the car inside and parked it in the garage.

"Why are you doing this, Nic? If you think doing this will make us a happy family. You're mistaken." I immediately got out of the car after Nicholai parked in the garage and left him.

If he thought that I could easily forget what he did by doing all of these things. He was really wrong.

"Denima Cris!" he called my name as he followed me. I stopped when he suddenly grabbed my hand. "Damn it! For once, can we have a truce and think about what is best for our baby? Do you think you are the only one who is having a hard time in our situation?" he said in gritted teeth. I grabbed my hand from his grasp and looked at him angrily.

"If you're having a hard time right now, you shouldn’t have forced me to marry you! You know that this won't really work, Nicholai. You're the only one who thinks that we will be okay!"

"Fuck!" he cursed and washed his hand on his face.

I stopped when he looked at me as if he was begging. "Can we just work things out? Even for the baby. Is it really that hard?" I looked away. I didn’t want to look into his eyes. Because I saw differently, I could see that he was also hurt by how I treated him. And that was what I didn't want to see. He may just be showing that he was hurt, but not really. And he shouldn't be hurt. He wanted this setup. Not me.

"I'll think about it," I coldly replied to him and went inside the house first. I was glad that the door was open.

"Good afternoon, ma'am." I almost jumped in surprise when suddenly someone spoke. I frowned as I watched an older woman wearing a maid dress. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm Linda, your maid," she said with a smile.

I smiled at her. It was good that we had someone else with us besides Nicholai and me.

"Hi, Linda. I'm Denima Cris. Nicholai's wife." Wife? I wanted to laugh at what I said. "Can you tell me where my room is? I want to rest."

"All right, ma'am. Here." She walked first while I followed.

I heard the car's engine. I bet Nicholai was leaving. I sighed.

After our wedding, I insisted on going home immediately. I felt so guilty. My family thought that we married each other because we were in love. They were all happy, while I felt the opposite.

After Linda took me to my room, she left me to prepare our dinner.

I was about to lie down on the bed when I heard my phone rang. I took it out of my shoulder bag and looked at who was calling. My heart hammered when I saw who was calling.

It was Philip.

"H-hello," I blinked and answered the call.

[Is it true?] he asked right away the moment he answered the call. I could hear the tension in his voice. He was mad.

"W-What are you talking about?" I was suddenly nervous. Did he already know?

[I'm in front of your house.] My eyes widened at what he said.

"I'm not at home, Philip. I—-"

[I'm in front of your fucking new house, Cris! The one in South Ridge!] I gasped at what he said and hurriedly went out of the room when he cut the call.

"Linda. In which village are we?" I didn’t know where this house was. I was not looking when we entered the village.

"It's in South Ridge Village, ma'am." I didn’t bother to answer Linda because I hurried to walk out of the house.

There was no way that he knew where we lived unless... Unless he saw us coming from the house and followed us here.

My eyes widened when I saw Philip in front of the house. He was pacing back and forth, and he looked so stressed. He looked in my way when the gate suddenly opened.

"What are you doing here?" I went out, and he met me halfway.

"You married him!" he said in gritted teeth. His eyes were also bloodshot. And I could smell liquor on him. So he knew it already.

"Who told you?"

"You do not deny it! When did it start?" I saw how his jaw clenched. "When did you start fooling me?!" I could feel the pain in his words.

I looked away. I couldn’t bear to look at his accusing eyes.

"Damn it! Answer me!" I flinched when he shouted at me. I didn't know what to say.

My chest started to constrict. The pain of seeing him like this. I felt the pain twice as much as when he was in pain. But I didn't have a choice. I have to stand by my decision even if it hurts.

Maybe we weren't really meant to be. Because if we were, we would never be in this situation.

We both turned around when someone blew a loud horn. My eyes widened.

Shit! It was Nicholai.

He came out of the car with a dark look on Philip and me. His every step was fast and heavy towards our direction. My eyes widened when Philip met him halfway and punched him straight in the face.