I get out of bed with heaviness and take a long shower to help me relax. After getting out, I put on my underwear and look at myself in the mirror. I sigh and place my right hand on my belly. It still feels like this is all unreal, even though the idea of being pregnant makes me happy. It's something I definitely didn't expect, and if you ask me, I would have preferred for it to happen at a different time and under very different circumstances. But even so, I will love this little one with all my heart. I will give them all the love a mother can give. I will be very different from my own mother. They will know every day of their life that their mother loves them. I smile and sigh. We will be happy, baby.
"It's better if I continue getting ready," I say.
I take the clothes that Carmen ironed last night and start getting dressed. Today, my outfit consists of high-waisted white pants, a black and white diagonally striped blouse with a V-neck, long sleeve ruffles, a front tie at the waist and falls in pleats, ruffles, black sandals, silver accessories, and a black handbag. I do my makeup as usual, nothing heavy.
Under the stairs, I smile at Carmen, who is waiting to say goodbye.
"The taxi is already waiting for you, miss," she informs me, smiling.
"Thank you, Carmen. See you at lunchtime."
"Yes, ma'am. I prepared your favorite dish. Now you have to eat for two, so I will spoil you."
"Oh Carmen, you're so kind. Thank you!"
"There's nothing to thank me for, miss. Take care, and it's better if you stop wearing those high heels soon."
"Yes, I understand. I'll start leaving them behind." I leave the house and get into the taxi.
"Good morning, to Industria Salvatierra, please," I indicate. The man nods and starts the car. I hear my phone ringing and take it out of my purse. When I see who it is, I am surprised.
"Wow, Mom! I'm surprised you're calling me," I say sarcastically. Mom never calls, I'm always the one who calls her.
"Don't start," she says, and I swear I can see her rolling her eyes. "Honey, tell me, what are you thinking about?" she questions.
"What are you talking about?"
"Jeimy called me last night, very worried. She told me what's going on. You're pregnant and yet you want to get divorced! Have you gone crazy, girl?" In her tone of voice, I can hear how upset and annoyed she is.
I can't believe Jeimy told her! What is wrong with her? She had no right.
"Mom, I'll tell you the same thing I told Jeimy. That's a decision I've already made, and neither you, nor her, nor anyone will make me change my mind."
"Silly and foolish girl! Do you think raising a child alone is easy?" she yells.
"No, but you did it. Why couldn't I? I don't need Tomas to raise my baby. He doesn't even want this baby. Why condemn my child to be with someone who doesn't love him?"
"Don't be stupid, Vivian. Love won't feed you. Yes, I raised you alone, but you can't imagine the things I had to sacrifice for that."
"And I will be forever grateful to you for that, but now understand, I can't stay with Tomas, mom. Our marriage is chaos."
"For children, one endures a lot, Vivian. That's also love. Besides, do you think marriages are all roses?" she says, and I gulp.
"No, mom, but I'm sure no marriage is like mine, regarding the other matter. That was before, mom, when women stayed with men, enduring and suffering. I am a professional woman, I have a good job, I earn well. I don't need a man to take care of my child. Now I'm going to hang up. We'll talk later, but not about this. That decision is made, and there's no turning back."
I hang up the phone and sigh, tucking it back into my bag. I wipe away the tears that have escaped my eyes. Minutes later, I arrive at the company, greet Pamela, and enter Mr. Salvatierra's office, who welcomes me with a good morning and a friendly smile, I must say a somewhat flirtatious one. I still don't know if he always smiles like this or if he only does it with me. Anyway, that doesn't matter now. I have to leave all my problems behind and concentrate on my work.
At the end of the morning of work, I arrived home and when I opened the door, I found Carmen with a worried expression.
"What's wrong, Carmen? Why that face?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Mrs. Caroll is waiting for you in the living room," she informed me. I furrowed my brow. Jeimy must have told her everything, and now she's here to ask me not to go through with the divorce.
"Please take my bag to my room," I asked her. She complied, grabbed the bag, and I sighed before heading to the living room.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Caroll."
"Good afternoon, Vivian. I hope I'm not being inconvenient," she said, approaching me and giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"Not at all. Please have a seat again. What can I do for you? Although I already have an idea," I commented, sitting down. She smiled.
"Good, I'll get straight to the point," she said, smiling. "You can't divorce Tomas." I looked at her in silence for several seconds and then sighed.
"I don't see why not."
"The baby you're carrying is a Jhonson. I won't allow it to be born out of wedlock," she said, her gaze sharpening.
"Mrs. Caroll, I understand your concern, but please understand me. I have had to endure disrespect, humiliation, and constant betrayals from your grandson for all these months. He doesn't respect me, and he doesn't care about appearing at events and public places with his little girlfriend, without any fear that the information of our marriage will leak. Why should I continue putting up with that?"
"You agreed to marry him."
"Yes, and it was the worst mistake of my life. I thought that with each passing day, he would come to love me. It was a foolish and stupid belief, I admit. But I won't condemn myself or my baby to live unhappily. So, I am going to divorce Tomas, whether you agree or not."
Mrs. Caroll smirked ironically and shook her head. "Oh, dear girl, you don't know who you're talking to," she commented, now giving me a threatening look. "My family does as I say, and since the moment you married Tomas, you became a part of my family, even though I don't particularly like the idea," she commented, and I looked at her confused. "No, don't look at me like that. You are a decent girl, I admit. But you are not worthy of my grandson. You are nothing more than the daughter of a woman who couldn't keep her husband by her side, and it seems you inherited her character. You're not even from the same social class as us. Do you understand? I made my grandson weary of you because I prefer that over seeing him married to that bitch he calls a girlfriend, or rather, lover. Now, since you don't want to reason with me, dear, I'll have to be tough with you. If you divorce my grandson now and allow my great-grandchild to be born as an illegitimate bastard, I will make sure you don't even get to know him because I will snatch him from your arms the moment he is born, and you will never see him again."
I looked at her terrified and shook my head.
"You can't do that. It would be a crime," she smiled.
"And? I know the most influential and powerful people in this city. I could even say that a quarter of this city belongs to me. So, do you think I can't commit a crime and get away with it?"
I stayed silent at her words, knowing she is right.
She smiled triumphantly and got up from the couch. "It was a pleasure talking to you, dear," she said and walked towards the exit. "By the way, it goes without saying that my grandson can't find out about this," I heard her footsteps fade away, and then I allowed myself to shed tears of anguish and anger. I went up to my room and threw myself on the bed.
Why was I so stupid? I got myself into this dead end, and now I've condemned us to a life of bitterness.
What can I do to get out of this predicament?
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