Chapter 2: Welcome to our home

The words in the note were burnt into my memory and I just couldn't stop thinking about it, who was it from, and what do they mean by he is not who I think he is, or was the note meant for someone else and it was just mistakenly sent to me.

"Amy baby", Zane said with a very bright smile on his face. Something about the way he said my name made me feel really sweet tingles in my skin.

"Your things are in the car, we can leave now", he said, as he stretched his hands and pulled me in for a hug.

We both step out of the hospital, there were multiple cars parked outside with up to a dozen suited men standing in front of the cars, Zane's men I guess.

His arm was wrapped around my waist as he slowly led me to his car, a black Rolls Royce Cullinan.

Then a sharp and distinct voice cuts through the sound of the calm wind.

"Zane."

We both stopped and I felt him stiffen. I looked up at his face to see him staring at the direction the voice came from, instinctively I followed his gaze.

I was met with the sight of a woman, she wore a long coat with a short black gown and loubotin heels, she looked sophisticated and there was a black maybach parked beside her, at first sight, you could tell she was from money.

She looks at Zane first, smiling and with the way her eyes fixated on him, it was evident they had history.

Her gaze turned towards me, her eyes slowly moving from my head to my toe, then she shook her head and let out a mocking laugh.

"Isla, what are you doing here?" Zane said in a strict tone as he tightened his grip around my waist.

"I thought I was clear enough the last time, I told you I never wanted to see you again, and you think you can just show up in front of my wife?"

Isla started walking towards us.

"Sweetie I know you don't mean that, you're just saying that because she's here, I know you love me and I know you miss....."

"SHUT UP!!!, you take any step closer and I'm gonna have to ask my men to handle this, you know you don't want that." Zane warned.

"After everything I've done and everything I've sacrificed for you, you're just going to pick her over me?" Isla said, she sounded heartbroken.

Then her eyes turned towards me again, staring directly into my eyes.

"I’ve been meaning to meet you," she says, taking a deliberate step closer. "I hear you’re important to him."

"Zane who is she?", I asked.

She gave a menacing smirk

"Oh, sweetheart," she says, her voice filled with amusement. "You’ll know soon enough."

Was that a threat? or was she bluffing. Whatever it was, it was obvious she had a malicious intent and it was making me uncomfortable.

"Get her out of here." Rowan ordered his men, pointing towards where Isla was standing and we both walked towards his car.

We sat in the car for few minutes until he broke the silence.

"You're really not going to ask me who she is" he said in a calm tone.

"I think I know, she's your ex-lover". I said, hoping he would say I was wrong, but he didn't.

"We were together for some time, my mum and everybody close to me knew her and they all thought we would get married. But I broke things off with her, she was too easy and I never really loved her," he replied.

"Do I have to worry about her?" I asked.

"Of course not baby, I'll take care of her." He assured me, he cupped my face gently, his fingers lightly trailing over my skin like a feather.

His seductive gray eyes locked onto mine, dark with something unreadable, something that stirred a deep sensation within me. Slowly, his gaze dropped to my lips, and he bit his own, the air between us growing thick with tension.

His fingers found my chin, slightly tilting it upwards as his thumb brushed over my lower lip, My breath hitched, my heart pounding in wild anticipation. I closed my eyes, waiting and longing for the moment that felt inevitable.

But then.... nothing.

---

"We're home now." He said, and I raised my head, turning sideways to see our house.

The mansion in front of me was a sleek masterpiece of black glass and stone, towering with sharp, modern lines. The huge windows reflected the green vegetation around the house and a gated entrance led to a long driveway. An infinity pool shimmered at the edge, making the estate feel luxurious. Every detail

spoke of wealth and power.

"This is beautiful." I said under my breath, but he managed to hear me.

"Yes baby, welcome to our home." He added.

We got out of the car and he asked his men to take our things upstairs while we followed behind them, while walking through the hall way, I noticed a woman, probably in her mid 40s step out of a room and started making her way towards us.

"Mum? What are you doing here?" Zane asked.

So this is my mother in-law, I didn't know what to do or what to say.

"Hello" I managed to shake off my anxiety and say something, but to my surprise she didn't acknowledge my pleasanties, she gave me a demeaning look, like I was a piece of garbage picked up from the road side.

"I was beginning to be happy when I heard about your accident, happy that my son will no longer be married to an infertile peasant like you, three whole years of marriage and you couldn't even birth a child. But you ruined my happiness by surviving, why did you have to survive!!!." she was striding towards me and she started getting more and more closer to me till she was less than a feet from me and she raised up her hands to hit me but Zane pulled me behind him and held her arm.

"MUM WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" He asked angrily.

"Amy had a life threatening incident that had her fighting for her life for days, she's finally recovered and come back home and this is how you welcome her?" He was obviously hurt by his mum's actions and her words.

"I don't care about welcoming her, she was never welcome here and she will never be welcome here, this isn't her home, she belongs in the gutters." His mum sneered at me as she said the last statement.

What could I have possibly done to make her hate me so much, first it was Isla , now this, I felt so heartbroken.

"Mum cut the crap and tell me why you're here, because from my point of view, you have overstayed your welcome. so whatever it is that brought you here I would advise you say it and say it fast, my wife is really tired and I have to take her to her room." Zane asserted and I couldn't help but agree with him, it has been a really long day for me and I needed to get some rest.

"If you insist." His mum replied giving the both of us a malevolent grin.

"Come out" she turned towards the room she came out of , she was talking to someone in the room, it seems she wasn't alone.

The person came out and my heart dropped the moment I saw the same familiar face I had seen few hours ago outside the hospital. It felt like a punch to the stomach, sharp, sudden, and impossible to ignore. Her fake smile and her calculating eyes made me feel sick.

It was Isla, why is she here and why is she with Zane's mom.

I felt my knees getting weak and my shake off the bad feeling I was getting.

"Isla? You still have the guts to show up again at my house"

"Dont yell at me, you don't want to scare the baby" Isla said, rubbing her belly.

Did she just ask Zane not to scare the baby, what baby?

I turned my gaze towards Zane and asked him, " What baby?".

But he looked just as confused as I was

"What do you mean , I don't understand" there was a strange emotion emanating from him and the way he sounded, I couldn't tell if he was shocked or if he was scared .

Isla let out a loud laugh.

"Stop with the pretense, you know how intense our love making session was the last time." She smirked before turning her gaze towards me, she wanted a reaction from me but I didn't give her the satisfaction.

"I'm pregnant, and the baby is yours." Isla said, smiling at Zane.

"And you know it's family tradition to not have a child out of wedlock," Zane's mom added giving me a deadly smirk before turning back to Zane.

"Prepare yourself and clear your schedules, we have a wedding to plan."