Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Nathan got back from work early because he wanted to be with his fiancée and child. He hasn’t been steady for the last few days.

He didn’t find Michelle and Sandra home when he arrived. He was told by a maid that she had gone out with the baby. He thanked the maid for the information and dismissed her. He decided to go freshen up, so he went in and took a shower.

When Nathan was done, he went to the living room. He was on a phone call and at the same time going through some paperwork when the door bell rang. A maid went to get the door and to Nathan’s surprise, it was Chloe. She was dressed in a green cross back double strap bodycon mini dress, with her hair wrapped in a back ponytail.

Th maid excused herself from their presence and Nathan ended the call.

“What are you doing here, Chloe?” he asked, standing up from the couch.

“I came to see you, isn’t that obvious?” she replied in a 'duh' tone.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“And why is that?... Is it because of Michelle?” Chloe asked, walking closer to Nathan.

“I’ve missed you so much, Nate.” She cooed, placing her arms around his neck.

Nathan just rolled his eyes and removed her arms from his neck.

“Look Chloe, you can’t be here… We can’t be seen together like this.”

“I don’t understand you, Nathan. Why are you being indifferent towards me?” she asked but got no reply from Nathan .

He just walked out of the living room and headed for he bedroom. He wasn’t ready for this right now.

“Nathan, don’t walk out on me!” Chloe yelled following him to his bedroom.

“Chloe, can’t you get it… you aren’t supposed to be here.” He said in an angry tone.

“I haven’t seen you in like forever. I just wanted to be close to you again.. to feel you.” She said, hungrily kissing him.

Michelle got back home and noticed some papers and a laptop on a coffee table in the living room, which meant Nathan was already home. She decided to go look for him in their bedroom because she urgently needed to talk to him, to know if he was still mad at her.

“Chloe, stop!” Nathan said, pulling away from the kiss. He was tired of her drama.

“When are we going to see again… you’re always with Michelle. You don’t even care about me anymore.” Chloe complained.

“Chloe, listen to me. I’m only with Michelle to get back at Derek, I don’t love her. I just want Derek to pay for hitting me… I promise, when I’m through with my plans, we’ll be together.”

“You’ve been saying that since you got together with her.. I can’t wait much longer, Nate.”

“Just go home. We’ll talk about this later, okay?” Nathan said as he walked to the door and opened it for Chloe to leave. He was shocked to see Michelle at the door with tears in her eyes.

“Michelle?” Nathan whispered, not being able to make out any sentence.

Michelle shook her head in disappointment and walked out on him.

“Michelle. Michelle!” he called out, running after her. Chloe also went after him.

When Nathan got to Michelle, he tried holding unto her arm, but she stopped him.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” she yelled.

“Michelle, please listen to me. All you just heard isn’t true.”

“Really? I was only a game to you?... God! I feel like a complete idiot right now.”

“Baby, please don’t say that.”

“Don’t you baby me!” she warned.

Michelle turned to Chloe who was enjoying the scene before her.

“I thought you were my best friend?”

“Look Michelle, the world doesn’t always have to revolve around you, you selfish brat.. You always got the best things, now it’s my turn. I told you I was going to get Nathan and that’s what I did.. you’re the uninvited one here.”

“Shut up Chloe! Just shut the hell up!” Nathan angrily yelled.

He had always wanted to get Chloe off his back, she was really annoying. He wondered why he got involved with her in the first place. It was a mistake he regrets so much.

What Chloe said really got to Michelle. She sobbed even more, knowing she was being insulted because she had chosen to be with Nathan. She should’ve listened to her mom or taken Mr. Howard’s advice.

“Michelle, please listen to me. I don’t love her, I love you… I was only lying to her.”

Chloe stared at Nathan with wide eyes, surprised at what he just said.

“Tell me, Nathan.. Was she the business you needed to take care of when I went on that vacation?”

Nathan hadn’t realized that Michelle had gotten back her memory as she acknowledged Chloe as her best friend, until she questioned him about the vacation.

How did she remember that? Has she gotten back her memory?

“Michelle, I…”

“God damnit! Answer me!... Did you cheat on me with her while I was in Hawaii?!” she yelled, not wanting to hear anymore of his apologies.

“Yes, but I swear it was a mistake.. I’m sorry.” Nathan admitted.

Michelle felt like she had been literally stabbed in the heart. He had left her lonely in Hawaii just to sleep with her best friend. That was the reason he didn’t even bother giving her a call to know if her and his daughter were okay.

Michelle couldn’t stop the tears from pouring no matter how hard she tried. She wanted to look strong but was failing miserably.

She walked out of the living room and headed for Sandra’s bedroom. Her poor baby had already woken up because of the noise. Michelle carefully carried her out of her cradle and went back to the living room. She was walking towards the door when she felt a strong hand stopping her.

“Michelle, please don’t do this.” Nathan pleaded.

“I thought you were different, Nathan. But now… now I realize that you’re even worse. Derek would never do such a thing to me… It’s over between us. If you care to see your daughter, you can hire a lawyer to file for joint custody.. Let go of my arm.” Michelle said and walked out of the house.

Nathan was in pain. He was completely broken. This isn’t happening to him.

“It was about time she left.” Chloe said, making Nathan realize that she was still in his house.

“What the hell are you still doing here?!” he growled, fuming with rage.

“Nathan, this is what we always wanted.” She said.

“There is no us!” Nathan yelled, startling Chloe.

“I don’t care about you. Get the hell out of my life!”

“But we had something.. we were happy together.” Chloe said, trying really hard to convince Nathan otherwise.

“What happened between us meant nothing.. you mean nothing to me.”

“Oh no Nathan, that’s where you’re wrong. We had something really strong and you mean a lot to me. I’m not letting you go… Not for Michelle, not for anyone.”

“Get out!” Nathan yelled, pushing Chloe out of his house.

Michelle drove to her mom’s place. She got out of the car and got into the house with Sandra in her arms. She couldn’t even calm her baby who was now crying because she was broken and completely shattered. She doesn’t know how to handle her emotions, let alone her crying baby.

There was a maid in the living room when she got into the house. The maid hurriedly left to go get Leah after seeing Michelle in that state.

Leah came into the living room, surprised to see Michelle in such a state. Her face was completely stained in tears. Her baby, Sandra was also crying but she didn’t care as she was terribly shaking.

Leah hurriedly went to carry her granddaughter from Michelle’s arms and gently cradled her. The asked the maid to prepare some formula for the baby, seeing as Michelle wasn’t in the right state to breastfeed her baby.

Leah cradled her granddaughter until she stopped crying and fed her. After feeding the baby, she waited for her to fall asleep in her arms before taking her to her room. She came back to the living room and saw Michelle still in tears. She was staring into nothing as she cried, lost in her own thoughts.

“Michelle?” Leah quietly called, bringing her daughter’s attention to her.

Michelle turned to her mom and hugged her as she sobbed.

“Mom, Nathan betrayed me. He has been cheating on me with Chloe.. I was such a fool, mom.”

Leah couldn’t believe what Michelle just said. She had a cut on her forehead, she hoped she wasn’t hurt by Nathan or Chloe because if they had done this to her daughter, they would have to pay.

But, wait. How did she remember Chloe? Is her memory back? That is a question for another day.

First, she has to comfort her child who is hurt and in pain.

The Howard family has hurt her daughter so much. Michelle has gone through a lot because of them.

Michelle was sobbing in her mother’s arms. She needed her warm hug to assure her that someone cared about her for real. She needed to be convinced that she still had a good reason to live in spite of her messed up life.