Chapter 2 Unwanted

• ~Ariela~
• “Ariela, you are not needed in this space; you're practically hovering around us like a leech. Save us from all this and sign this paper,” Alfred growled.
• The blade already twisted in my heart drives deeper, this time sucking up airs in my lungs.
• I could see him taking satisfaction in my pain.
• With the last bit of strength I had, I stood upright, looking straight at his cold face. I asked, “Is this really what you want, Alfred! To toss our relationship, family, and marriage just like that, because of her rights? It's because of Loela, right?”
• “Leave her out of this, Ariela. At Least she is ten times better than you, and for your information, this is what I want, what Daniel wants. We need space, Ariela! You've been sucking up air in our lives lately, “ he growled with so much disdain.
• “Sucking up air, How? Alfred.”
• “Look, Ariela, we both know this isn't working. The best you could do for us, for Daniel, you claim you love is this. Let us be!”
• Tears welled up in my eyes, threatened to spew, but I held them back. I refuse to break down before him. I have been tortured enough.
• “Fine! I will give you what you want: air, space, and more,” I took a pen from the table and signed the divorce paper without a second glance at Alfred. I stormed out of his sitting room.
• The moment I stepped out of his presence, the weight of everything came crashing down on me. The realization that the love I had poured into this marriage, the hopes I held nurturing the family, had all been in vain.
• I let the tears flow, releasing the pent-up emotions as I walked out of the house.
• I had no idea where I was heading to but I needed to move out of this space. The whole house was already suffocating, sucking up air in my lungs.
• Each step I took felt heavier than the last, but I kept walking, trying to escape from this wall of misery, pain, and loneliness.
• I glanced at my wristwatch; it was already late at night, and a pang of fear gripped me, but I wasn't going back. After what felt like forever, I caught sight of a cab.
• Without wasting time, I flagged it down and gave the driver my directions before hopping in.
• The only place on my mind was my mother's place. I couldn't imagine her seeing me this broken, knowing full well that I've failed in building a home.
• She did warn me severely about Alfred, about abandoning my career for man, but I was too adamant, too naive to see through her words.
• I was like a prodigal daughter running back to her mother.
• The screeching wheel of the car snapped me out of my thoughts.
• I paid the cab man with the last cash I had before proceeding to the doorstep.
• The owl’s hoot echoes through the darkness of the night, igniting fear within my heart.
• I briefly knocked on the door, and it cracked open, revealing the face of my mother, who had rushed to open it the moment she heard my voice.
• Her face was etched with sympathy, pain, and anger for how miserable I looked.
• She immediately pulled me into a hug.
• Finding solace in her embrace, I sobbed bitterly, for turning a deaf ear to her advice, for ignoring the warning, the red flag she was pointing out to me.
• Tears pour!
• “Ariela, it's fine. Stop crying, you're hurting yourself,” she consoled, stroking my back gently with her palm.
• “Mother, I failed, I failed to listen to you, I failed to build my home. He called me a failure,” I sobbed loudly, overwhelmed by the harsh reality of my life.
• “No, you did not. They failed, they failed to see through you, my child.”
• Her words hit the most sensitive part of my heart, the tears kept flowing ceaselessly.
• She slowly disengaged from our embrace and looked straight into my puffy red eyes,
• “Ariela, get hold of yourself, stop grieving over someone who doesn't know your worth; he failed to see through you for once, and woe to him, he lost a precious jewel, he never will see.”
• My mother's words hit gently like a splash of ice water, melting away my guilt, my pain, and sadness. Her words magically began to form a layer of flesh around my punctured heart, healing and mending the broken pieces of it. For once in six years, something in me began to build up, it felt like I was molded back to myself.
• And with that, I wiped away the tears stinging my face, I refuse to shed any more tears for those who did not value me. They underestimated me, but I will prove them wrong. With a gritted jaw and clenched fist, I made a self-resolution to be a b
• etter me, a woman everybody wishes for as a mother and a wife.