Love Over Everything — Chapter 25

Collins' advice stung Christopher like an injury. He hardly had any sleep that night as he kept on replaying the conversation in his head.

If only he had come clean about the whole situation to Naomi before her brother told the truth. If only he had adhered to his sister’s suggestion of telling his parents about Naomi, maybe things would have turned out differently.

Christopher decided he was going to have a serious talk with Vivian. They had to end things and go their separate ways. At this point, he was willing to give anything just to part ways with her.

Unfortunately, Christopher had not had the time to talk to Vivian. He had been on a business trip for more than three weeks without making any contact with Vivian.

His only statement before he left was that he would be gone for almost a month and when he came back he had something to discuss with her.

Christopher remembered Vivian’s Doctor’s appointment during his trip. Since he was not around, he contacted his mom to accompany her which of course she happily did.

Chris slept throughout the ride from the airport to his apartment. He was tired as hell, the past few weeks were filled with reviewing contracts, negotiating, holding meetings and having jet lag as a result of flying in and out of different countries with different time zones.

Christopher could not wait to crash on his bed and get some really good sleep.

“Sir, Sir, Mr Chris.” The driver called, trying to wake him up. We are at your apartment, Sir.” He informed.

“Thank you, Ernest!” He replied with a slightly deep voice before getting down from the car. Ernest already opened the door for him.

“Tell my father I arrived safely and I will see him in the next few days.”

“I will deliver your message. Have a good night rest, sir.” Ernest said before making his way back to the drivers’ seat.

One of Christopher’s security guards assisted him in taking his luggage to his apartment. He swiped his card and entered his home.

The light in the living room was switched on so he knew Vivian was awake. Suddenly she appeared from the kitchen barefooted and approached him, keeping a reasonable distance.

Christopher was about to say something but she beat him to it.

“I know you made it clear that we have things to discuss when you come back and I would like to go first.”

“Please Chris, hear me out.”

Chris noticed Vivian was looking nothing like herself. Her hair was in a rough messy bun, her eyes were puffy and she was in her pyjamas dress which surprisingly showed a small bump.

Vivian took a seat on a couch in the living room and Chris occupied the chair opposite her.

Vivian began to make her speech without looking Chris in the eye. She fiddled with her hands on her lap. “I drugged you and took advantage of you which is unforgivable, Not only did I get pregnant without your consent, I also manipulated you into getting married to me and most of all,l I caused you to lose the love of your life.” Vivian wiped a tear that rolled down her cheeks.

“No matter how many times I apologize, the truth is that I was at fault for bringing all these doom to you and I’m ready to face the consequences of my actions.”

She looked at him with her tear-filled eyes. “We don’t have to continue this marriage. You don’t have to keep suffering because of me. You deserve to be happy with the person your heart belongs to.”

“I’ve told your parents the truth. I made them understand that I drugged you to have my way with you. I confessed all my manipulative schemes to them and words cannot describe how much they dislike me, Your mom especially.”

“I’m not trying to justify my actions but I did what I did out of obsession. I was afraid I might lose you if I didn’t act fast.”

She sniffed “I did all I did out of greed and selfishness. I brought an innocent being into this situation which makes me so ashamed of myself. I’ve been putting up a hard and happy face but deep down, I’m scared as hell about this pregnancy, the labour process and everything that comes with being a Mother. Not that I blame anybody because I brought this upon myself.”

“My parents were never there for me, it was only my brother who showered me with love but out of greed, I’ve lost my brother’s love too. He wasn’t aware of the plan until after I became pregnant. He was disappointed but still warned me not to force you into marriage because you don’t love me and I failed to listen to him because I have filled my head with foolish ideas that you would surely fall in love with me once we were married and once the baby comes, we would be inseparable.”

“Your parents are like my second parents, the hate and the disappointment I saw in their eyes after I told them everything made my heart shatter into pieces. They could not believe I stooped so low to rape their son. Your mom said she would make sure you press charges so you can get full custody of our child because I’m unfit to raise her grandchild.”

“I’ll take any other punishment for my actions but please don’t take our baby away from me when he or she is born. I’ve become attached to him or her and I cannot imagine my life without it.” She sobbed.

“My lawyer drafted the divorce papers, I’ve tendered my signature; it’s remaining yours. The papers are on the coffee table.”

“I’m sorry for everything I put you through. It wouldn’t make sense to ask for your forgiveness because I don’t deserve it.”

“My bags are all packed and I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning. I promise to take good care of our baby while he or she is in me and beyond that.”

“I claimed I love you but that was a selfish love, a love full of obsession and greed. If you love someone, that person’s happiness should be your priority and that is what I failed to understand.”

“I should have given up the moment you made it clear to me that you don’t love me. I should have sacrificed being unhappy for your happiness if I truly loved you. Like the way you sacrificed your happiness by marrying me because of our daughter.”

“You’re a good man, Christopher and I don’t deserve you one bit. You deserve so much more and I hope you find the happiness you deserve.”

Christopher’s eyes were trained on Vivian as she talked and sobbed in between. He let her say all that she had to say without interrupting her.

When she seemed to have ended her speech, he rose to his feet, made his way to the coffee table and went through the divorce papers. Thankfully, it was past 9 pm so he brought out his phone from his pocket and dialled his lawyer.

He talked to his lawyer for a while and read aloud some of the contents in the divorce papers to him. After a while, Chris ended the call, reached for the pen on the coffee table and tendered his signature.

He yanked off the wedding ring on his left finger, placed it on the divorce papers and went straight to his room without looking back at Vivian who was crying her eyes out where she was seated.