Annalise's POV
"Annalise! Annalise!" The banging of the door woke me up. It was Benson and I don't see why he needed to bang the door so hard when the door was unlocked.That man slapped me unconscious!They immediately brought me back to consciousness in the same hospital where my son died.I pushed myself from the floor I had slept on last night. They had literally dragged me out of the hospital yesterday because I didn't want to leave my son. I can't still believe that my Derek is gone.I cried till I slept off, right here on the floor. My body arches badly, and I felt numb on my feet but I tried to go and get the door since Benson kept knocking"Benson," I opened, my voice hoarse from extensive crying. His mother was standing behind him, along with the lady whom I had planned to disfigure her face one day because of her vile attitude. I still don't understand what she is always doing here in this house."Here," Benson passed me a paper, more of a document when I looked at it.I furrowed my brows before asking,"What's this?""Didn't you go to school too?" Mother asked. She stepped into the room and the silly skinny girl followed as well. Benson had stepped further into the room, and my eyes followed him. He was looking out the window with crossed arms.I wondered how he was handling the death of our son. I wished he could tell me his pain and I do the same. We were both in pain but could not spill it out. He was hardly at home, engrossed in work."Read!" Mother snapped, pulling me back to reality. I placed the paper before my eyes and began to read through it. The heading of the document already made my eyes grow wide, my heart race increased and my hands shaky."What… What the hell is this, Benson?" I asked with a shaky voice."It is what it is," Benson replied as he turned to me, "And you better sign it and get out of my house,"Tears rolled down my cheeks, A divorce paper? Was he serious?"You want to divorce me?" I asked with a hoarse voice."Listen, whatever your name is," Benson began to step closer to me,"I don't like you, I mean, I never even did. We allowed you in this house because you were carrying my child. Now the child, you have killed, so I want you out. We don't have anything holding us together anymore."His every word broke my heart and my legs went numb, I forced myself to sit on the bed so I would not fall. I struggled to breathe, my eyes glassy, my hands trembling, and cold sweat broke out."I… I…" I wanted to speak but I was finding it difficult to do so. I gulped with my eyes closed, the next time I opened them, they were burning flames, as I spoke,"I… won't"I felt their gazes on me but I didn't care as I stood up, walking over to him I said,"I won't sign it. I am not ready to be a divorcee, Benson. I love you, and you know it. We can work this out. We can make this work. We can have another child. The reason we've not had another child is because you refuse to touch me. How can you not touch your wife? Benson, I love you, I really do—""But I don't love you!" He screamed at me, shocking the hell out of me."My love will carry the both of us," I said but he snapped with veins popping up in his head,"Sign the fucking papers, Annalise. There will never be anything between the both of us ever again. Sign the papers and get out of my life!"I broke into tears as I fell on my knees,"Benson, please, take this shame far away from me. Don't let me go back to my mother's house as a divorcee. I love you, I would do anything. Absolutely anything you want. Just don't send me away, I love you. I love you with every fiber of my—""Shut up!" Mother yelled,"Mother," I called as I rushed crawling to her for help, "Please, help me speak to Benson. Tell him I love him very much, Mother please"Mother burst into laughter, causing my brows to raise at her,"Annalise, please sign up for that divorce papers and be fast about it. Do you think we will let a murderer remain in this house? How dare you kill my grandson and think you can continue living here? For your information, Lara here will be the new Mrs Benson Walford" mother said referring to the skinny lady beside her. My eyes widened,"Mother—"*SLAP*! A slap that caused me to fall to the ground. The slap wasn't from mother but from the skinny girl."Hand the divorce papers to her. She will sign it," the girl said and Benson took the papers from the ground and stretched them to me, I refused to take it.The girl grabbed me by the hair pulling me up, I whined in pain,"Now, sign it""Benson…" I called but she whispered,"Sign it now or you'll see your mother and grandmother's dead bodies the next time you get home"My eyes widened, was she threatening me? I turned to her only to come face to face with an evil smirk on her lips."Go on, be a good girl, and sign the papers. Benson had always been mine. Sign the paper and get out of his life. This is your last warning"My eyes turned teary as I looked from mother to Benson whose face remained emotionless like he wasn't even seeing what was going on."If you love your mother and grandmother, and would like to see them alive. Sign those papers now and get out of this house!"I know how evil they can be, they would go to any extent to make me yield… I can't risk the life of my only family because of love… I just can't.With trembling hands and teary eyes, I took the paper and signed it.She dragged it from me and then said,"Now, get out!""I would like to attend my son's burial first before I leave," I replied with my head down. My heart tightened in my chest, my throat burning in hurt as I stared down at my lap. I felt defeated. Pained and angered."We will send your farewell to him, you don't have to be there. Get up and get out" Mother announced causing my head to snap up at her"Mo—""Get out!" Benson spat as he marched towards me in anger. His hand grabbed my upper arm, he began to pull me out of the room.Annalise's POVIt's been two weeks since I was driven out of my husband's house. Benson without mercy had thrown my things out like he planned it years ago even before Derek died. They didn't let me mourn my son, and neither did they allow me to attend his burial nor to say my final farewell. I was forced to go back to my mom and grandma. They had cried with me and also made sure I didn't drown myself in sorrow. The pain I felt in my heart was so strong that I felt sick; for days I was bedridden. Feeling a lot better today, I decided to visit my son. It was something I wanted to do days ago but I was prohibited from leaving the house till I got well. Making sure no one I knew was around, I made my way to the graveside. On the stone was written Derek Benson Walford, my heart tightened as till now, I still couldn't understand how he died. A once jovial child went to school and never returned. "Derek, what happened?" I choked as I tried to ask. I knew he wouldn't respond but I just w
Annalise's POV"Why can't you both just believe me that I treated a man who was sick?" I asked with a frown."Let's agree you treated a man who was sick all by yourself. Why didn't we see anyone when we came in?" Mother asked as she tried not to chuckle. I pouted, I did treat someone. I somehow slept off staring at the handsome man who was lying next to me. I don't know if I slept off but the next time I woke up, it was Grandma's call. When I asked about the man, they kept asking who I was talking about. When I woke up, I couldn't find the handsome man beside me any longer. He was gone, and his wheelchair was gone too. "He left before I woke up," I responded. "But you also said he was crippled, right? How is it that he saw himself out without any help from you? I didn't help him nor did you?" Grandma asked Mother who shook her head also, she was laughing. They don't believe me. I've been trying to convince them since last night but they don't believe me. I had even shown them th
Annalise's POV“I refuse,” we all heard the cold voice from behind me and I veered around to see Mother’s sharp eyes staring at the man said to be my father.Mother hardly gets angry, she is a carefree woman and hardly has issues with anyone, if she is refusing the man, then it is mainly for a good reason. But this man before us happens to be powerful and wealthy. Could she be able to fight if the men decide to really reply to her?I turned to look at the man whose eyes were no longer holding warmth. The temperature had suddenly dropped in the room making me gulp. Without being told that the man was wealthy, one would be able to guess because of how he carried himself. He waved his hand at the man who stood a few steps behind him and the man left, rooting out his phone from his pocket.The room was quiet until I heard the door closed. The man asked,“What right do you have to refuse?” his words were empty, without emotions like one more wrong word from mother could cost her a lot. I d
Annalise's POV. Immediately the door clicked shut, mother dropped on my tiny bed and facepalmed herself, a loud sigh escaping her mouth. I creased my brow as I observed her for the fewest seconds before I gently moved sluggishly towards her and took my seat. "Mother, you need to calm down." I mused, my hand on her shoulder.I was in a total state of stupefaction and disarray, I was supposed to be the angry one here. I have the right to question and get incensed at her because she knew who my father was and didn't bother to tell me, however, I know that getting angry would only worsen the whole situation. I needed to keep calm and reason with my mother, she was looking disturbed. Extremely disturbed and that's very unlike my mother. Mother is the calmest soul I've ever met, what could trouble her so much? I heard her sniff and I felt some sort of apprehension in me, "Mother, deep breath, just calm down, worrying so much won't solve this problem, I don't even know what is going on,
Annalise's POVHere I am, seated in a luxurious car heading to a place I do not know. Looking out the window, I could tell that my life had made a great turn because it would never be the same again. Not when my father is a world-known doctor who is a multi-billionaire. When I agreed to follow him, I did that because I wanted to get to know him. See why mother isn't so happy with the arrangements. They had treated me like a princess the minute I stepped out of the house with my bag. One of the men of black had immediately come to take my bag from me. Another one helped me with the door These treatments were foreign to me especially after getting married to Benson. Others would think as Mrs Benson I was enjoying the luxury of a rich husband but they were so wrong because I was worse than a church rat. They treated me like dirt, and my mother-in-law didn't want to see me at all. She insulted me in the presence of my so-called husband and he did nothing about it. Although I hated the
Annalise's POV. "What are we doing here?" The question left my parted mouth as my eyes scanned the seemingly endless villa in front of me. Is this heaven? "Welcome to our little home, darling." Father's voice rang in my head and my jaw dropped.Home? Little?Seriously, what's this wealthy people's definition of a little?Turning towards him, I asked, "Is this your home, for real?" He smiled and extended his hand towards me. With a deep breath, I placed my hand on him and he began to lead the way towards the house. My eyes were darting from one place to the other and I can't help but wish to stay a little longer and ravish this moment. This is too captivating, I've only seen such buildings on television, and now... My father owns one, one that's way better than any I've ever seen. Suddenly, my step slowed when I noticed some people lined up in two rows; they were both men and women and they were finely dressed. "Don't be nervous, mom must have arranged this little welcome for yo
Annalise's POV."Yes Naana, like what the fuck is going on? I had left the hospital thinking that you have an important announcement to make and you... Gosh! C'mon, this is just insane!" Another yelled and I subconsciously took some steps backward, I just wanna run home as fast as my legs could carry me right now.Seeing all these reminds me of my ex-husband's home, the way I was treated there was the same way I'm being downgraded here. It seems like everyone is out to get me in this world. "Will you all shut up!" Grandma snapped and I flinched due to the gravity of her command.Grandmas are sweet... Yeah but why does this one sound like those action grannies in Chinese movies?"I'm so sorry, mothers-in-law, the kids are just lost. You know how the workload at the hospital is tight, they're all just wondering why you would call them home urgently." A young woman expressed calmly and my eyes squinted, I don't know but I felt like she was faking her apologies."Whatever..." Grandma mut
Although the house, no, the mansion was so big that I was sure that twenty people could live in there, no one would notice because of how spacious and large it was. Yet, I was suffocating like I was in a closed place. Can I really remain here? Can I live with them?I stood in the middle of the room one of the maids took me to, I kept staring at the large place, it was so big, bigger than I and Benson's room. This was my father's house, so it was my house as well, but was it really my house? From what happened back there downstairs, I could tell that they weren't interested in wanting to know me or have anything to do with me. Was that why Mother didn't want me to come with Father in the first place?"Ma'am, would you need anything else?" The voice of the maid pulled me out of my reverie. I blinked and smiled at her, "No, that would be all. Thank you very much," She made a small bow before leaving the room, I watched her keenly as she walked away. I didn't even know why I was star