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Mia gave everything she had for her husband, only to be abandoned when his first love returned. "Why? Why did you marry me?" Xavier's response was cold and heartbreaking: " because you looked like her." Broken and betrayed, she escaped to start over, swearing never to look back. But destiny had other ideas. Forced to return home, her son is sick and needs his help. She came face to face with the husband who betrayed her. When a new man appeared in her life, he got jealous. To his astonishment, he realized she was his first and only love. Now, Xavier's past decision weighs heavy on his shoulders as he realizes that he never stopped loving Mia. and he realizes that Mia was always his true love. Can he earn her forgiveness and rekindle the love they once shared? would she give him a second chance? Or would she choose the other man?
PROLOGUE
I don't want to get married now. I am not ready. I love someone else, Dylan. Help me beg Father; he listens to what you say, D. Mia was desperately pleading with her older brother to plead her case to her father.
"It's beyond my power, Mia. Our father has made his mind up, and you know how scary he can be if he doesn't have things done his way," Dylan said.
"Who am I getting married to, D? At least you can tell me that." D is usually what Mia calls her older brother; it's the pet name given by her to Dylan.
"XAVIER SINCLAIR. Does the name ring a bell?" Dylan asked Mia based on her shocked reaction.
"Who doesn't know the Sinclair family? They are a billionaire conglomerate family in the country."
But most of all, Mia was shocked because she never expected her high school and college crush to be who she was marrying.
She read so well to be accepted into the same college as Xavier, just Princeton, just because of her one-sided crush she has for him, and he never noticed her, and now that is who she is getting married to.
"I agree; I am going to marry him," Mia exclaimed with excitement.
The marriage is not a love marriage; it's more like a business deal between two rich families. Mia's father's business was on the brink of bankruptcy, and he needed the alliance with the Sinclairs to save his company, but Mia had a different reason for agreeing to the union. Xavier had always been her crush since high school, but she never approached him until the marriage decision.
Xavier is a playboy and never wanted to be tied down to one woman. It wasn't Mia's wish to just cause turmoil in his life.
In the early days of their marriage, he didn't even look at her, talk to her, or touch her.
On their wedding night, he left her in the room, only for him to come back drunk with female lipstick on his shirt. But slowly, things began changing between them. The sexual frustration between the two of them got loose after one night of passion when he was at his lowest. He lost his lover and girlfriend.
He was depressed and down and needed comfort, and as if fate played a trick on them, Mia was not feeling good herself and needed friendly comfort, and he was just the right person at the time.
The comfort from each other turned into a night of passion.
The look in his eyes changed from just lust to total admiration upon finding out that he was Mia's first.
3 YEARS AFTER
Mia woke up early today to prepare a special meal for her husband before he left for work. Today was special to her, as it's their third anniversary as a married couple.
She looked to her side to see the man she had given her heart to soundly asleep. He looked so peaceful and handsome at the same time. A blush crept on her face.
His lips looked so tempting that all she wanted to do was kiss them. Unable to resist, she moved closer, hoping to steal a tender kiss, but as she leaned in, his eyes opened, catching her in the act, and it held no emotion.
"Good morning, love." She greeted him with a smile.
"Good morning". He just replied plainly when he stood up from the bed, went to the bathroom to get his bath, and got ready for work.
They make love literally every day, yet it lacks passion and affection, more like an obligation to Xavier.
He no longer found pleasure with her; it felt forced for him to think they used to be madly in love.
He blames her for what happened two years ago, and honestly, she don't blame him. The guilt she feel is immeasurable;
"If only I had listened to him," Mia agonized, as the guilt of that fateful incident, that transformed their love into something unrecognizable.
Mia went downstairs to prepare his favorite breakfast omelet and also made sure to make his coffee for him black, just as he liked it, with the help of Mrs. Adams, their maid.
Xavier came down while adjusting his Rolex watch, looking sexy in his black tuxedo suit.
He just went straight for the door, ignoring the food on the table.
"Are you not going to eat your breakfast?" Mia asked him. He stopped to look at her; his face stayed calm and expressionless. There were no obvious smiles or frowns, just a composed demeanor.
"Do I report to you why I am not eating? I am not just hungry, he said" with a cold voice, hoping she would not disturb him any further.
As usual, it didn't bother her that he treated her this way. She knows that lately he has been stressed about a deal that is not going through. And that has made him a little distant with her, but that was just an excuse.
She was just happy to see his face every day, happy to be called his wife, and happy to be able to love him freely.
His chauffeur was waiting for him, and he was in a hurry to get outside. Without hesitation, Mia followed him and held him back to stop him.
"Come home soon," she told him, more like pleading with him. He just nodded.
She stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the lips and whispered, I love you, to him. Still the same response; he just nodded and left with his driver in his Range Rover.
As usual, she didn't comment on his rude behavior towards her. It didn't bother Mia that her husband treated her that way.
This started about a year ago: him staying out late some nights because of work, and the very day he comes home, he just has sex with her, and in the morning he takes a quick shower and goes back to work.
Mia never wanted to add the inclusion that her husband could be cheating on her, and even if he did, she was still willing to be with him and fight for her marriage.
She had everything planned out already for how she was going to celebrate this year's anniversary; all she needed was for him to come home early.
She had ordered a cake a week ago and freshened up to pick up the cake and start the decoration.
She got into her black Audi as a birthday gift from her husband in their second year of marriage. Gifts were part of his love language, so she hurriedly went to pick up her cake at the bakery.
She couldn't stop grinning. The cake came out nice, just as she had imagined. She couldn't wait to see Xavier's face. Their initials were written on it with frosting, surrounded by red hearts.
She went home and started preparing for the special dinner. Since she stopped working because she was trying to conceive, it was both her and Xavier's idea to stop working in the company and focus on childbirth, but things did not go their way.
Mia had missed her husband terribly-the way he used to look at her with love in his eyes, like she was the only one in this whole universe for him.
The way he used to hold and caress her face before leaning in for a kiss.
She craved her husband's attention, but she knew she was getting none of that, and that's why she chose to fight back for their love, for him to realise he still loved her.
She was still in denial that he had fallen out of love with her.
He shouldn't give up on their marriage just because of a mistake on her part.
She was wearing the clothes he bought for her on their first anniversary. He loved the cloth on her; her hair was wavy, just like how he liked her natural hair. She was wearing natural eyeshadow with dark red lipstick.
Mrs. Adam, their maid, helped her set up the house with romantic candles, and Mia gave her and the rest of the staff the day off. The only person missing is her husband.
Everything was perfect for her, with the perfect weather conditions.
Nothing can go wrong. Mia kept muttering to herself while she kept checking her watch. It was almost 8, and her husband wasn't back. It was past his closing hour, so she decided to call him. The first dial went to voicemail.
Mia kept muttering to herself, "Nothing can go wrong," while she checked her watch.
It was almost 8 o'clock, and her husband still hadn't returned, even though it was past his closing hour.
She decided to call him, but the first dial went to voicemail.
"Hey baby, it's me. I just wanted to know if you're on your way home. Give me a call. I miss you, babe. Love you." She hung up the call, and at that exact moment, she heard his car honk.
He had finally arrived. Mia ran as fast as her legs could carry her to hug him, but he stopped her and shoved her aside.
"Happy anniversary, my love," she said, ignoring his rude behavior and speaking excitedly while trying to grab his bag.
"Can you believe we've been married for three years now?" She asked, moving to kiss him, but he dodged her, which hurt Mia.
"So, this is how you waste your time and my money doing these childish things?" he asked Mia.
"What do you think my apartment is for?" Mia replied angrily, with a scowl on her face.
"I need a divorce," he blurted out.
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When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.
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