08

It's been a week since I learnt the truth. A week since I last spoke to Henry, not for lack of trying on his part as the last fifty missed calls on my phone would testify. A week since I've allowed myself interact with anyone except my children about something that isn't work related. I've received calls non stop from Jesse, my mom, and even Lorraine, who I have strong mixed feelings about, but I haven't been able to bring myself to accept any.

This past week, I have felt myself go through several different emotions but recurring is the disappointment. Disappointment that Henry, the man I love and trusted with my life will believe such a thing coming from a woman who had all too openly made it her mission to ruin our relationship. As far as I know, I had never given him a reason to doubt me or my love for him so, why?

Honestly, I don't even want to know the answer to that.

I also felt conflicted on how I feel about him. I want to hate him for what he did. His decision didn't only cost him our marriage but it also cost him his relationship with his children. But I don't hate him. No matter what, every fiber in my body would never allow me hate him.

But do I still love him? That's a question I don't know the answer to.

It being Saturday, my plan was to spend the day indoor with just the kids, doing movie marathons and just chilling after their hectic week of school. I'm sure they've noticed the change in my mood recently and I don't want them to be bothered so for that reason, I'm determined to pull myself out of my feelings.

With that thought in mind, I finally get up from the bed and go into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth.

After taking care of my hygiene, I descend from the staircase but pause when I hear the sound of laughter and a familiar deep masculine voice. This has me flying down the stairs in excitement.

As soon as I spot him, I pull him into a tight hug and suddenly the stress and worries of the past week dissipates. Suddenly, I feel light in his arms.

I can feel his smile as he lays a small kiss on my cheek before leaning his forehead against mine, his grip on my head loose.

I look into the grey eyes of my brother, Andrew, very much like my own. Our eyes are the only thing we have in common as he looks so much like my father while I take after my mother in most aspects.

A face splitting smile is on his face as he looks at me carefully.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?" I ask him with a slight frown on my face.

"Well, I would have if you had actually picked up my calls." He answers as we finally pull away from each other and he moves away.

I'm reminded that I had switched off my phone earlier this week when I finally got tired of hearing it ringing. I rub my forehead.

I look up to find the twins on the stools of the kitchen island indulging in some donuts that practically had diabetes written on it.

"What are those?" I turn to Andrew and ask, my nose scrunched up.

"Donuts." He replies with a 'duh' look that makes me roll my eyes.

"Of course I know what they are. What I mean is, what are they doing in my house? You know Jamie and Jason aren't supposed to eating this, especially this early in the morning." I scold as I pull the box of donuts away from them.

They immediately begin protesting but at the look I give them they keep quiet.

"Good lord, Sandy, it's just donuts. And besides, they are kids. Whether you like it or not, they need the sugar." He gives me a 'think about it look'.

I eye him for a minute before sighing and dropping the box back in front of them.

"Thanks, mom!" They both exclaim as they proceed digging in, Andrew winks at them playfully making me roll my eyes.

"Jamie, could you please help me get my phone from my room? It's underneath my pillow." I request.

Jamie immediately runs off and returns with it. I just keep it on a table as I begin making some real breakfast while Andrew settles on a stool, scrolling through his phone.

"So, why'd you come home?" I ask with my back turned to him.

"I had some business to attend to here." He replies.

I don't even have to see him to know that he is lying. Jason lives all the way in Carlifonia where he works as a big shot actor. He hardly comes home no matter how much I beg him to. After our parents' divorce, he craved his own space and independence far away from any of our parents. So something important must have dragged him here. Two guesses what.

After placing the pancakes carefully on four dishes I turn and give him the 'don't give me that shit look'.

He tries to look away but I tilt my head. Finally, he sighs and gives in. "Mom made me, okay? She was worried, as am I and everyone else. You've been couped up in this place and haven't been answering anyone's calls. Henry was worried as well although I'm not quite sure why. What's up with that?" He asks with a frown.

I place a plate piled with pancakes in his front but his eyes remain on me waiting for me to explain.

I sigh as I give the boys their food before taking a seat. I begin telling him the whole story starting with the days when Henry was always couped up at work.

He is surprised at this because when I had gotten the divorce and he asked why, I had simply told him that we had fallen out of love. A simple explanation I told anyone who was someone important to me whenever they asked.

"You mean to tell me that the reason you and Henry gotten divorced was because of a couple of silly pictures?" He raises his voice, a harsh scowl on his face.

I quickly look to the boys who's attention are on their food and the television, thankfully.

"Not exactly, and please keep your voice down." I caution him.

"Excuse me, if I find all this shit highly ridiculous." Andrew says with his hands spread apart.

"It's not just because of a couple of pictures. Before the pictures even appeared our relationship was already suffering." I explain. "I mean, that's the only reason that he believed her in the first place and these past few days have made me understand that."

"So what? You are gonna get back with him now?" He asks with a frown.

"I never said that, Andrew. I just needed some clarity and space is all. I'm not yet sure of what I'll do."

"I'm sure of one thing though: I'm definitely gonna be having a talk with Henry." Andrew says, a hard look in his eyes.

"No, you won't." I say immediately.

I know my brother. When he feels like one of his own has been wronged, he immediately reacts as if it were him who was offended and sometimes that clouds his judgement. The last thing I want is a physical fight between my ex husband and my brother, although, I have to admit, the image of Henry getting punched doesn't look all that bad in my head right about now.

Andrew heaves a heavy sigh as if me stopping him from 'speaking' to Henry greatly disappointed him. "So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." I reply honestly.

There's a short silence as I just think. Really, what am I going to do now?

I had always wondered what went wrong and now that I know, I still don't know what to do to fix it. Fix us. But is there still even an us to be fixed? And if so, can it be fixed?

"Do you still love him?" Andrew asks looking me dead in the eye as if waiting to see if I will lie or not.

I find myself looking away, caught off guard by what is honestly the million dollar question. Do I still love Henry? "I don't know." I reply honestly, once more.

He nods his head as if in understanding.

We finish breakfast silently except from the sounds from the television.

Afterwards, I go to wash out the dishes.

"Mom, wants to see you. She's worried sick." Andrew tells me.

I nod. "I'll go see her today."

"Need me to drive you?" Andrew asks.

"If that's not stressful for you. Don't you have 'business to handle'?" I ask him with an arched eyebrow.

He just chuckles. "Go get ready, Sand girl." He says calling me a childhood nickname he knows fully well that I hate. I shoot him a glare before turning back to the dishes.

.

.

.

We arrive at my mother's house at exactly 12 pm. Her housekeeper, Martha sees us in immediately getting familiar with the kids. I just watch them with a smile as they are immediately drawn to her warm personality.

"Your mother is in her study." Martha tells us as we approach the stairs.

"Thank you, Martha." I say.

"Do you want to try my famous ginger cookies? I've been told that they are quite good." She asks the boys playfully and they are immediately excited.

She takes them to the kitchen as Andrew and I ascend the stairs to my mother's study.

As we approach the door we here voices and I look to Andrew who is as confused as I am. I knock on the door before opening it to something I really should not have seen and should not ever see again otherwise, I just might not survive it.

"Oh my goodness!" I exclaim before I quickly shut the door.

I turn to my brother who looks as mortified at what we just witnessed as I feel. "I thought you said she was worried." I say before I begin laughing so hard. Soon he does too.

Suddenly, the door to the study is opened so we immediately keep quiet, a smile present on both our face. Out walks a well composed Tim followed by my frazzled looking mother. I give her a small wink before giving Tim a brief hug.

"I didn't know you would be around." I tell him as I see him send a small nod my brother's way. They never really got along.

"I just decided to drop by and check on Howard." He explains.

I'm surprised at this. Howard is in boarding school in England so he's hardly home. So the fact that he has returned from school is news to me.

"Howard is home?" I ask.

"Yes." My mother finally speaks. "And you would have known had you picked at least one of my 20 something calls." She says with obvious annoyance.

"I'm sorry, mom. I was having a rough week." I apologize.

"Not enough reason to ignore your own mother." She insists.

I sigh and give her a look. It seems she senses my tiredness because she pulls me into a hug. "At least you're here now."

And, finally, she notices Andrew. With a surprised sound she pulls him into a tight and uncomfortable looking hug. It's so extra with the whole swaying from side to side and she gripping him tight. Andrew mouths 'save me' to me which just makes me laugh at him.

"You came!"

"Well, you did order me to." He says with a shrug.

"Sandy!" I hear someone shout my name excitedly.

I turn to see Howard running to grip me in a tight hug. I close my eyes as I savior the smell of wood and pines that I always associate with him. Finally, we pull away and I take a good look at him. To say I'm stunned would be an understatement.

"What the hell do they give you to eat in England?" I ask as I hear them laugh.

But for real. Last year the kid was half of my height and was so skinny and now he's exactly my height (although I'm not that tall), and has added on more flesh. His supposed to be tan skin is pale from the lack of sun and his eyes are a sparkling dark green just like his father. His jet black hair is slicked back and compared to the last time I saw him, he looks more matured. He must be stirring up quite a lot of trouble among the girls at his school with looks like this.

With a wide smile I pull him back in for another hug.

And that is how I ended up spending the rest of the day with my family. As usual, my father absent.

Finally, by around 8 Andrew drives me home and immediately after taking a shower, the boys fall asleep, tired from all the fun of today.

I take a shower of my own before settling in to watch some tv. I suddenly remember to switch on my phone, something I had forgotten to do all day, and immediately it begins pinging non stop with messages coming in.

Some from Lorraine, a couple from Alice, my brother, my mother, Jesse, some other people, and several from Henry, unsurprisingly. Almost immediately my phone begins ringing. As if the person knew I finally switched it on.

I see it's Alice so I pick it up.

"Hey, Sandy!" She immediately exclaims. "Oh my, I was so worried."

"I'm sorry I missed your calls. I hope it wasn't an emergency."

"No, it wasn't. I just wanted to check up on you. My brother told me that you two had a disagreement."

Disagreement? Is that what Henry is calling it?

"Yeah, we did." I say with a roll of my eyes.

"Sorry about that. So, I have a proposal." She tells me.

I'm intrigued. "What?"

"I was planning a girls trip with a couple of my friends, you know, just to unwind, and I was wondering if you would like to accompany us. It's just for a weekend and I thought to myself that this would help to get your mind off things." She proposes.

That is sounding really good to me right about now.

"Sure." I immediately agree.

"Great. It's an all expense paid trip so you don't have to worry about much. Also, it's this weekend so maybe my mom can watch the twins. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to, what do you think?"

"That sounds great." I say honestly.

"Fantastic. I will text you with the details. Have a goodnight." She says before we hang up.

Suddenly, I remember that I never asked her where we will be going.

.

.

.

Henry's POV

"What'd she say?" I ask Alice anxiously once she returns from the bathroom, her phone held tightly in her hands.

She gives me a wide grin. "She's in."

.

.

.

A/n-

This update was long awaited, guys, and I'm so sorry. A lot has been going on so I haven't even been in the head space to write but I'm back now and I will be updating again real soon.

What do you guys think of this chapter and the new characters?

And that trip? Lol. I hope y'all didn't think Henry was just gonna give up that easily. Or did you?

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter cause it's gonna be...

Please VOTE if you enjoyed this chapter, COMMENT your thoughts, and help me SHARE this book to people.

Thank you all so much for the support so far, I appreciate it a lot

❤️❤️

P.S- please check out my other books Cocky and The King's Lover.